“This will be a sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”…When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.”…The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told. (Luke 2:12-20)
Do you think the shepherds asked Mary and Joseph if they could hold baby Jesus? Who doesn’t like to hold, or even just look at, a baby? You either want to keep holding the baby or just watch them sleep in their cradle. Now most wouldn’t want to change a dirty diaper of that beautiful baby, but a father’s and mother’s, grandparent’s or friend’s love still does the dirty deed. Whether or not a shepherd asked if he could hold baby Jesus or even offered to change His diaper for Mary, they certainly worshiped and adored Him, their Savior from sin, their Savior who would fulfill God’s long-awaited promise to them! Then they went and told the story – and I’m sure they occasionally came back to sneak a peek at Jesus, just amazed that God would become a human being just like them!
Martin Luther once wrote that the Bible is like the cradle of Christ – it holds the Word of God made flesh as He has revealed Himself to us and what He has done for us and the entire world. What a joy it is to “lift the Christ out of the cradle and hold Him” each time we open up His Word to read and grow as His child! Just as Mary and Joseph did, you will have marvelous moments each time you lift Jesus, the Word, out of His cradle and hold Him close to you personally. And like the shepherds who experienced such joy, you will have “aha-moments” and be better able to tell others the amazing things of what you have heard and seen as you “lift the Christ our of His cradle” together with your fellow followers of Jesus in Bible study on Sunday mornings and other times during the week. Then those whom you tell will also have the opportunity to “come and see” Jesus for themselves.
And even better, the Christ-child does a “switcheroo” on us – He lovingly changes our “dirty diapers of sin!” No one else but our Father God, our big brother Jesus and their Holy Spirit would – or could – do this for us, and They lovingly change our “dirty diapers of sin” each and every time we, His children, make a mess in our lives or the lives of others. And that’s why God asks us, His children, to forgive as He has forgiven us – to “change the dirty diaper of sin” of our brother or sister in this world. Even though it’s messy and stinky, we then hand it off to Christ, the one who has taken it away!!!
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests!!!!!
Merry Christmas – and a blessed New Year of cradling the Christ and telling others they can too!