Christmas—The Baby Was Only a Sign
Have you ever caught this?
Okay, Jesus is born. And it’s pretty sparse. No nurses. No bright lights from hospital lights. There are no phone calls out to waiting grandparents. The siblings don’t get a text message. No Facebook posts are made. No cute little video announcements.
It’s just Joseph, Mary, the manger, and the baby. Sure, I suppose the neighbors might have come by to check and see what the crying was about. But Luke, the physician, is pretty terse describing the birth:
The time came for the baby to be born.
She gave birth. He was her first.
She wrapped him up in a cloth. She put him in the feed trough.
There wasn’t any place else to put him.
The only visitors to come see the new baby are some smelly shepherds whom nobody even really liked. I mean, these guys would be the last guys to call to witness such a big event. But God thinks it’s pretty important: In fact, he sends angels to tell them “make haste” and get with it and see this Redeemer child.
And here’s where there is this little footnote that would be easy to miss. The baby is just the sign.
You see, the real news is that a Savior has been born. He’s the Messiah, the Lord! To be precise: “This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
I love that. The baby was just a sign. He was going to grow up. He wasn’t going to remain a baby, wrapped up, in cloths, in a manger. He had a mission to live out. A call to fulfill. Thankfully, Christmas is not just about a baby.
There’s a story that goes on. It’s about a baby that grows up, lives a pretty anonymous life—until about age 30—and turns the world upside down with a message of a loving God who gives his life so that others may live. Christmas, indeed.
Related articles:
Faith Is in the Not Knowing
Self-Fulfillment, Selfish Ambition, and the Way of the Cross
How Generosity Changed Everything—Lessons from Corinth—Part Four
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Bill High
Published December 28, 2017
Topics: A Life of Faith
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