Christmas eve 2022

Was the earth ready?

Joy to the Earth, the Lord is Come, let earth receive her king. We sing this song at Christmas, but how many are ready to actually do that?

When Jesus came the first time, people were not really ready. Some people didn’t want a King at all. Herod was threatened by the very thought, and when he heard that the King was going to be born, he immediately tried to kill him, in spite of the reality that it was very unlikely that an infant born in a peasant household could possibly be a problem until after old King Herod was surely going to be dead.

Other people simply thought it didn’t matter. The religious leadership in Jerusalem was just a six mile walk away from Bethlehem, but when the Wise Men came and told them they were looking for a King, none of them bothered to make the trip to see if they were right. This was in spite of them telling Herod exactly where the Messiah would be born. They knew from the Bible they claimed to believe that the King would be born in Bethlehem, yet when these important visitors from far away came claiming to have seen the sign of his star, it mattered so little to them that they didn’t try to protect him from mad King Herod, and they didn’t bother to investigate to even see if there was any truth to the idea. If they really believed the Scriptures they knew so well, they would have at least checked, even if they were too chicken to stand up to Herod.

There were a few people who were ready, and they weren’t the sort of people you might expect. They were humble shepherds, people who didn’t matter very much in that world. Yet it was to them that the Angels came, not to the Kings in Jerusalem, not to the Priests who said they worshiped God. When they were told that a Savior who is Christ the Lord was born, they immediately dropped what they were doing and went to find him. Just as the Angel Said, they found him wrapped in swaddling clothes but lying in a manger. Every baby was swaddled then, so that’s just saying that he was cared for, not abandoned, but still didn’t have a proper place to sleep. Once they found him, they were so excited that they told everyone what had happened to them.

It remained like that when Jesus became a man. During his ministry the powerful were threatened by him. They constantly attacked him, and even from time to time began plotting to kill him. The average person, on the other hand, didn’t really accept Jesus’ message, but on the other hand, they liked listening to him. A few people, his disciples, did receive everything he had to say, and they became his faithful followers.

This continued until he died. the powerful still hated him, because he threatened their power, simply because he was so popular and taught a way of life that differed from their traditions. The normal people still loved him, even up to the last week of his life, but didn’t accept his radical ethical demands. His few disciples loved him and accepted him, but even they fled in terror when he was arrested. Yet they did recover, and 120 were gathered in an upper room after he rose again.

Today people still differ on Jesus. Some hate him and make every effort to stamp out Christianity. In my experience, those people are actually relatively rare, though sometimes they are in positions of power and therefore cause Christians an enormous amount of trouble. (not many mighty, not many wise . . . )

Many, Many people simply don’t care that much about him. They might occasionally go to church, so they don’t actively hate Christians, it’s just that God thing isn’t for them.

But Here’s what John had to say about this situation

John 1:10–12 NKJV

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: