Merry Christmas! I hope you are enjoying this season with all of its festivities and delightful events! This is the time of year when we ask questions like:
- Have you finished your Christmas shopping?
- Are your presents wrapped?
- What do you want for Christmas?
- What are you getting your family/friends for Christmas?
- What are you doing for Christmas?
- Have you done your decorating?
As I’ve been thinking about Christmas, there are loads of stuff that I need to do, including several of the things I listed above. At the same time, I’m also doing something this year to help me keep Jesus at the forefront of my mind during all of the holiday celebrations. I am reading Matthew chapters 1and 2, along with Luke 1 and 2, to keep the birth of Jesus at the top of my thinking.
I’m reading these passages very slowly, paying attention to the preparations that went into two supernatural births—John the Baptist and Jesus. Indeed, the preparations necessary to support the arrivals of these prophetic babies were extremely important! Let’s take a few moments to consider the birth of John the Baptist who was Jesus’ forerunner and God’s mouthpiece to announce Jesus’ ministry.
When I think about John the Baptist, in some ways, his birth is kind of a mirror opposite Jesus’ birth. John was born to a highly regarded religious family, considering that his dad was a high priest and his mom was from the lineage of Aaron, the first priest for the nation of Israel. Additionally, John was born to parents who were elderly with no children. In contrast, Jesus was born to a virgin woman, Mary, who wasn’t married. She was young and relatively naïve.
I also find it interesting that both of these supernatural births were announced individually by the angel Gabriel. He told Zacharias—John’s dad—about Elizabeth becoming pregnant, and he told Mary—Jesus’ mom—about her supernatural pregnancy. Both births were naturally impossible. Because of such impossibility, both Zacharias and Mary asked Gabriel, “How?” Such a question is totally understandable, and I suppose you and I would have a similar reaction if an angel appeared to us and told us that something impossible was going to happen.
To this end, part of preparing for Christmas—the celebration of Jesus’ birth—is working on our thinking and attitude about impossibilities. When we think about the reactions of Zacharias and Mary, we see some very interesting things. For example, Zacharias was an elderly priest, highly schooled in his faith, observant and devout. But Gabriel told Zacharias that he would be mute until John was born—because of his unbelief (Luke 1:20). In contrast, Mary was a very young woman, probably in her teens. Consider how she responds in Luke 1:38 to Gabriel’s impossible announcement, “Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.”
As we go about our Christmas activities and celebrations, let’s be mindful of our thoughts and attitudes around the impossibilities in our life. I think that part of preparing for Jesus’ birth is to actively choose faith and defiantly reject doubt. To help us in this endeavor, remember what Gabriel said to Mary in Luke 1:37, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
As we prepare for Christmas, let’s choose to fortify our faith and trust God no matter what we see, feel or know in our natural thinking. Nothing is impossible with God!
