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shirenomadEmmanuel. The word means "God with us."
Although I won't argue that the resurrection isn't the most important event in Christianity, the birth of Jesus is in many ways just as amazing. Not because of the virgin birth or the angelic announcements or the star of Bethlehem; I don't think anyone who believed in God before or since would deny he was capable of doing all of that without breaking a sweat. But because, starting right then, the Creator of the Universe proved he could understand what it was like for us. He became human, and everything that came with it.
He was a baby; he needed diaper changes and feedings. He was a kid; he stubbed his toes and skinned his knees. He was a teenager; he went through puberty, his voice broke, he probably had acne. He was a young adult; he worked as a carpenter, got sore muscles and sweat. He made himself dependent on others.
And when death came, he feared it. He faced it, but he feared it. And by the time it arrived, he would understand pain, to levels his human body was never designed to tolerate.
For thirty-three years, the most powerful Being in existence walked among us. God was with us.
If God just wanted to die for our sins -- no small thing, don't get me wrong, but if that's all he wanted to do -- he could have showed up as an adult for a few days, gotten killed off, and that would have been that. Like some celebrity getting some photo ops with starving African kids for charity before going back home to a Hollywood mansion and a professional chef. But God went for the whole package.
And so we don't have to wonder if someone like him cares about us mortals. We don't have to wonder if he truly understands what it's like to be human. He does. He stepped off his throne and spent thirty-three years proving it. That's the miracle of Christmas.
Although I won't argue that the resurrection isn't the most important event in Christianity, the birth of Jesus is in many ways just as amazing. Not because of the virgin birth or the angelic announcements or the star of Bethlehem; I don't think anyone who believed in God before or since would deny he was capable of doing all of that without breaking a sweat. But because, starting right then, the Creator of the Universe proved he could understand what it was like for us. He became human, and everything that came with it.
He was a baby; he needed diaper changes and feedings. He was a kid; he stubbed his toes and skinned his knees. He was a teenager; he went through puberty, his voice broke, he probably had acne. He was a young adult; he worked as a carpenter, got sore muscles and sweat. He made himself dependent on others.
And when death came, he feared it. He faced it, but he feared it. And by the time it arrived, he would understand pain, to levels his human body was never designed to tolerate.
For thirty-three years, the most powerful Being in existence walked among us. God was with us.
If God just wanted to die for our sins -- no small thing, don't get me wrong, but if that's all he wanted to do -- he could have showed up as an adult for a few days, gotten killed off, and that would have been that. Like some celebrity getting some photo ops with starving African kids for charity before going back home to a Hollywood mansion and a professional chef. But God went for the whole package.
And so we don't have to wonder if someone like him cares about us mortals. We don't have to wonder if he truly understands what it's like to be human. He does. He stepped off his throne and spent thirty-three years proving it. That's the miracle of Christmas.
