Contrasts at Christmas

The Christmas story is one of contrasts. Specifically, it is the response of men to the incarnation of the son of God that is contrasted. And the Christmas story involves more than just that one night in a Bethlehem stable. The wise men seem to have come two years later, but they are properly included in the infancy of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

But notice the contrasts. The angel appears to shepherds, not to nobility. And the priests and scribes, who surely knew of our Lord’s birth -- they even explained it to Herod --, the priests and scribes didn’t even go see the Lord, let alone worship him. And Herod, fearful of what the birth of Israel’s true king would cost him, sought to put him to death. The shepherds, on the other hand, went to see the Lord, and the wise men travelled from a long way off just to bow the knee before him. Simeon and Anna spent their lives waiting hopefully for these events, but the earthly powers lived in fear of them.

How will you respond to our Lord’s incarnation? Will you celebrate it, worshipping the king who stepped down from glory to take on the infirmities of human flesh, or will you ignore it, treat it as insignificant. You cannot be neutral. To ignore the Lord is no better than to persecute the Lord. He who is not with us is against us; he who does not gather to Jesus scatters.

The angels gave a two-fold declaration when they appeared to the shepherds. They extolled the glory of the heavenly king, and they proclaimed peace among men. But this is no simple resolution of conflict, this peace is a wholeness to our entire being. And it is not showered indiscriminately upon mankind. It is specific to those who are favored by God. As john says in the opening of his gospel, “to those who believed, he gave the right to become sons of God.”

How will you respond to Christmas? Will you be a favored one, receiving the gospel with joy and faith, together with its consequent peace? Or will you allow the world to choke out the awe that Christmas should inspire? God himself, king of the universe, creator of all that exists, has humbled himself to be our servant, that we might be kings, and that we might have peace with God and peace with each other. Praise the Lord and Merry Christmas.