The Christmas season is full of wonder and joy. I love the excitement and anticipation it brings to children and families, the increased desire to serve and help others, the emphasis on Christ and His meaning in our lives. His birth was rich in beautiful symbolism that helps me know and appreciate Him in my life far beyond the bustle and celebrations of December.
I think of the angel announcing His birth to His mother, giving Him a name and a title–“Immanuel,” “God with us”–before the event took place, signifying His eternal role as our Savior, His status before He came here, and the knowledge that His life and time on earth would mean He is ‘with us.’ ‘With us’ in the sense of experiencing mortality with all of its pain, sorrow, disappointment and hardship (along with its joys, triumphs and goodness,) and ‘with us’ in the sense that He is our intercessor with our Father in Heaven, standing with us and offering His merits and power to overcome the Fall and our sin–to ‘cover’ us and reconcile us in our separation from God.
I think of Joseph and Mary, compelled to travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem (90-100 miles; approximately 5-6 day journey) to be ‘taxed’ (a word that also denotes a burden or heavy demand) when she was far along in her pregnancy, thus necessitating her delivery far from home in inhospitable conditions. His birth was not marked with ease and convenience; His mother not spared hardship or suffering in her calling to carry and deliver and nurture the Son of God. His was the most essential and influential of all the lives ever born on Earth, and yet it was striking in its difficulty and sacrifice. We should not be surprised that our lives, too, require those same things–that we are often expected to do difficult things when it is inconvenient; that even when we are working diligently to follow God and to do what He asks, our lives are demanding and heavy in sorrow and pain; that out of great hardship we learn more about who we are and what we really want.
I think of the physical surroundings His birth–in a stable, laid in a manger. King of kings and Lord of lords, born where animals sheltered with no earthly comforts or worldly prestige. It seems that from His very earliest moments on the earth He was showing us that He is not afraid of or beneath our worst, messiest places (physically, emotionally, or spiritually.) In meekness He came, He loved, He healed, He taught, with no concern for status or need to prove Himself. Miraculously, He is willing to go to the depths to bring us home and to show us how little value those worldly trappings have eternally.
A star joined the heavens that night, bringing new light to those wise enough to look for and follow it. Angels, enrobed in light, told shepherds the ‘good tidings of great joy’ that the Savior had been born. Both shepherds and wise men (unlearned and lowly, wealthy and learned) then chose to follow that light, leaving behind worldly pursuits to find the King. We also are given light and invited to follow it. We are required to choose, like them, whether we will seek that light or not and to choose what we are willing to give (or give up) to do so. Our journeys (some shorter and some longer) to seek and follow the Light of the world will lead us to Him, the babe in the manger, Son of God, born to save us all. He will illuminate our path and prevent us from spending our days in darkness, while providing the way and the truth to bring us back home.
These symbols (and many more) of His birth and His life demonstrate who He is and how He loves. It is that love that fills the season with joy, that brings light to the world, that summons and entices us to follow that we might have the joy and light He offers in a fulness-throughout our years and forever.
