A birth is always a miracle of love and pain and blood. At least, I have to assume this to be the case having never had children. But, this month we celebrate a birth that was a miracle on more than just the human level. For the real miracle about a virgin giving birth was not so much how a virgin became pregnant and delivered a child, with all the usual love and pain and blood, but that the child thus born of Mary was actually God made flesh.
How can this be? Or, what difference does this make? I believe it is vital to accept Christ’s coexistent humanness and divinity to truly appreciate the magnitude and validity of His sacrifice.
If Christ were not human, how would His death on the cross be a sacrifice that covers the sins of the rest of us? If Christ were not divine, how could He claim the authority of His Heavenly Father?
For the Western mind, which likes to see all things in clear delineations, it can often prove difficult to see things in duality. Yet, cultures from the beginning of time have done just that, seeing no disconnect in a reality where a thing is sometimes or always two things at once.
The meaning of Jesus’ birthday, the birth of God coming to earth, is even more powerful when you realize He came to earth as a man knowing the full extent of what He would suffer and sacrifice as a result.
What a wonderful gift is the love of a God who once became man! If you have not already, this holiday is the best time of any to accept the grace of Christ that saves us all.
Merry Christmas and happy birthday Jesus!
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