So Much More Than a Baby

"There has been only one Christmas - the rest are anniversaries." W.J. Cameron

For many Christians, Christmas is more than the presents and the tree. It's a celebration of the birth of Jesus, the Christ-child. It's a time of celebration and thanksgiving to God for this indescribable gift. We imagine a cold night with a serene virgin-mommy, a proud earthly dad, and a cooing infant. We visualize the mood lighting in the stables that we've seen on a thousand nativity scenes before. We picture reverent shepherds and glorious Magi coming to kneel at the feet of Mary, cradling her newborn.

Let's put our old notions of Christmas night aside and let me paint a different picture for you. I don't claim for a second that this is more accurate, just different.

Imagine, instead of the picturesque setting of a warm wooden stable, a cold and dank cave. This cave was converted into a stable, complete with a stone food trough. It smells of livestock. Imagine a man, maybe in his late twenties, uncertain about what being a father would mean - especially when it comes to raising the Son of God. Imagine a teenage girl, sweaty and exhausted from the pains of labor, her hair plastered to her forehead. She has yet to come to grips with the fact that she now holds the I AM against her chest. Imagine a newborn... We've heard about "Little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes," and yet this baby does cry. He still needs to be fed every two hours and his bed is no four star mattress. He lays in the stone food trough, cushioned on straw... not the softest material in the world. Straw can even give someone splinters if they're not careful.

I very much doubt the shepherds came reverently to the side of Jesus. There was, after all, a reason they were shepherds. If they had shown potential as boys, they would have gone on to study the Law. These were the men who were not cultured. After seeing a sky full of angels, they would have wasted no time searching for the baby. They probably appeared at the mouth of the cave breathless. They didn't know how to approach royalty - they probably did not come and kneel by him. They may not have even paid much attention to Mary. As men, they would have paid most attention to Joseph and when they saw the baby, they didn't linger. They left, going to tell others what they had seen.

The Magi probably didn't even appear that night. The star may have appeared the night of Jesus' birth and it would have been several months before the Magi arrived. By that time, Joseph and Mary probably had moved into a home and Joseph had begun doing carpentry in Bethlehem.




Most Christians think of the birth of Christ when they think of Christmas - and that's good. But for me, this time of year, I can't help but think forward thirty-three years.

Mary is now in her fifties and may have been widowed. Her son has had an unusual career and is both hated and revered. Jesus and his trusted friends, probably even the women, share one last Passover meal together. This would have been a time of solemn remembrance of the slavery in Egypt, but also a time of celebration of deliverance! There would have been good food, jokes told, and Jesus would have been soaking in this last night of normalcy with the people he loved - the people he'd decided to die for. Even the Traitor he loved and loved deeply.

After the Traitor left they would have moved to a beautiful garden, quiet in the spring nighttime, and prayed. Jesus turned his focus to what now lay just ahead. As the full weight of what he would go through was brought to mind his heart began to race, his breathing became quick and labored, and his sweat was mixed with blood. When armed guards came with the Traitor to arrest him, his dearest friends fled and abandoned him. In his time of need, no one was there to stand by him. Jesus was illegally tried, falsely accused, and mercilessly ridiculed. Although with barely a thought Jesus could call on his heavenly army and free himself, he remained silent and submissive. He fought every self-preserving fiber in his humanly flesh and did the will of the Father. His lordship was mocked, his kingdom was mocked, his followers were mocked - and yet he remained silent. He deeply loved every single one of his tormenters. He craved their love in return.

Once Jesus was beaten beyond recognition, he willingly died a humiliating, painful death. What a broken heart his Mother must have had. Not so long ago, she carried this child in her own body, was one with him. She watched him grow, hoping for nothing but the best life for her son. The cry of a mother's heart, watching her son die in front of her, is one only a mother can understand. And yet, Jesus understood - God the Father was watching His son die in front of him, and through the heartbreak He even could have stopped it from happening. He could have spared His son.

But the story doesn't end there! Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus, we have hope! Christmas is all about love, and hope, and peace on earth. How are those things possible? Through the sacrifice of God, we can have freedom from things that are evil - Satan, sin, selfishness, condemnation, guilt, judgement - and we can live in the light of his Truth. We can truly be free.

"Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15