In some traditions the 12 days of Christmas are called Christmastide. It is called such because it is a time of festival and celebration. To indicate such, we add the suffix -tide.
Today is the 9th day of the festival. On this 9th day of Christmas let’s return to John’s early descriptions of Jesus.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14 ESV)
We could dwell upon this text for a long, long time exploring the many deep theological concepts within, but we won’t. I simply want to dwell on one statement “became flesh”.
See, at Christmastide, we do well to pause and reconsider the Incarnation.
God himself, the Son, left the glory of heaven, left his Father’s house, his place at the right hand of God. Why?
Because he treasures you.
You and I are the reason he came. His love for us, in the context of the great plan of God, was so great that he came to be born just as we are. Because he values us.
For many people Christmas isn’t a festival at all. It is a time of tension, stress and even loss. It is hard to celebrate when that is the reality one lives in. But that’s just why he came. Because he gets it.
We have such a great high priest and advocate sitting at the right hand of the Father. He understands our struggle so that he can perfectly beg the Father for us. Thanks to his Incarnation he gets the struggle.
He made us.
He loves us.
He came to us.
He died for us.
He rose for us.
For us.
Glory to God.
Even when it’s so difficult that you just sit there and sigh.
So take that deep breath and remember that YOU are loved – perfectly.
Sigh…
kingdom travelin' 