Think about some of the major events that have taken place in the world that you remember. You know…the ones that you can tell everybody where you were and what you were doing when those events took place.
Here are a few dates that come to my mind.
November 22, 1963.
Just about everyone who is old enough to remember back 60 years can tell you exactly where they were when they heard the agonizing news that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas, Texas.
I remember exactly where I was that day. I was in the my 4th Grade classroom. Our teacher, Mrs. Elaine Swift, was suddenly and unusually called out of the room. There was something different about how she was called out, but I can’t remember what was different. Our class sat there quietly waiting to hear what happened. Sitting quietly when the teacher left the room was not normal for many of us. After what seemed like a long time wait, Mrs. Swift came back into the room weeping. She reported to us that the President of the United States had been killed. I remember being shocked and disillusioned by the news. I cannot remember what happened the rest of that day. I feel like maybe classes were canceled and we were allowed to go home. However, I’m not certain of that.
The famous Christian, British author, C.S. Lewis (The Chronicles of Narnia, The Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity) died that same day in November 1963 The news of his death went almost unnoticed when just 55 minutes later President Kennedy was shot and killed.
September 11, 2001
That’s another one of those days. If you’re old enough, you remember exactly where you were when the news of terrorist attacks took place in Manhattan and Washington D.C., and then the plane going down in Pennsylvania. As Alan Jackson wrote shortly after, it seemed as though the world had stopped turning.
March, 2020
The world shut down because of COVID-19. This left such a mark that we now refer to it as before and after. When we work at trying to remember happenings in our lives we say things like… “I know that was before COVID”.
Each generation experiences big events that seemingly change the course of the world. However, when you talk to your kids or grandchildren you discover that they don’t know much about those events. If they do, they are more or less just a blip on the radar of history for them. In Ecclesiastes, we are told… “We don’t remember what happened in those former times, and in the future generations no one will remember what we have done back here”.
When it comes to remembering or forgetting it’s incredible then that one event in world history has never been forgotten by any generation. That event is the Birth of Jesus Christ.
Some people might believe the only reason it is not forgotten is because of crazy followers who think Jesus was God and try to keep the memory of His birth alive.
Others might blame commercialization for the reason Jesus’ birth is still remembered. They’ll say that it’s all about the money!
If an event is important enough to us we try to keep the memory of it alive. And we should. We learn from history.
I saw some mentions of the 60th Anniversary of President Kennedy’s death last month. Although I think those mentions went almost unnoticed, it was important for me to reflect on that day and on those times in America.
We try to keep the memory of 9/11 going. I visited Ground Zero once and I’ve been to the Memorial three times. However, I’ve noticed that as each year passes I’m less aware. Now some years 9/11 comes and goes without me paying much attention.
However, the entrance of Jesus Christ is remembered without fail. Certainly, some of that has to do with festivities and commercialization. But it’s much more than those things that cause us to remember. His arrival into the world did something no other event ever did and will never do again. It sliced history in two.
There’s a line in the calendar. BC and AD. Or today it’s often called BCE and CE. It does not matter what initials are used. It’s the birth of Jesus that sliced our calendar.
Even the Bible, which is all about Jesus from Genesis through Revelation, was divided into two testaments because of the coming of Jesus Christ - the Old Testament and the New Testament.
The ages were divided. Before Christ came it was the age of promise. The Promised Messiah is coming. Now we enjoy the Age of Fulfillment. The Messiah has come.
Today, because of Christ, we live in what the Bible calls the last days. I know many think of “the last days” as a few years, maybe a decade or two. However, these last days in which we live have been going on for 2,000 years. These last days, this age of fulfillment, began when Jesus entered the world in a most unusual way.
Although we still wait for the day when the church and Christ will be fully consummated, just think of all the promises of the Messiah from the Old Testament that have been accomplished. Here are some of those fulfillments.
The birth of Messiah.
The crucifixion of the Messiah.
The atonement for our sins.
The propitiation (fancy word for satisfying the wrath of God against us because of our sins).
The resurrection.
The ascension of our Savior to Heaven.
The birth of the Church on the Day of Pentecost.
The giving of the Holy Spirit.
The New Testament Gospels and Letters.
Christ’s intercession on our behalf.
Global mission efforts (the gospel being taken to the ends of the earth)
The open door to the Holy Holies into God’s presence through prayer.
Those are just a few of the things prophesied and fulfilled through Jesus.
There has never ever been any other historical event as important, as remembered, as earth-shattering, as life-changing, as Jesus Christ taking on the form of a man and coming into this world. By comparison, all other events are minuscule and, in a relatively short time, forgotten.
