From quaint to quaking

     I'm reminded in reading Luke 1, when the angel Gabriel visits Mary to announce that she will bear the Messiah, that this baby Jesus is both infant and infinite God.  Sometimes we get lost in the beauty and sweetness of the story, but listen to the angel's words: "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end." (Lk1:30-33)
     Can you imagine what Mary must have been thinking?  Tiny, helpless, sweet little newborn... juxtaposed with words like "great" and "Son of the Most High" and "throne" and "reign...forever."  Just not concepts or words we associate with babies.
     But that is who He was and is: Almighty, omnipotent, omniscient God... robed in infant flesh.  Wow.  Help us to contemplate that, this Christmas, Father, and live in the knowledge that the Almighty came in such a sweet and disarming guise... for us.
     And that because of who that Savior-Baby was and what He came to do, we, like Mary, now have favor with God.  Mary "found" favor with God.  We are "given" favor with God--all because of Jesus. Not what He did as an infant, but what He did as a man.  The God-Man.
     This all reminded me of something I read the other day by Jon Bloom, and it was just so great, I have to include it here:


"If you’ve been a Christian for a number of years or if you grew up where Christmas is traditionally celebrated, the idea that a member of the Godhead became veiled in flesh may have lost its strangeness. It’s Christmas, the most wonderful time of the year! It’s kind Joseph, serene Mary, and incandescent baby Jesus in a manger. It’s a crèche with quaint figurine shepherds, three wise men, sheep, a donkey, and an ox. Oh, and the chubby cherub with the “Gloria” scroll.
Precious baby Jesus; you just want to pick him up and give him a squeeze.
And if you could have, you would have been holding Yahweh who at that moment was upholding you along with the entire universe by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:3). You would have been squeezing the Creator of all things (Colossians 1:16). Your hands may have trembled to be holding the seven-pound, newborn “Everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6).
The Christmas story is the wildest story in the history of the world. So don’t let Christmas merely be quaint — for you or for those you know and love. Let it make you quake.
There is glory to see in the manger, but to see it we likely need to do more than just set up the crèche and read Luke chapter two. To really see the Jesus of the manger we need to see the Jesus of Mark 4 who rules the wind, the Jesus of Matthew 27 hanging by nails on a Roman cross, and the resurrected Jesus of Revelation 5 reigning eternally victorious."

     Good stuff!  Yes, Lord, this Christmas, don't let us settle for quaint.  Rather, might we quake at the reality of what You've done and who You are. Moves us from the stable to the storm on the sea, from the cows to the crowds being miraculously fed, from the stable to the cross, and from the manger to the Messiah, risen from the dead.  And filled with inexpressible joy that You did all this for us... to save us and to give us eternal favor with God.  To God be the glory.