CHRISTMAS EVE AND THE ADVENT OF THE SAVIOR OF THE WORLD

My wife and I went to a Christmas Eve service at a local church – the type where it is easier to find a leprechaun than a pew Bible. The church was packed and we watched them as they took Communion, wondering whether they believed that they were singing about the Savior of the world.

However, it wasn’t this way for the shepherds in the field on what seemed to be a very ordinary night. Suddenly the boredom was shattered by the presence of an angelic messenger and the glory of the Lord.

The lowly shepherds, who had been living with their sheep in the fields, were perhaps by now, covered with dew. Instead of filling them with excitement, this divine appearance filled them with terror. Why? This was always how people experienced the presence of God. At the manifestation of God upon Mt. Sinai, the Israelites were so terrified that they thought they would die. The entire Mosaic sacrificial system informed Israel that they could not approach God without being struck dead. After all, they were still in their sins – they were under a curse – and their holy and righteous God had not yet been satisfied. Instead, He was breathing wrath.

·       But the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

They would no longer have to fear the presence of the Lord because the promised Messiah had already come, and it was time to celebrate. He would save them from their sins, something that the Law had been unable to do. The marriage between God and His people had begun. They would now be enabled to approach their Savior.

·       And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:13-14)

Peace? Yes! What kind of peace? Between God and His people! The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) had finally arrived in the most unlikely way – in a smelly manger, swaddled with strips of cloth meant to wrap the dead. The symbolism was unmistakable to the shepherds – a Child born to die, just as the sacrificial sheep, which they had been shepherding.

It was now grabbing my heart.  He is also my Savior. I hadn’t been waiting for Him, but He had been waiting for me to come to the end of my hope. I knew that I was an utter failure and felt deeply ashamed of myself. It was so tormented that it was hard for me to come into the presence of others, let alone the presence of God. I so hated myself that I was sure that others hated me.

However, this suffering, this consuming shame, this insecurity has been eradicated by the advent of this Child who became sin for me. Consequently, He is precious to me. He must have also been to the lowly shepherds who had been invited into His presence to celebrate His advent.

What He has done for us is very tangible:

·       Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10:19-22)

Consequently, we need no longer dread the presence of God. We can stand tall, even in the face of persecution. We know who we are, and no one can take that away.

I wondered whether the congregants of this church were just going through the motions. Did they understand what they were doing here and who they were singing about? I wanted to scream out, “Do you realize who this Child is,” but I didn’t.

What it’s Like to be Rejected – a “Loser”

We’ve all tasted rejection. However, some of us have lived under a blanket of shame – a constant sense, even a conviction, that we are “losers.” We feel hated by the world, and we consequently hate back. It’s a prison worse than bars and a ball and chain!

Jesus was the quintessential reject or “loser.” Luke reports that He was born “in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). Although Mary’s husband Joseph came from Bethlehem, it seems that there were no family members to take them in. Perhaps, this was because it was plain to all that Jesus had been conceived out of wedlock. Although He had been conceived by the Holy Spirit, it appeared to everyone else that He was no more than a bastard.

To add to the shame and disgrace, His parents was virtually homeless, and Jesus had no other birthing place than a filthy animal manger. Our crèche scenes tend to make this setting seem idyllic. However, a manger was anything but that. It was generally covered with manure, thoughtlessly deposited as the animals ate from their manger. Of course, this environment also attracted all types of insect pests and their manure-eating larvae.

To add further to the shame, Joseph and Mary seemed to lack baby clothing. Perhaps they had expected to receive these from Joseph’s family? Consequently, they had to wrap the baby Jesus in strips of cloth they found in the manger.

Some commentators insist that these strips of cloth were actually used to wrap the dead. And perhaps they kept them in the mangers to keep them out of sight and out of mind. If this is the case, the symbolism is unmistakable. Jesus was born to die.

Meanwhile, an angel beckoned a troupe of lowly shepherds to visit the smelly manger and gave them a sign so that they would know that they came to the right place:

·        “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:12)

The shepherds needed some forewarning. It was inconceivable that the homeless parents they’d encounter in a smelly manger would be the parents of the Messiah, the Savior of the world and that the child nestled in filth would one day become their Savior.

Yet, there they found Him, just as the angel had promised. It was also too difficult for Joseph and Mary to believe that, out of such shameful circumstances, a Messiah would arise to save the world.

Instead of touching down in a palace before adoring kings, King Herod attempted to kill the Messiah. Instead of the reception He deserved, He was met with utter rejection. The family then had to flee to Egypt and eventually returned to Nazareth to face the music of an out-of-wedlock birth.

Why did not the Father prepare a glorious earthly welcome for His Son? As Savior, He was meant to be the lowest of the lowly – the ultimate reject. Why? So that all would be able to identify with Him! So no one could say, “You just don’t understand. You haven’t been through what I have.” Therefore Jesus could say:

·        “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29; NKJV)

Finding “rest for your souls” depended upon His being “gentle and lowly.” We have a mistaken idea that Jesus’ time hear on earth was like a vacation. However, Isaiah informs us that:

·        He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. (Isaiah 53:3)

His incarnation was no joy-ride. He was misunderstood and rejected even by His own people and family. Meanwhile, He had to live under the prospect of the worst death conceivable – a crucifixion. Nor was He able to just turn off the fear and pain. He even prayed to the Father that if there was any other way to accomplish the salvation of humanity, then He should spare Jesus the cross (Luke 22:42).

The cross was more than excruciating; it was also humiliating to the max. Jesus had been beaten to a bloody pulp and then stripped naked – the ultimate humiliation.

He did this for us. In my decades-long struggle with severe depression, feeling that I was the ultimate looser, I often wondered if God was a cosmic sadist, passively watching a freak show called “humanity.” That’s the way it felt to me. However, over the years, the life of my Messiah and His cross have become radiantly alive for me.

Jesus isn’t robotic, unfeeling or sadistic. He suffered humiliation, rejection, and death for me even though I had hated Him. If He was willing to suffer so much for us, He must really love us! He became a loser so that we might become winners. He experienced the worst humiliations so that we would be exalted.

In His death, He has set me free. Jesus offers us a new life and a dignity. At the least, shouldn’t we be willing to “Taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8)?