Written by Bill Kreiger
Within this past month of last year, we paused to celebrate the birth of a baby boy, Jesus Christ, born over 2000 years ago. What makes this seemingly insignificant event so celebrated? Surely not that the parents were young, maybe too young for our western culture today. Nor that he was born in poverty, for that scene has been repeated over and over. Surely Mary was not the only young expectant mother to be traveling that day. A Whole nation is on the move responding to the demands of government.
The fact that Jesus Christ’s birth had been talked about since Adam, and spoken of with such anticipation for four millennia’s, must certainly make the world pause and search! Yet when the event happened, few showed up at the scene. On the opposite side of the world, those few who did look for the signs, faced a death sentence if the birth failed to happen. Who would be told that this prophesied child had come? Shepherds doing their duty while watching over their flocks and the birthing of the lambs. Angles and choirs of angels filled the skies singing praises to His name who had come, the very Christ the savior of all mankind, both male and female, bond and free, the wicked and the righteous. A natural, healthy baby boy, born to loving, grateful parents, who were possibly terrified at the prospects of what they had to offer. Who is this Child we know to be the Messiah? Who is this Christ that somehow nearly the entire world He was born into missed the importance of who He is and what he would do? What do we think of Christ?
We know He came to fulfill the great plan of happiness. He came to pay the price demanded by Justice and break the prison doors of death and Hell and the grave. Yet who is He? He came to do so much more. Stories of His short life on earth tells us of his nature and character. What a man thinks, so he does, and what he does tells us of how he thinks. “As a man thinketh, so is he” and “What manner of man aught ye to be?” Even as He is.
Two accounts tell us much:
In Luke 7 we learn of a woman in the community of Nain where Jesus Christ lived, a widow having lost her husband, now weeping for the loss for her only son. By the customs of the day, she is destitute. Not only did she lose a child of her womb, that she loved and cherished but now also gained a remaining existence which would leave her lonely, hungry, and hopeless. Time may heal the loss of her son, but not the daily pain of survival. She is broken. Christ upon entering this scene of a lost son’s burial and a weeping mother, changed it all with one simple act of compassion. There was no judgement here. No accusation of “how could you let this happen?” or “you should have been more mindful.” Just compassion for all. Jesus Christ raised him from his procession to the grave and restored him whole to his mother. Healing not only the son but making whole the mother who also desperately needed a savior.
In John 5 a sabbath day finds Jesus in Jerusalem. A man was there who has been afflicted, carrying his burden for 38 years. His only hope is to enter a pool where many believe will heal the sick, but only when the water bubbles, and then only the first to enter receives the gift. This man is too slow, and others beat him to the water. He has no hope, he is broken. No one can come to his aid, and no one will, until now. Jesus Christ saw him lie and knew he had been a long time in that case. Our Savior asks him if he would be made whole? His response is telling “I have no man”. No one can help me. Here the Savior shows His character. He doesn’t ask the man to move closer, so he has a better chance, nor does He ask the others to step aside and let him go first the next time the water stirs! He simply heals him right there, right then. “take up thy bed and walk, and immediately the man was made whole, took up his bed and walked.”
What does this all mean to me? I know that I will die. I know I will be judged and must pay the price of my actions weather good or ill. I am broken. Having seemingly lost all like the widow of Nain, I am doomed to a life of pain and regret, to scrape for spiritual comfort. I lie at the edge of a figurative pool hoping to touch water that may bring relief of burdens and memories of deeds I wished never happened. My heart is torn and in pieces. I have no man that can heal me. Mary Ann Baker who wrote the words for Hymn 105 and captured my feelings so well. “Master, with anguish of spirit I bow in my grief today. The depths of
my sad heart are troubled…torrents of sin and of anguish sweep o’er my sinking soul and I perish! I perish!”
I need a savior. I have a Savior. Despite all my failings, all my pain, all my missed opportunities to be better, He will heal me. He is a restorer of all that is right. It is immediate and without judgement. Yes, the day will come when final judgment will be, but it is not His role now. He has come to save.
Jesus Christ, the Creator, The Redeemer, the Prince of Peace has proclaimed: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest…for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
The challenge is extended in our question: What think ye of Christ? Have we come to know him, to feel his healing touch, to have his forgiving arms of mercy around us? Will our homes this year be filled with the songs of redeeming love? Will you be the one who knows the words and leads the choir? “whether the wrath of the stormed tossed sea or demons or men or whatever it be…they all shall sweetly obey Thy will: Peace be still, Peace be still.”
May this new year be a time of healing, of restoring lost blessings, a year of peace and rest. In the end we may say “with joy I (have) reached the blest harbor and rest on the blissful shore.”
