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The whole set up for the birth of Jesus is amazing. Consider first of
all the simple fact that He came! God left His pure, ethereal, glorious existence
and took on physical form. If I had unlimited power and existed in a world
outside of time and space I’m not sure I would have willingly chosen to become
a mere mortal confined to time and space. I mean consider that Jesus (God
incarnate) had to be fed, have His diapers changed, learn to walk, go through
puberty, make friends in school, study, get a job, work hard, feel tired, feel
sad… the full range of what it means to be human.
Why did He do it? Love. Jesus is the ultimate expression of love in the
flesh. He is an exemplar of ‘practice what you preach’. He showed us the way to
live by example. And even more shocking is that His purpose was to effect the
most scandalous gift exchange of all time. He gave His life so that we could gain
eternal life. He took on humanity so that we could have godliness. He suffered
so that we would suffer no more. He took away our sins so that we could become
righteous. He left heaven so that we could have a home in heaven. He lay down
His glory so that we could become glorious. The king became a servant, so that
the servants could become kings!
Who is worthy of such a gift? The answer is no one and everyone. None are
worthy, but all are accepted. The circumstances surrounding the birth of Jesus
were intentionally orchestrated by God to let us know that Jesus came for
EVERYONE. He could have been born in a palace but instead He chose a stable. He
could have been laid in a fancy hand-crafted crib but instead he chose a
feeding trough for animals. His first visitors could have been the elite of the
Jewish people at that time but instead He chose his first visitors to be the low-class
shepherds and three wise non-believers. And when they did take Him to be dedicated
at the temple who met Him there? An ordinary but devout parishioner named
Simeon and an old devout widow. It wasn’t the who’s who but the ordinary
faithful.
The bottom line is that Jesus was surrounded by believers and non-believers of humble and sincere hearts regardless of station in life or religious order. This is Jesus. The Saviour of the world. He came for us all. He does not care what denomination we belong to or if we have a denomination at all. He does not care about our social status or how many followers we have on Instagram. He is holding out His arms longing for all to come and receive Him. The Gift is free. The worth is inestimable.