Being God manifested in
the flesh at the Advent, Jesus is unique from all other creation. He was there in the beginning, the instrument
of Creation, the long-awaited Messiah, the dispenser of Grace, the Ultimate Blood
Sacrifice, the founder and Head of the Church and at the end, the final Judge
of all Creation. Although He could have
been born anywhere and under any circumstances, He chose to be born outside of
the Inn since there was no room for Him there, wrapped in rags by his Mother
and laid in a manger from which animals ate their food.
His first visitors were
the poorest of workers, Shepherds from the surrounding fields who were rarely
invited to the King's Ball to mix with the societal elite. He grew up in a modest economic home life
where he learned the value of working for a living by using the craft learned
from his Dad. He learned responsibility
for family, being the oldest, since apparently his earthly Dad died before he
launched into His ministry. Even His
ministry was itinerate as He spread His Gospel to as many as He could reach.
For Someone who owned all
of Creation He put little stock in riches.
His message was counter-culture focusing rather on "doing for the
least of these" while being critical toward those of "religion"
and wealth. His compassion, empathy and
love focused on meeting the needs of people rather than accumulating rank,
power and wealth.
From our perspective, some
two-thousand years hence from His appearing, we have become sophisticated in
our complacency and rested in our assurance.
Scientists will nullify Him, atheists mock those who follow Him,
doubters continue to disbelieve Him, ignorance of Him by the masses continue to
prevail, many who believe themselves too educated to be bound by such
dependency beliefs in Him continue to sneer at His very name and many in the
world-at-large continue to try to kill Him by killing His followers.
It seems, however, for
those who have tried to obscure and diminish the name of Jesus over the
centuries have simply failed. A man born
outside the Inn, laid in a manger, visited by shepherds, scorned by His own
people during His lifetime, rejected by the religious hierarchy, nailed on a
cross by the occupiers of his home country and laid in a borrowed grave,
officially sealed by the government, He has caused quite a stir in our
world. From the first century until now
He has had millions of followers, many of whom have given their own lives as martyrs
rather than deny Him, millions more around the world who continue to follow Him
and would also lay down their own lives rather than deny their strongly held belief
in Him.
Shepherds continue to
visit Him and Wise Men still seek Him; for those of us who continue to place
our faith in Him, we will once again gather around the manger to worship.
Jim Killebrew
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