Thinking About Easter Already?

I've just popped to Sainsbury's and spotted that they already have hot cross buns in the bakery.  It seems that the moment Christmas ends, Easter - at least in the retail world - begins.  I even remember my brother buying a Creme Egg one year on Boxing Day.

 

This rushing to the next big event usually bothers me: why can't we just enjoy the moment?

 

But this evening, it got me thinking.

 

This weekend, we have celebrated Epiphany and have remembered the visit of the wise men to the baby Jesus. 

 

They brought gifts for Jesus which were symbols of great importance: gold, to reflect and acknowledge His Kingship; frankincense to show His purity and holiness and to reflect His role as a Priest, interceding on our behalf; and myrrh, an oil used to anoint dead bodies and a sign of what would happen to Jesus.

 

I always wonder how Mary and Joseph reacted to these gifts, especially to the myrrh.  They must have known what it was usually used for.

 

They knew that their Son was the Son of God and that He had come to fulfil what had been foretold about bringing peace and restoration to mankind.  But did they know that the way that this peace and restoration would be achieved was through the death of their child?

 

And if they did, would they really want to think of it, so soon after His birth?

 

Whether or not they thought about it, it is the reason that Jesus was born: to reconcile man to God, through His own death on the cross. 

 

 

        "Surely he took up our pain

        and bore our suffering,

        [...] he was pierced for our transgressions,

        he was crushed for our iniquities;

        the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

        and by his wounds we are healed."

 

        [Isaiah 53:4-5 NIV]

 

I am fully aware that Easter eggs and hot cross buns are appearing in supermarkets for financial reasons.  But perhaps, rather than complaining about them, we should use them to remind us what Christmas was all about.

 

Perhaps it's not wrong to turn our attention to Easter so soon after Christmas.  After all, there is no Easter without Christmas.

 

 

 

This Little Babe

There have been lots of Christmas programmes on TV recently with recipes and decorating suggestions and gift ideas - all sorts of things to help us prepare for Christmas.

 

Several things that I've watched recently have mentioned the fact that Christmas is all about the family, but something I watched this afternoon kept repeating that Christmas is all about children.

 

However, I would suggest that this isn't quite true.  Chrstmas is not all about children.  It is all about one child.  It is all about the baby Jesus, the child of God.

 

Luke writes,

 

"There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood.  They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God’s angel stood among them and God’s glory blazed around them.  They were terrified. The angel said, 'Don’t be afraid.  I’m here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David’s town, a Saviour who is Messiah and Master.  This is what you’re to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger.'"

 

[Luke 2:8-12 MSG]

 

A Saviour who is Messiah and Master. 

 

I always marvel at the idea that the shepherds (and later, the wise men), worshipped a baby.  I can understand someone worshipping a King, or worshipping a god.  But worshipping a baby?  The shepherds understood something about this child which we can so easily miss.

 

I love the words in this song, 'This Little Babe' by Benjamin Britten which tell of the true nature and identity of this tiny baby -

 

This little babe, so few days old

Has come to rifle satan's fold

All hell doth at his presence quake

Though he himself for cold do shake

For in this weak, unarmed wise

The gates of hell he will surprise

 

With tears he fights and wins the field

His naked breast stands for a shield

His battering shot are babish cries

His arrows looks of weeping eyes

Jesus was no ordinary baby.  He was the child of God and He was worth worshipping.

 

Christmas is all about the child.

 

 

 

Silent Night

I can't help feeling that whoever wrote the Carol 'Silent Night' didn't have children or have any friends with young children.

 

       Silent night, holy night

       All is calm, all is bright

       Round yon Virgin Mother and Child

       Holy Infant so tender and mild

       Sleep in heavenly peace

       Sleep in heavenly peace.

 

Whilst not a parent myself, I am surrounded by friends with young children, all of whom can testify that the first few weeks following the birth of their child/ren was anything but silent.

 

All was not calm.

 

They did not all sleep in heavenly peace.

 

However, I have noticed that there is a sense of calm that descends on a room when there is a baby around.  All eyes will turn towards the child, conversations will peter out and a sort of hush descends on the room. 

 

There is something calming and soothing about the presence of a baby.

 

It's the same with Jesus - both the baby and the man.  There is something calming in His presence.  When we look to Him - really look to Him - we find that the other things in our lives fade away.  The everyday busyness is stilled and we find ourselves at peace again.

 

       "You will keep in perfect peace
       all who trust in you,
       all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
       Trust in the Lord always,
       for the Lord God is the eternal Rock."

 

       [Isaiah 26:3 NLT]

 

 

When we look to Jesus and put our trust in Him, all becomes calm and we can sleep in [perfect] heavenly peace.

 

 

 

 

 

It's What's On The Inside That Counts

I've just started rewatching the Disney childhood classic 'Aladdin'.

 

At the beginning, the travelling salesman/narrator introduces the magic lamp and tells the audience that, like many things, It might not look like much from the outside, but it's what's on the inside that counts.

 

His line reminds me of Isaiah's description of Jesus:

 

       "He had no special beauty or form to make us notice him;
       there was nothing in his appearance to make us desire him.

       He was hated and rejected by people.
       He had much pain and suffering.
       People would not even look at him.
       He was hated, and we didn’t even notice him."

 

       [Isaiah 53:2-3 NCV]

 

There was nothing stereotypically attractive about Jesus.  Nothing on the outside to make us stop and notice Him.

 

But on the inside.

 

On the inside, He is the most attractive person who has ever lived.

 

But we have to look beneath the surface.  We have to choose to look beneath the surface.

