Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is the night when we celebrate the coming of Jesus, God’s beloved child. Isn’t that amazing? Isn’t that incredible?
More than 2,000 years after the birth of this child, Jesus, we still pause every year to celebrate the gift of his birth. There are many babies who have been born this year, whose births and lives will be celebrated by family and friends, but 2,000 years later – just imagine that.
What kind of person does it take to be remembered so significantly for so long? What kind of person does it take to continue to shape lives and mend hearts, 2,000 years after he lived?
Well, it takes Jesus. I am constantly in awe that a tiny baby, whose family was from the peasant class, has had such an impact on the world. Jesus defied all odds. Nothing in his life set him up to be such a well-known person. He wasn’t born in a palace. There was no social media to immediately send the news of his birth around the world. He lived quietly in Nazareth as a carpenter for 30 years, attended no special schools or training camps. His ministry lasted only 3 years before his untimely death at the hands of the Romans. None of this points to a person who would have such a lasting impact.
But this was Jesus! There was something more about this person, something that those around him named as divine.