Quiet.
God had been quiet - for 400 years.
No prophets, no signs.
When you venture through the Old Testament you can feel the thick desperation,
the weight of the hopes and repeated promises.
Promises of rescue - a savior - a king.
Promises made
- but not forgotten and not delayed.
Because -
In the fullness of time . . .
In the fullness of time, God sent His son. . . (Galatians 4:4a)
At the right moment, the right day, the right season
God sent His son.
And the story is more than characters and setting.
It's deeper than who and what and when.
The story tells why.
The story gives a message.
The story of Jesus is not quiet.
Even as a baby, Jesus broke the silence.
Don't let "Silent Night" fool you.
Don't let the quaint Nativities downplay the entrance.
God spoke that night.
He pointed to His son and began to show the Way.
Do you see what God is doing?
Mary and Joseph, already risking so much for obedience,
must now travel to Bethlehem at the end of her pregnancy.
Then this chosen family was left outside and alone.
They scrambled for cloth just to wrap the sweet baby.
We know the story and tell it like it's nice, but . . .
We don't like these moments.
We don't like obeying, following, and seeking
only to find a struggle -
obedience that detours to loneliness.
We don't want or expect the rejection and plight.
Do you see what God is doing?
Bethlehem.
Why here? Why now?
“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel, whose origins are in the distant past, will come from you on my behalf.” - Micah 5:2
And NO ROOM?
Not one place to stay?
Oh you know they were praying.
Mary, the mother of Jesus, must have prayed desperately for a place to stay.
Surely Joseph, the provider and protector, asked God to help.
But there they were.
No miraculous room,
just using the shelter of animals for their precious baby,
wrapping their son with the cloths -
the cloths used for lambs.
Do you see what God is doing?
Who would see and understand?
Who would find Him and see the first mystery?
God announces with glory on a hillside to one little group.
Shepherds.
They will know.
They will see.
And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.” Luke 2:12
Do you see what God is doing?
"Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" - John 1:29
That night was not so quiet.
The shepherds heard the good news;
they found the perfect lamb;
and they ran to tell it.
-----
The star.
God spoke from the heavens with a star.
Who would see?
Who would understand?
The Magi.
The Magi know the message of the star.
They traveled to find a king, but they found more.
On the way, they found a king who feared the King.
When they arrived they bowed to Someone greater than they had expected.
Do you see what God is doing?
Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”
-John 18:36
Most didn't see,
but it was not quiet.
God announced His son.
God showed us salvation.
God revealed the King.
-----
Advent means coming.
In this season of Advent, we celebrate our Savior.
He did come. The Lamb of God broke the silence.
He did save.
He came as a King, but with a Kingdom we cannot see.
A Kingdom that is yet to fully come.
The advent lingers,
My heart still swells.
The King is coming again.
Everything God does has meaning.
The answered prayers.
The unanswered prayers.
The miracles and the struggles.
The silence and the signs.
Do you see what God is doing?
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. - Revelation 22:20
Comments