And she brought forth her first born Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men!” Luke 2:7-14
I beseech you to remember Christ not just as a Babe born in Bethlehem, but in that life-long struggle of His, through which He passed. Ushered in with a song, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men;” but it closed with a cry, “It is finished!” It began in a manger and ended on a cross; but oh, the sad interval between! Oh! The black pictures of persecution, when his friends abhorred Him; when His foes frowned at Him as He passed the streets; when He heard the hiss of revilement, and was bitten by the foul tooth of envy; when slander said He had a devil and was mad; that He was a drunken man and a wine-bibber; and when His righteous soul was vexed with the ways of the wicked. Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover, and about the sixth hour. Pilot said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” Our Lord stood there after a merciless scourging; bloody, emaciated and crowned with thorns; a very contemptible creature indeed to Pilate, and the Jews who despised Him. It was somewhat of a chiding by Pilate (who despised the Jewish people as greatly as they did Christ) when he said, “Behold your King, your long expected son of David. Is this bloody mass what you expect to regain your kingdom strength by?” No, the Jews refused to own that unsurpassable humility as their King, and Pilate and Rome scoffed the idea, but believers gladly own Him as their King in every state of His being. When I see Him in that state of humility, from the manger to the man of sorrows, to the victim on the middle cross, I see my KING ruling over my enemies that had so long kept me from His presence. I see my KING in battle, bloody from His campaign, yet conquering sin, Satan, hell, death, and the grave. Oh yes, I greatly “Behold my KING,” not just as that Babe born in Bethlehem but as He shed those drops of blood in Gethsemane and agonized with His Father, “My Father, if it be possible let this cup pass from me.” Do you behold Him?
Older
Top
