Read Luke 2: 8-12
As we enter the season of advent, we think of Jesus this cute baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, in a stable in a place with a nice name, visited by the shepherds and the wise men and angels. The Christmas cards we have been brought up with show that it may have been snowing outside, and if we use our imaginations we can see cows and sheep admiring the baby as he lies peacefully in his manger with a smiling camel looking on. The story almost has this kind of fairy tale presence about it.
What we should remember is this was a real place.
The town overcrowded because of a census ordered by Caesar Augustus.
The smelly stable attached to an overcrowded house. You would have had to be careful where you stepped.
The Roman occupied Middle East.
Unwed teenaged parents.
The real hard times, babies slaughtered at the whim of a King.
The young couple fleeing to Egypt to escape the very likely death of their first born son.
This Jesus lived a real life; we have a few details of his life until he was thirty years, when he taught a group of twelve men who had come from a variety of backgrounds, fishermen, a tax collector, a political activist. All who encountered him over the next three years would not forget him. There were those who listened to him, those who loved him, and those who hated him!
For three years he taught, he was tried as a criminal and executed as a liar and a breaker of God’s law.
The bible tell us three days later he rose from the dead, ascended into heaven and now sits at the right hand of God the Father.
Regardless what you think or believe about this no one can deny that what he taught has had more impact on the world than any single man or woman before or since.
The teachings of this Jesus turned the world on its head, this group of men who followed him, taught what he taught with a passion, compelled by their own relationship with this man who would be God.
Eleven of the twelve men that he taught also suffered criminal’s deaths. Still the teachings of this Jesus turned the world on its head.
Despite ongoing opposition down through the centuries, his word, ’The Word’ continues to turn the world on its head.
This Christmas Babe lying in its crib can still turn people’s worlds; all they need do is ask. There is an important part of this Christmas Story that you don’t see in the cards or hear sung about in Church, its you!
Jesus came so that you can have life that is full to overflowing; this comes about when you begin a relationship with him. If you’ve never taken the time to find out who and what Jesus is about take the time this Christmas to visit a bible believing church, what you find may just change your life!
