A Different Kind of Baby

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son,

and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.'”

– Matthew 1:23 –

 

     Is this verse what we think of when we hear the word “Christmas” today? In the year 2009? Sadly, most of the time it is not. We think about trees, or big men with white beards or cookies or  all the sales at the stores, or how we can’t go to the store because our pockets are empty. We then wallow in self-pity while our neighbors go out and buy all kinds of shiny new things that in the end will amount to nothing. Why do we envy those who are able to spend so much money at Christmas? The toys will break, the gadgets will get old, the food will be eaten. I doubt Mary was concerned with any of these petty, earthly things while she was holding Jesus Christ in her arms.

      But even if we do think of Jesus when we hear the word “Christmas” what exactly do we think of Him? Do we think about a sweet little baby boy born of a virgin and leave it at that? Letting it be a feel good story for our hearts, while continuing to rip open all our new shiny toys and gorge ourselves with pie and cookies.

      Or do we think about our Saviour, the One who broke the chains of death for us! The One who overcame the grave and is alive today! Although He once was, He is NOT a baby anymore! He is highly exalted! As we read the “Christmas story” this Christmas, I wonder if we should also read Isaiah 53.

 

“See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted. But many were amazed when they saw him. His face was so disfigured he seemed hardly human, and from his appearance, one would scarcely know he was a man. And he will startle many nations, Kings will stand speechless in his presence. For they will see what they had not been told; they will understand what they had not heard about.

 

Who has believed our message? To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm? My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot, like a root in dry ground. There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him. He was despised and rejected–a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care.

 

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.

 

He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth. Unjustly condemned, he was led away. No one cared that he died without descendants, that his life was cut short in midstream. But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had NEVER deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.

 

But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief. Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands. When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear ALL their sins. I will give him the honors of a victorious solder, because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.“

– Isaiah 52:13 – 53 –

 

If you do have the urge to spend some extra cash this Christmas, I would like to encourage you to save and change lives while you are spending the money our gracious Father has let you borrow from His glorious unlimited resources. Please check out, www.tradeasone.com for all kinds of fair trade gifts hand made by YOUR brothers and sister ALL over the world!