As is always the case as Christmas approaches, I have struggled to find the meaning in this season. If I’m being honest, I miss the warm, “magical” feelings of childhood, and I almost desperately search for something to give me even a small glimpse of that same wonder. I can be prone to thinking more decorations, more carols, more lights, even more cheesy Hallmark Christmas movies will be the answer to what I think I’m missing. This year even more than normal, I’ve felt a lack of comprehension…real, deep understanding…of the miracle of Christ’s birth. And as I have recognized this, I’ve thought about the manger, I’ve thought about the humble surroundings, the people that were given front row seats, and earnestly prayed for a renewed perspective on what I’m celebrating.
The normal reminders to cease striving, that God is okay with imperfection and messes seemed trite and somehow insufficient explanations for this heart that needed to see the purpose of it all. Because this story isn’t just about humility, peace, love…and all the other feel-good platitudes that pervade most manger messages at this time of year. At its heart, the birth of Christ – the entire life and death of Christ – is warfare, a rescue mission fueled by God’s zeal for His people, the execution of a perfect battle plan to once and for all defeat sin and death.
And while the humble circumstances, the seemingly helpless babe, do serve to make Jesus an approachable Savior, perhaps they are also meant as a reminder that this work of salvation was accomplished by God alone, without the help of humanity. In fact, the plan required humanity to be turned against Him. He couldn’t have a royal army at His side when He needed to be nailed to the cross. He couldn’t have wealth or prestige that would give His accusers too much pause. He needed to have “no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him, nothing in His appearance that we should desire Him”. As much as it’s nice to think that God wanted to make sure we could see ourselves in our Savior, I think His plan was much deeper and more serious than that. He came in humility because that was necessary to accomplish His salvation plan.
That baby in the manger came with a mission. He came to wage war on darkness. He came because there was no other way to accomplish redemption. Yes, He came as Light. Yes, He came to bring joy. But, I think we forget that the peace on earth we sing about was bought at a steep price. As with most things gospel-related, I think we do a disservice to make this Christmas story about God being overly concerned with how easily we can identify with Him. God entered into such humble surroundings because He was so altogether different from us that salvation could only be worked by His own arm. And even in that lowly place, He wasn’t like we are. He was worthy of praise. He was perfect, sinless. The manger was the beginning of the sacrifice that would win our salvation, through no work of our own. It is this that should draw us to Christ at Christmas. Not some notion that Jesus just welcomes us in our imperfection, but rather, that He covers our sinfulness with His righteousness. While we are offered the free gift of salvation, salvation was far from free. Jesus paid a cost that was impossible for us to pay…which is far greater evidence of His incomprehensible love than if He was coming in humility to simply make Himself look approachable.
Who God is…His majesty, omnipotence, holiness, perfect love…is all too often boxed in to make us think that He exists to pursue us, when the reality is that we exist to pursue Him, to praise Him, to fall on our knees and throw our “crowns” at His feet and proclaim Him worthy of all that we could ever give, and more. Even when He shows up as a baby in a manger.
For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David’s throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.
—Isaiah 9:6-7
Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save,
nor his ear too dull to hear.
But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
For your hands are stained with blood,
your fingers with guilt.
Your lips have spoken falsely,
and your tongue mutters wicked things.
No one calls for justice;
no one pleads a case with integrity.
They rely on empty arguments, they utter lies;
they conceive trouble and give birth to evil.
They hatch the eggs of vipers
and spin a spider’s web.
Whoever eats their eggs will die,
and when one is broken, an adder is hatched.
Their cobwebs are useless for clothing;
they cannot cover themselves with what they make.
Their deeds are evil deeds,
and acts of violence are in their hands.
Their feet rush into sin;
they are swift to shed innocent blood.
They pursue evil schemes;
acts of violence mark their ways.
The way of peace they do not know;
there is no justice in their paths.
They have turned them into crooked roads;
no one who walks along them will know peace.
So justice is far from us,
and righteousness does not reach us.
We look for light, but all is darkness;
for brightness, but we walk in deep shadows.
Like the blind we grope along the wall,
feeling our way like people without eyes.
At midday we stumble as if it were twilight;
among the strong, we are like the dead.
We all growl like bears;
we moan mournfully like doves.
We look for justice, but find none;
for deliverance, but it is far away.
For our offenses are many in your sight,
and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us,
and we acknowledge our iniquities:
rebellion and treachery against the Lord,
turning our backs on our God,
inciting revolt and oppression,
uttering lies our hearts have conceived.
So justice is driven back,
and righteousness stands at a distance;
truth has stumbled in the streets,
honesty cannot enter.
Truth is nowhere to be found,
and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.
The Lord looked and was displeased
that there was no justice.
He saw that there was no one,
he was appalled that there was no one to intervene;
so his own arm achieved salvation for him,
and his own righteousness sustained him.
He put on righteousness as his breastplate,
and the helmet of salvation on his head;
he put on the garments of vengeance
and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak.
According to what they have done,
so will he repay
wrath to his enemies
and retribution to his foes;
he will repay the islands their due.
From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord,
and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory.
For he will come like a pent-up flood
that the breath of the Lord drives along.
“The Redeemer will come to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,”
declares the Lord.
——Isaiah 59:1-20
