Adventure - Day 24

It’s a favorite Christmas hymn whose lyrics include…

Away in a manger
No crib for a bed
The little Lord Jesus
Lay down His sweet head - (SO CUTE)

The stars in the sky
Look down where He lay
The little Lord Jesus
Asleep on the hay - (ANGELIC)

The cattle are lowing
The poor baby wakes
But little Lord Jesus
No crying He makes - (YEAH RIGHT, NO WAY!)

Though I truly love this song, I’ve always had issue with, “No crying he makes” even before I had children.

Now, that doesn’t mean that Jesus couldn’t have had a moment of peaceful rest, but I think it’s the idea that he was somehow projected these divine qualities as early as infancy that I’ve had a problem with.

When we’re talking about Jesus, I suppose one can fall into either side of the ditch of him either being too human, or too divine.  Too human and he may have sinned and we just were never told about it.  Too divine and it robs us of him ever understanding what we go through, as well as our ability to connect with him.

But then I found comfort in a wise verse written by the apostle John who said at the end of his gospel…

“Jesus also did many other things. If they were all written down, I suppose the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.”
John 21:25 NLT

This verse helps me to know that Jesus likely had the full human experience of a baby - crying fits, explosive diapers, spit-ups, and food flung across the room.  He was a baby after all.  And it continues to amaze me that the God of the universe would not only choose to become human, but that he would enter our world in the most fragile of human states, a baby.  The God who hung the stars in the sky, had to have his diaper changed.  The God who carved out the mountains and directed the water where to go, was completely dependent upon humans for his care and sustenance.  

Knowing that God entered fully into our mess through Jesus, means that He also enters fully into my mess.  He knows my anxieties and fears, my sinful struggles, what I wish I was and what I know I’m not.  He knows because he chose to go through my same experience.  

And yes, there are things about his experience I don’t know that I’ll ever fully understand on this side of heaven.  I don’t truly understand what it means to be fully human and fully divine.  I don’t know what it was like to experience humanity while also knowing divinity.  But what I can do is trust Jesus because he was willing to become like me, so one day, I could be more like him.

JOURNAL

1. What does it mean to you to have a God who not only became human, but became a baby, for you?
2. Just imagine for a moment what some of the stories might be that aren’t written in the gospels.  Knowing what we know about Jesus, what might some of those stories be?
3. Do you know Jesus enough to trust Him with your life today?  If you’re struggling with that trust, what might help you be more open to it, to Him?