Merry Christmas, Everyone! I know Jesus wasn't born on December 25th, but rather sometime in the fall, and I know it's taken from a pagan holiday, but we still celebrate it in our house and put our focus on Jesus and His wonderful gift to mankind!
Today, as you celebrate in whatever way you desire, take a moment and think about how hard it was for Jesus to leave His heavenly home where He had every luxury imaginable, where He was God, and King, and ruler! He left all of that to become a helpless baby, suffer through childhood with all its awkwardness and dependence and emotional trauma , grow to be a man, enduring all the things we endure.. hard work, the cold, heat, hunger, exhaustion, muscle aches, stomach and even head aches. On top of that, he was taunted, teased, rejected, expelled, bullied, abandoned, and not believed. And that was all before His crucifixion, which I hear is the most painful death of all. Then as he hung there in excruciating pain, naked, embarrassed, mocked, abandoned by those he loved, the worst thing ever happened. The presence of His Father left Him, and for the first time in all eternity, Jesus was truly and utterly all alone.
Why did He go through all of that? Why not just wipe out the earth and start over? Why? Because He loved YOU! And He couldn't stand the thought of not being with you, of not having you in His life.
Think about that as you celebrate this day and give Him the thanks and love He deserves!
Merry Christmas Marylu and thanks for all your hard work! I did watch a very interesting video in which the preacher (a Messianic Jew) who said that Jesus was born in the springtime, more than likely the 1st of Nisan (the Jewish New Year) because that was the only time of the year the shepherds would have been out in the fields at night as it was lambing season. And that all the lambs provided for the temple sacrifice were provided by the shepherds of Bethlehem. So Jesus, our sacrificial Lamb, would have to be born in Bethlehem (not just because of Micah). Cool, right?
ReplyDeleteVery interesting! The Spring would make sense, right? But I love that the shepherds had to be near Bethlehem because of the sacrificial lambs! Wow.. they symbolism there is amazing. What an amazing God we serve! Thank you for that info!!
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