A King is Coming

I hope everyone is ready for Christmas. We are just 2 weeks away, so if you plan to buy anything online you are about to run out of time. A couple of weeks ago we watched “A Christmas Story” and it got me thinking about Christmas traditions. You may remember in the movie when their Christmas turkey tradition was ruined by the Bumpus hounds so they ended up having “Chinese turkey.”

So I did some looking online to see what traditions people tend to do for Christmas. There were a lot of things about socks, sleeping in the same room, leaving Santa various goods, caroling, and other interesting ideas. I came across one that I would like to start. I like to decorate the inside of the house because it just makes you happy when you come home from work and see all the little reminders and celebrations of Jesus scattered around the house.

When I was a kid, we decorated the outside of the house one year and it wasn’t very fun, so I don’t do that. However I saw one clever idea that I will have to add to my decorations. One person said they put a small tree on top of the house above the tree that is in the house and it looks like the tree is sticking through the roof! I like that one.

Anyway, as I was reading about these traditions, the ones that stood out the most to me were the ones from other countries. In Norway, people believe that Christmas eve is when the witches and evil spirits decide to make a visit, so everyone hides their brooms before they go to sleep so that the witches don’t have access to their usual mode of transportation. If you know someone from Norway, I am NOT saying that it would be funny to move their broom that night to mess with their heads, even though it would actually be funny. But don’t do that.

There is a Spanish and German tradition of hiding a gherkin on the Christmas tree. I’ve actually heard of this one before because it is becoming more popular in the states now-a-days. Anyway, they hide the festive pickle and whichever child in the family finds it first is given a gift. That one is interesting to me because it sort of reminds me of the Jewish passover tradition of breaking Matzah, which is unleavened bread, into two pieces and hiding one half for the children to find. The one who finds it gets a prize.

Finding something that was hidden and getting a prize is what Christianity is. Specifically, Jesus is the broken, unleavened bread who was buried and hidden, but when we find Him we receive the gift of eternal life. But now I am rambling, because this is just a pickle. In Venezuela, for whatever reason, people go to church on Christmas morning on roller skates! Wouldn’t you love to start that tradition here! Roads around their capital city are closed to traffic so that families can celebrate that tradition safely.

In Catalonia, they have a pooping log! Leading up to Christmas, children will “feed” candy to a smiling hollowed out log. They actually put faces on these things. Then on Christmas Eve, the kids will beat it with sticks like a pinata until it poops out the treats. I’m not sure what I think about this one.

As Christians, many people will read the Christmas story to the family on Christmas morning. Not the transcript to the movie, but the real Christmas story about Jesus’ birth. Churches everywhere will be talking about Jesus’ birth and celebrating the event with series, sermons, cantata’s, cookouts, caroling, and countless other great traditions.

We read this passage in chapter 1 of Matthew a couple of weeks ago, but I want to look at it again. When we looked at it before, we were talking about Joseph. His plans were turned upside down and his family was starting off as a broken family. Even though things weren’t going to plan, Joseph was there for his family…

Matthew 1:18–23 NLT

18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ ”

This time of year we think a lot about Jesus. We think a lot about His birth and the sacrifice He made for us. We think a lot about Jesus from our perspective. When we looked at this scripture before we were looking from Joseph’s perspective. But what about Jesus’ perspective? Starting at the top, we know that God is triune, or three in one. God the Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit make up the three roles of our God. One God, three distinct parts.

John 1:1 NLT

1 In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Through Jesus, God became flesh like you and me and walked around on earth. He smelled bread as it was baking, felt dirt between His toes, felt refreshed with the splash of water in his face, and so on.

John 1:14 NLT

14 So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.

So imagine what a conversation between God the Father and Jesus may have looked like before He came to earth. What if God and Jesus were talking it over and God said, “Listen, we keep raising up leaders and sending word to these people about what they need to do, but they will never get it right. I know it won’t be easy, but you are going to have to go down there yourself.”

What might have gone through Jesus’ mind as they discussed the plan and talked about what it would cost. From day one, this will be tough. The good news is that I’ve found this woman named Mary. She will be your mom. You will really like her. She is a young girl who lives in Nazareth. She is devoted to Our Will. She isn’t like other girls who are signing up on all the apps like tender, or playing truth or dare and spin the bottle. She is pure in every way. She is a virgin, saving herself for marriage.

Joseph will be your earthly dad. Your step dad. He lives a righteous life like Mary. He will be an important part of you life, even though he won’t be as popular as Mary. She will get a ton of statues and he will only make it to a good portion of nativity scenes.

You’ll have friends and family, but for the most part people are gonna hate you. Life will be tough. To be clear, You will be leaving the glory of heaven for this. You’ll ride around in Mary’s womb for 9 months, then pop out into the cold hard world.

“Is it too late to do the stork thing that you joked about?”

Gotta be born of a woman. You have to be ALL God and ALL man. A lot of people are waiting for you, but they expect you to be born in a palace. Instead, I will be sending you to a common place. Where ordinary people are. Well, poor people. Actually, there won’t quite be enough room there even, so you’ll be born in a cave. With farm animals.

We might hear that and go, “Really? If I am going to be born in a barn, can it be a barndominium? Or at least a warm place with a bed?” But Jesus was thinking about you and me and probably thought, “I love it! Then everyone will know that I came for them. Not just the rich and powerful, but the common and ordinary!”

