Feliz Navidad! From our home to your home!
Christmas morning is a very special morning; many things contribute to making it unique: the gifts, the food, the snow [those of us who live in an area where we can enjoy a ‘white Christmas’, the family, being able to enjoy a day with a lot of meaning and reality.
Feliz Navidad! But what can make it a Happy one? At Christmas, there is a desire and a longing for us to be at home. People do different things to be able to transport themselves to get home and enjoy Christmas; they drive or fly to be with their loved ones. That makes Christmas special and unique!
Something interesting is that, in the first Christmas, the one that the bible relates, almost nobody was at home:
-the magi came from the East,
-the shepherds were at work,
-the angels came down from heaven,
-Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem to be registered.
Even Jesus Himself left His dwelling place in heaven to come to be born on earth. He was away from His home and made this world His own home.
Jesus wanted to come to dwell among us and make our world his home, despite all that this represented; to empty himself of all his glory and divinity, to leave his throne in heaven next to the Heavenly Father, to take the form of a servant, similar to us, to experience all kinds of emotions that we experience, even to be tempted in all things, like us, but without sin. By dwelling among us, he was subject even to the harsh reality of death.
At Christmas, we celebrate that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God Himself, wanted to come to dwell among us…
Matthew 1:23 says, “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”
God with us? Wow, this is beyond our comprehension, but it is the reality and beauty of Christmas, Immanuel, God incarnate in Jesus being born as a baby in Bethlehem. Do you get it? I don’t. But it blesses my soul and touches my heart. It is a gift of love for all humankind! Whether we are at home or not this Christmas, there is a longing in us to get to the very heart of Christmas: Jesus Christ. He is our home. We find peace, joy, hope, and love in Him, which makes us feel right at home.
Many people couldn’t be home this Christmas because of distance, sickness, legal situations, finances, etc. The good news of Christmas is that Jesus comes to all of us, and with Him, we find the actual value of home.
John 1:14 says, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”
At Christmas we celebrate… Emmanuel:
-God with us,
-God in us,
-God for us.
Feliz Navidad!
Pastor Marcos
