Behold Your King
Christmas Day is almost upon us and it seems that every year we as Christians struggle to keep Christ at the center of our family traditions and celebrations. We find ourselves pushing back against a world view that has determined to make Christmas just another day in a holiday season that stretches from Thanksgiving into the New Year. So, how do we keep Christ in Christmas? I would suggest that we use these last few days of Advent to reflect on this question: who was this babe born in a stable to a teenage girl named Mary some 2,000 years ago?
From the beginning this was no ordinary birth and no ordinary child. Luke's Gospel relates that the birth of Jesus was foretold by the angel Gabriel. He declared to a virgin named Mary that the power of the Holy Spirit would conceive the child and "The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." All Israel had been waiting for this moment since their return from exile in Babylon some 500 years earlier. It was an event prophesied 250 years before when Isaiah declared that a child would be born who would be called "Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace", and that he would reign over David's throne and kingdom forever. The arrival of a king in ancient times would be heralded by trumpets and a royal procession attended by the elites of the nation and crowds of cheering subjects. In contrast, the birth of Jesus was revealed to shepherds, the lowest caste of Israelite, who were beckoned to see the coming King not in a palace in Jerusalem, but in a horse trough in a barn in Bethlehem. The call to the shepherds came not through human design. They witnessed the veil of heaven open and angelic messengers of God bringing the "Good News" that Messiah had come to free the world from the bondage of sin and evil. These were not chubby babies with little wings from a Renaissance painting but powerful and awe inspiring heavenly host declaring "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."
As we ready ourselves to celebrate this Christmas Day, let's begin to envision our Nativity scenes as more than just an idyllic family gathering around a newborn child. God has come to dwell with us. We can and should celebrate with great joy the Advent of Jesus our King who has come to establish God's Kingdom of righteousness and restore God's good creation. More than the blessings of "Merry Christmas" let us declare this Christmas to the world: "Behold Your King!"