It’s the most frequently portrayed scene in all of human history.
Four-year olds sketch out the wise men, sheep, and cattle. Sculptors craft three human figures beneath a simple roof, and we fill in the rest. Churches erect elaborate crèches, some with anxious animals, some with freezing actors. Billions of gilded Christmas cards imagine this one moment in its gentle innocence.
Why does the story of a humble birth 2000 years ago transfix a weary world? Because it is supremely a story of hope, of resistance, of pushing back against the dreadful narrative of death and power and pain. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it” (John 1:4-5).
Jesus entered this life we live by the low road, though He owns all roads that ever were. He was worshipped—yes, adored—by midnight shepherds stained with mud—men ignored by all the proud and powerful, though He is rightfully worshipped by archangels, universal praise, and choirs. “God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important” (1Cor 1:28).
Jesus always gives Himself to those brought low by circumstance or grief—the poor, the poorly treated, the poor in spirit—the folks who cannot turn the world their way. Beginning from the bottom, He lifts all of us toward heaven.
Embrace this Child. Your hope and joy will also rise.
And you will stay in grace. -Bill Knott
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ANOTHER KIND OF PRODIGAL (April 12, 2024)
UNMERITED (April 05, 2024)
MORNING HAS BROKEN (March 29, 2024)
ALWAYS AMAZING (March 22, 2024)
NEVER WALK ALONE (March 15, 2024)
ALL ARE GIFTED (March 08, 2024)
BEYOND BELIEF (March 01, 2024)
DOES GOD HEAR ME? (February 23, 2024)
AND THERE WAS HOPE (February 16, 2024)
HE ALWAYS WAS HUMBLE AND KIND (February 09, 2024)
REHEARSING THE GOSPEL (February 02, 2024)
THE HONEST TRUTH (January 26, 2024)
THE SONG OF THE REDEEMED (January 19, 2024)
UNWEARIED LOVE (January 12, 2024)
A COVENANT FOR WANDERERS (January 05, 2024)
GRACE TO FORGET (December 29,2023)
THE NIGHT WILL BE LIGHT (December 15, 2023)
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