Silent night, holy night; All is calm, all is bright…

Except the first Christmas wasn’t calm at all. Nothing about child birth is calm. It is loud and violent and like the rest of us, Jesus was thrown into this world and likely immediately screamed his lungs out. Entering this world is shocking for every human being. How much so for the King of kings, Lord of lords, and creator of it!? And Mary did not have an epidural. Jesus did not have nurses tending to him or to Mary. There was no sanitary hospital bed or hospital food delivered when Mary and Joseph got hungry. The birth was real. It happened as it was foretold.

Silent night, holy night; Son of God, love’s pure light; Radiant beams from thy holy face; With the dawn of redeeming grace; Jesus Lord at thy birth.

Jesus, God’s own son, entered this world in a very real, violent manner and was going to leave this earth in a very real, very violent manner. You can’t have Christmas without the cross. You can’t have the cross without Christmas. Immanuel. God with us. God has come to save us. He entered this world like a common man. He would die like a common criminal. But his birth, life, death, and resurrection would bring redemptive grace for all humankind. Christmas truly brought the dawn of redeeming grace!

Glories stream from heaven afar; Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia; Christ the Savior is born! Christ the Savior is Born!

May we all remember why we pause and celebrate this day. It’s Jesus. It has always been about Jesus. The reality of his immeasurable, unimaginable love for us demonstrated most clearly not only in his death on a cross, but in his birth in a stable. The light of the world has come. Now we are called to carry that light with us into a dark world. And because of Jesus, no darkness can ever overcome the hope and peace we have in Him.

Merry Christmas from MND GMZ Ministries!