Astonishing! This business of Jesus being born of a virgin. Angels coming and going. Three magi arriving at His birthplace by following a star.

And what about His birthplace? Shouldn’t this child the Son of God be in a five-star presidential suite at the swankiest hotel in Bethlehem? Solid gold rattle? Crystal milk bottle? Satin sheets in his carved ivory crib?

No.

Not for this King.

This king came to walk among the people, to light the way, to be our salvation. And He could not truly walk among us if He wasn’t one of us. In other words, Jesus needed to be humble.

And, indeed, humble He was. He proved his humility during his 40 days of temptation, never once falling for any of Satan’s attempts to attract / trap Him with the stuff of this world. What good is anything on earth when you rule over ALL creation?

Jesus was humble throughout His life. Never one selfish act or thought. But don’t make the mistake of equating humility or meekness with weakness. Indeed, just the opposite. Jesus didn’t take the prideful bait of the devil, or the Pharisees or Sadducees, or the Romans, or even His own disciples.

He walked by the law of grace. He loved everybody, including His enemies. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, and left this world beaten and bloodied on a cross – not as a martyr, but a willing sacrifice for all who would follow Him.

And, as promised, He rose on the third day after His death. He came back.

He came back.

And He will come back again.

Astonishing! Read the gospels for the whole story. Jesus Christ – God incarnate, fully man and fully God. God Who created a perfect garden and, when we defiled His perfection, still made a way for our salvation. He could have just destroyed humanity at that point.

He could have destroyed us without sparing a remnant through Noah and his family when humanity became so evil and debased that the only way through was for God to destroy all people and the earth beneath our feet.

Instead the LORD made a way. That way led all the way to the Cross.

But the final leg of that journey started not at a hôtel haut de gamme or palatial residence. His nativity was a humble manger. A livestock stable. Far from the big city.

Our God – Creator and Sustainer of all, Who is Love itself, Who is Truth, Who is sovereign over all – humbled Himself, came to earth to live with us sinful, undeserving people, and provided us with the way to salvation.

He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Life everlasting.

Had there never been a Christmas, we would not have had an Easter.

Thank you Lord for all the astonishing work you have done for me. For being humble to love such an underserving sinner as me.

Merry Christmas!

PS: Bonus fun fact: the word “nativity” (which means “birthplace”) does not appear anywhere in the New Testament.