What do you really want for Christmas?
We are coming to the end of a very weary year. I am sure peace, rest, and perhaps simply quiet are at the top of many lists. What’s at the top of yours?
If we traveled back in time to the year Jesus was born and asked Mary’s neighbors what they wanted most, their answers would’ve been very similar. They lived under brutal Roman rule, and the news stories of the year were as horrendous as ours. The Jewish people longed for peace, quiet and rest. And they had different ideas of how to get them.
The Zealots were a party of revolutionaries intent on throwing the Romans out of Palestine. This group attracted patriots and bandits, but the means to their goal was the same – force. Physical force would bring the rest they longed for.
Another party we all know was the Pharisees. They often argued with Jesus, but the group had begun with good intentions. When they read the prophets, they had concluded God would send the Messiah to help them when all the people were fastidiously obeying God’s Laws. Their good intentions turned into a holier-than-thou attitude that brought anything but rest to the weary.
Getting away from it all were the Essenes. They took very seriously the prophet Isaiah’s instructions to prepare a highway in the desert, making a road for the Messiah to come (Isaiah 40:3.) Moving into the desert they did get away from the noise and stress of city life in Jerusalem. But their lives were hard and bare, with not much rest.
As Joseph and his pregnant wife Mary walked from Nazareth to Bethlehem, they undoubtably passed members of all these parties. Unknown to them, the Messiah, the mighty king they all longed for, rocked gently in Mary’s womb as she passed by.
When it came time to announce Jesus’ birth the angel was not sent to the hideout caves of the Zealots, the desert homes of the Essenes or the scroll rooms of the Pharisees. The angel was sent to a field filled with sheep and shepherds.
Why God picked these shepherds to first hear the great news is beyond me. But I can guess why he did not pick the parties I listed. I think they would have been quite prone to argue with the angel. “No way!” I imagine them saying. “A baby in a manger in Bethlehem is not strong enough, not pure enough, not mystical enough. He can’t be what we are looking for.”
But he was exactly what they were looking for. And he is exactly what we are looking for when we wish for peace, quiet and rest.
Stop and listen again to what the angel told the shepherds. Listen with all your heart and let the truth sink in:
“Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, for I proclaim to you good news that brings great joy to all the people: Today your Savior is born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a vast, heavenly army appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among people with whom he is pleased!”
The prophet Isaiah said, “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!”
May Jesus be first on your list this Christmas.
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Scripture references:
Isaiah 26:3 (NLT)
Luke 2:10-14 (NET))
Hope Walking 