When you are born, it’s going to get complicated before your feet even hit the ground. While you are still wiggling around on the ground Satan and all the demons in hell will be threatened by you. They will all want you dead. King Herod will hunt for you and when he can’t find you he will kill every boy in the area in hopes of hitting you. Your whole family will be in danger. After you are born I will help your family escape. I’ll make sure they have a fast donkey or something.

On the plus side, if this stuff ever gets to you as a kid, just remember that you have our power! You won’t have to put up with ALL of the frustrations. If you don’t feel like taking a bath one day, just part the water and sit in a dry tub! If you don’t feel like eating your broccoli, turn it into chocolate cake! But you really should eat your broccoli and take your baths.

In school, the other kids might be jealous because you are gonna have perfect attendance and straight A’s. When you get older you will work with wood as a carpenter. You won’t make a lot of money doing it, but you will find satisfaction serving people. You will be good at helping people, but they won’t respect you. Especially people from your hometown. Then later, the same wood you used making tables and chairs will be used as a cross.

While you are performing miracles, don’t be afraid to have a little fun. You should turn some water into wine. For years, Christians will debate whether or not it was non-alcoholic. But take it serious. Heal blind eyes. Open deaf ears. Raise people from the dead even. Because no matter how much good you do, people will still hate you. They will call you a hypocrite, a drunk, a lunatic, and worse. They will claim that you are dangerous. They will say that you are My enemy.

No matter what happens, You just show My love. As people give a wide birth when they walk by lepers, you walk up to them and touch them. Befriend prostitutes and teach them what true love is. Love all those that religion rejects. The more you do that, the more you love people, the more they will hate you. Even so, just keep loving. Love isn’t what we do, it is who we are.

When the enemy attacks, fight back with the Word. He will tempt you to turn stones into bread when you are hungry. Tell him that…

Matthew 4:4 NLT

4 But Jesus told him, “No! The Scriptures say, ‘People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

When he tells you that you can take advantage of promises in scripture and do whatever you want and God will still save you, tell him…

Matthew 4:7 NLT

7 Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘You must not test the Lord your God.’”

When he offers you the world and all the riches you could imagine if you just worship him, tell him to get out of here!

Matthew 4:10 NLT

10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’”

You won’t be alone all the time. I am going to send you some good friends to be your disciples. Love them and teach them. Tell them about the Holy Spirit. Let them know that you won’t be there walking the earth with them forever, but your father will send them an advocate that will be with them forever. The Holy Spirit. Then Jesus says, “Yeah, this is what I’ll tell them...”

John 14:15–19 NLT

15 “If you love me, obey my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. 17 He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. 18 No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. 19 Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live.

Then God says, they are only human, so they will still make mistakes. Peter will betray you, Judas will even betray you with a kiss! Not only will you have that emotional pain, but there will also be physical pain. It will be so bad that at one point you will sweat drops of blood. The cross is worse than you can imagine. They will beat you until you don’t even look human. Then they will use nails to affix you to the cross. Just remember that I will always be with you. At least, until you become sin and I can no longer be with you.

All of the pain you have experienced to that point won’t compare to the pain you will face in that moment. You will hurt and ask why I have forsaken you. Then you will die. BUT, you won’t be dead forever. 3 days later some people will come to your tomb and see that it is empty!

I imagine Jesus would have said, “If the people are prone to error and misunderstanding, won’t that confuse them? Could I go back to some of them after and speak to them? Tell them what they should do next and even remind them that I love them and will be with them forever?”

Then God says, “Absolutely! Here is what you should say...”

Matthew 28:19–20 NLT

19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We love them. We will never leave them. We will never forsake them. Jesus, are you up for this?

What if all of this was going through Jesus’ mind before He took that first step? Even questions came up before He came down, I don’t think there was ever any debate in His mind about His mission. If God asked if He was up for it I think His only response was immediate…

“Of course! Because we love them, and they need us! Because we need to show them who we truly are. We are LOVE! Because I want to bring life to them and life to it’s fullest! The conditions won’t stop me because I don’t need a palace. It isn’t the righteous that need me, but the sinners. Not the healthy who need a Doctor, but the sick. I am going to retrieve the lost sheep. They need a shepherd. A good shepherd who will lay down his life for the sheep! We can’t just shout our love from heaven, I am going to show it to them on earth.”

And so He crossed over that threshold. He walked through that door for you…

Matthew 1:21–23 NLT

21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: 23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’ ”

He’s here. He’s with us. He will never leave you. He will never forsake you. He is always with you. His Spirit dwells inside of you.

When you are lost, He is with you as your guide.

When you are alone, He is with you as your companion.

When you are sick, He is with you as your healer.

When you are hurting, He is with you as your comforter.

When you are weak, He is with you as your strength.

When you are afraid, He is with you as your peace.

When you are under attack, He is with you as your defender.

When you are lost in your sins, He is with you as your savior.

When you come to Him, He welcomes you with open arms and rejoicing.

As we celebrate Christmas this year, my hope and prayer for us is that we would see Jesus for who He is. He is God with us. He loves us so much that He couldn’t just shout it from heaven, but instead He chose to become a person so that He could tell us in person even though He would pay the ultimate sacrifice and suffer for doing it.

As we celebrate Jesus coming to us, let’s love those around us with the love that Christ had for us that made him come to us in the first place. This Christmas, what are some ways to make room for Jesus in your life? What are you facing that you need Him to come to you as Immanuel, God with us? How do you plan to encounter Jesus this season?