Think about it. Throughout history, billions of people have lived and died. Kingdoms have conquered other kingdoms, to be conquered by other kingdoms. Kings and Presidents and Dictators have become famous or infamous and then they have disappeared from the memories of new generations. The town where I grew up is called Benton, Wisconsin. I'm guessing there are probably only a couple of history buffs who can tell us who Benton was. The fact is, the rest of us don’t care who Benton was.
But there's one name. Just one name. The name of Jesus is the name above all names and is known today throughout most of the planet.
During this season when we think about the coming of Christ into the world compare for a few minutes how different His coming would have been if natural-man would have planned it.
We all know the story of the Birth of Jesus. There are a lot of Bible passages that document what happened. We know the story of Mary and Joseph. We know how they had to travel to Bethlehem to be numbered in the census. We know there was no room in the inn so they found lodging in a stable. We know about the manger, the feed trough, that was turned into a makeshift cradle.
If it were up to natural man, how do you suppose the birth of the Messiah would have looked? How would man have chosen to introduce the King of all kings into the world?
I’m certain, there would have been a great deal of fanfare. There would have been an advertising campaign. Horns would have been blown to gather people for the announcement in every town. I’m guessing there would have been parades and billboards reading “King Comes to Bethlehem”. Vendors and food carts would have lined the street to the stable.
If men were in charge of the coming of Christ, I also doubt very much that He would have even come as a baby. Men would prefer Him coming as a conquering warrior, wearing a magnificent robe, and riding on the most beautiful white horse the world had ever seen. If man were running the show, there would have been armies of angels, beyond numbering, following behind the Messiah. But I also believe that if man were doing the planning His entrance would have been overshadowed by all the hullabaloo.
Praise God that He didn’t let mankind take charge of His Son’s introduction.
Isaiah 55:8
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
The way the Lord chose is a way that touches hearts in special way. The All-Powerful Jesus became the All-Helpless Baby. I don’t think there can be anything more helpless in this world than a newborn baby. A newborn is totally dependent on his or her parents for every single need. If natural man planned His entrance, it would probably would not have been remembered by the next generation. But the quiet, humble birth of Christ has never ever been forgotten.
The only fanfare surrounding the birth of Christ was the announcement given to a few shepherds out in a field. They went and saw the Baby and returned to their flocks marveling and telling anyone who would listen. Shepherds were low-class, stinky people with whom most people didn’t want to associate. So, we don’t know how many people listened. What’s great is that God’s Way was for the lowly shepherds to be the first to hear about the birth of the Good Shepherd.
The only other fanfare was a new star appearing in the sky. If there was a new star in the sky tonight, I know for a fact that I wouldn’t notice. The new star went unnoticed except by a few astronomers living somewhere to the East of Israel.
In Isaiah’s prophecy about the coming Messiah, he wrote this:
Isaiah 53:2
For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
That simply means Jesus grew up like many boys in Israel and there was nothing significant to talk about regarding His childhood years. After the birth of Jesus, the next thing we know is that at around the age of 2, his parents rushed Him off to Egypt for His own protection. The next time we read about Him is when He’s 12 years old and the family visits Jerusalem. Then not again until He’s about 30 years old when He began His public ministry.
Even though we know the birth story of Jesus quite well, we should never allow the story and the circumstances surrounding His birth to become so familiar that we lose the wonder of it. His humble birth is very significant to us today.
It’s significant because we see that He left the riches of Heaven and embraced human poverty so that you and I could become spiritually rich. So that we could be joint heirs with Him in God’s Kingdom.
One of my mother’s favorite hymns was Ivory Palaces. The chorus is:
Out of the ivory palaces,
Into a world of woe,
Only His great eternal love
Made my Savior go.
The humble birth of Jesus is significant because He left the glory of Heaven and embraced humility. This teaches us that we need to willingly leave our pride, along with any glory we have obtained, and humbly admit we need a Savior. Jesus continues to be born again and again and again into every humble heart that turns to Him.
Jesus’ entrance into this world was quiet and peaceful. And this was significant because… His birth proves that we are not going to change the world with human power such as military forces. We change the world with love. peace and forgiveness, one soul at a time.
If natural man would had planned the Birth of Jesus it would have been a lot louder, and most likely it would have had a lot less impact.
Please don’t miss out on the significance of Jesus Christ’s entrance into the world.
Are you enjoying the spiritual richness of being a part of God’s family?
Have you stepped away from your pride to humbly admit your need for a Savior?
Have you asked Jesus to come into your heart?
Are you quietly and peacefully following the way of Jesus helping to change the world one soul at a time?
Jesus coming as a Man was the most important event to ever take place in the history of the world. I am thankful that you and I are invited to be included in the story.
