Jesus’ Birthday

I know we don’t know the exact day on which He was born but it doesn’t really matter, we have the approximate time period. What matters is that He was born, that He willing came to us and became one of us in accordance with the will of the Father. It’s hard to wrap your mind around what actually happened on the day that Jesus was born. I can almost smell the hay in the manger where He was laid. To gaze upon Him as a little baby boy, so innocent and perfect and to know what laid in store for Him down the road. What they would do to that little body of His when He grew up to be a man. What He would do for us what we of ourselves could never do. The Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.

It’s crazy the things that come to mind when I think of Jesus and what His name means. I remember being in a small group of young boys at a Church where the leader asked us why Jesus washed the disciples feet. I was about ten years old at that time and though I was being funny when I responded, “Because they were dirty.” Little did I know or understand the meaning associated with that act that Jesus performed. Little did I know that I needed washing, and the amount of dirt that would accumulate in my life and little did I know or appreciate what the name “Jesus” would come to mean in my life.

Funny how those things stay in your mind.

I’ve been in Jerusalem where Jesus walked. I’ve gazed upon the Garden of Gethsemane and looked upon the Mount of Olives. Real places, just like Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. Real people like Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna. People like you and people like me. Jesus came to save us all, if we would let Him, if we would come to understand who He really is and why we need to accept His sacrifice, the lamb without blemish, for our sins. He gave His body for us so that we could be clean again, new like a baby, because our minds and hearts had become different from God, far short from what originally was intended. Yes, my feet became dirty and I needed Jesus to wash them, and He did, with His blood.

And it’s not just what He did, it’s what He continues to do that boggles my mind and my heart. Because Jerusalem is where He rose again from the dead and where the disciples first became baptized in the Holy Spirit, where the Spirit of God came to reside or Tabernacle within them and where they, like us, were washed clean and then daily thereafter through His existence within them and us, through the Holy Spirit. The daily cleansing that we all need. That’s the living water that He spoke of, His presence within us, guiding us, fellowshipping with us, loving us, correcting us, walking with us as we all head towards that day when we stand before Him and see Him face to face.

That’s what the little baby Jesus made possible, that’s why He was born, as a child, like us, to bring us back to oneness with the Father, to get rid of that dirt that was on our feet, the things that separate us from God, because God is actually Holy, the source of all love, righteous, just, without favour, without malice or malicious intent. The holiness of God is like going through all your life seeing everything in black and white and then suddenly seeing everything in vivid colour. The holiness of God is like that vivid colour only much much much greater. You have to be in His Holy presence to understand and if you’ve never asked Jesus to wash you clean with His blood, the sad sad thing is that you never will.

So don’t just think of the birth of Christ as a fable, it actually happened (check out what the vast majority of all scholars say). Don’t just think of His teachings as wise words because they are much more than that and don’t think of His death and resurrection as a fanciful tradition because He did actually die and He did actually rise again from the dead (you can check that out too). And don’t just think that God isn’t real because He is real and you can experience His presence, here, now, today and it’s all because of that little baby boy named Jesus who was born so many years ago.

So yes, I will celebrate the birth of Jesus, my Saviour, with my fellow Christians, I will praise His Holy Name, I will sing of the wonder of God’s mercy and love and I will kneel in worship and thank God for what He chose to do, because He loves us and doesn’t want any to perish without coming to know Him. But….. the choice is ours and you’ll never know unless you call on His Holy name.

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!