 

The Jews rejected Jesus because He wasn't what they expected: they were waiting for a royal King to rescue them from oppression and to bring God's rule and reign to earth.  They were looking for a figure of strength and power and authority and instead, they found a tiny, weak, helpless baby in a manger.

 

They rejected Him because He didn't look like a King.

 

Sometimes we can reject Jesus because He doesn't fit our stereotype or our preconceptions.  We can reject Him as the One who can fulfil our needs and satisfy the longings of our hearts.  We can reject Him as the answer to our prayers.  We reject Him because He doesn't fit into our preconceived idea of what He should be like.

 

And He doesn't fit into our preconceptions, because He is bigger than them.  He is bigger than our ideas and our imaginings and our hopes and our dreams. 

 

But we only see it when we look beyond the surface.

 

 

 

 

Away In A Manger

I don't often think of God - or Jesus - as a baby.

I think of God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.  God my Strength, God my Stronghold, God my Tower.  God my King, God my Lord, God my Saviour.  God my Hope, God my Peace, God my Healer.  God my Bridegroom, God my Friend, God my Redeemer.

But I received this beautiful Christmas card yesterday, along with my birthday cards and the image of Jesus as a baby really struck me.

 

 

Jesus as a baby is weak and vulnerable.  He is completely dependent on the loving kindness of His parents.  His life is in their hands.

 

I often wonder why Jesus came to earth as a baby: God could have stepped down into this world as a fully-grown man and could have started His ministry immediately.  He could have had one or two years of preaching Good News and healing the sick and then still died on the cross.

 

So why did He come to earth as a tiny, helpless baby?

 

God isn't interested in a quick fix.  He's playing the long game.  He was more concerned about living His life alongside us and being a part of our lives, than He was about His own comfort and convenience.

 

The Bible describes Jesus becoming human this way,

 

        "[Jesus] who, being in very nature God,
        did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

        but made himself nothing,
        taking the very nature of a servant,
        being made in human likeness.

        And being found in appearance as a man,
        he humbled himself
        and became obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!"

 

       [Philippians 2:6-8 NIV]

 

In order to empathise with us and to understand our struggles and temptations, Jesus made Himself completely like us.  He humbled Himself so that He could fully understand our humanity.

 

I love this verse from the beginning of John's gospel, too -

 

"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."

 

        [John 1:14 NLT]

 

Jesus made his home among us.  He didn't just pop to earth for a brief visit.  He came to stay and to live alongside us, in all the messiness of our lives.  He came as a baby so that He could grow up among us and enter into our humanity.

 

I love this section of Hark the Herald Angels Sing about Jesus becoming a baby:

 

       "Veiled in flesh the Godhead see
       Hail the incarnate Deity
       Pleased as man with man to dwell
       Jesus, our Emmanuel
       Hark! The herald angels sing
       'Glory to the newborn King!'"

 

Jesus died for us as a man.  But He came to us as a baby.  Vulnerable and humble and longing to be loved.

Wrapping Paper

There is nothing more irritating when you have given someone a present, than watching them open it  r-e-a-l-l-y   s-l-o-w-l-y. 

 

You know what it is that you've bought them and you're excited to see their face when they unwrap it, but the longer it takes them to get into the present, the more irritating it becomes.

 

I remember a friend telling me several years ago how his nephews had been more interested in the wrapping paper that their Christmas presents had been wrapped in, than the actual presents themselves.  As soon as they had unwrapped their gifts, they had screwed up the wrapping paper to make a football and spent longer playing with that than they did with their gifts.

 

When it comes to Christmas, sometimes we can get distracted by the 'wrapping paper' too - the extra bits that the real Christmas message is wrapped in.

 

You hear people saying Christmas starts at home, or Christmas is all about family.  We focus on the gifts and the decorations and spending time with loved ones and eating a lot and drinking a lot and watching TV and going to parties and going to nativity plays and carol services.

 

And these things are all good.

 

But they are only the wrapping paper.  They are only the packaging for the real message, the real gift of Christmas.

 

These things are all good, but they cannot save us, or bring us life.

 

Only Jesus can do that.

 

“And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins [...] 

        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.’”

 

       [Matthew 1:21, 23 NLT]

 

 

Let's not let ourselves get distracted by the wrapping paper and the 'packaging' this Christmas.  Let's look beyond the food and the drink and the decorations and the parties and the church services.  Let's look beyond it all and peer into the crib, until we can see the tiny baby who came to save our world.

 

 

 

 

 

Childlike Faith

I have spent the evening with the beautiful baby daughter of two of my close friends.

 

Whenever I spend time with my friends' babies, I am reminded of how completely dependent on their parents babies are.  And of how utterly helpless they are by themselves.

 

Babies rely on their parents for food, for milk, for winding them, for changing their nappies, for attention.  They rely on them for everything.  

 

And there is a simple trust between babies and their parents.

 

Babies know that when they cry, someone - usually Mum or Dad - will attend to their needs.  Someone will come to help them and rescue them and give them whatever they need.

 

In the same way, the Bible tells us that God will always answer our cries for help and will attend to our needs; He is our Heavenly Father:

 

        "I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
        he heard my cry for mercy."

 

        [Psalm 116:1 NIV]

 

However, although I know this verse and others which talk about God's provision and His parental care for us, I am aware that I often don't believe this is what He is like.

 

I don't have that simple childlike, or babylike faith which believes that Daddy God will provide all that I need.  There is something in my heart which doubts His goodness, which doubts His kindness and His ability to provide.  Perhaps this is the result of disappointed hopes and dashed dreams in the past - things which have stripped away that childlike simplicity.

 

But I want to return to that childlike faith. 

 

“I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom."

 

[Matthew 18:3-4 MSG] 

 

I want to have a simple and elemental faith again.  I want to be childlike again.