The Hope Humanity Truly Needs This Christmas

We're never too far gone for God to save.

If we had written the Christmas story, we would have had God being born into the family of a king. Our story would have him born in a palace with his mother being attended by servants and midwives. Our story would have been a grand one, for sure.

But that’s not the story that the Holy Spirit wrote. His story is one that makes God humble. Rather than a royal family, he was born to a carpenter and an obscure virgin. Neither of them was rich nor famous — just ordinary Jews who were like thousands of other Jews of Jesus’ day. If you had seen them on their journey to Bethlehem, you would not have taken note of them at all. 

We are so accustomed to the story that we miss the mystery of his birth. Lowly, working-class parents bringing their son into the small world of a cattle stall. The Son of God! Immanuel! The star-breathing God being reduced to this? If not true, it would be blasphemous to talk about God this way.  

But this Christmas story, the God who made himself nothing and took on the nature of a servant (Philippians 2:5-8) is called the Good News. It’s good news because it brings hope to the hopeless. Knowing that God’s love would compel him to humiliate himself in this way for our sake gives us hope that we aren’t too far gone for God to save. 

The day of Jesus’ birth was the day that “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” He came with purpose, and this baby grew into adulthood and said about himself:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

—Luke 4:18-19

And when he was born, the announcement of his birth wasn’t made in seminaries or synagogues or in the temple to theologians. Instead, it was made to lowly shepherds out in the fields taking care of their sheep. People of no particular significance, just doing what shepherds do. In the middle of the night, God appeared to them in a bright light and told these nobodies the best news that mankind would ever hear:

“Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

—Luke 2:10-12

The Son of God, born to lowly parents, in lowly circumstances, proclaiming good news to lowly people. His birth announced to lowly shepherds. Good News! To the poor! To the prisoners! To the blind! To the oppressed! 

This is who occupied the manger over 2,000 years ago. A liberating God who identifies with those who are shackled by sin and sorrow. And by coming in the flesh, dying for us, and being raised by God’s power for us, we have hope. We no longer have to live under the cloud of fear and condemnation.

I would say that this makes the first Christmas the day that the world began to finally have hope. 

Merry Christmas!