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
GIFTED AND GIVEN (March 31, 2023)
THE GRACE THAT LIFTS (March 24, 2023)
GRACE ONSTAGE (March 17, 2023)
GRACE AND FEAR (March 10, 2023)
CONTAGIOUS GRACE (March 03, 2023)
FREE AND EQUAL (February 24, 2023)
NOTHING RANDOM ABOUT KINDNESS (February 17, 2023)
THE WORK OF FAITH (February 10, 2023)
COSTLY GRACE (February 03, 2023)
GRACE BELOW THE EARS (January 27, 2023)
THE CHAIN OF GRACE (January 20, 2023)
THE MASTER MOSAIC (January 13, 2023)
GRACE IN THE VOYAGE (January 06, 2023)
WALKING ACROSS THE LINE (December 30, 2022)
NO BETTER GIFT (December 23, 2022)
THE CERTAINTIES OF GRACE December 16, 2022)
NO STRINGS ATTACHED (December 09, 2022)
GRACE THAT LIFTS (December 02, 2022)
GRACE AT THE GATES (November 25, 2022)
REDEEMING THE TIME (November 18, 2022)
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