“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. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: you will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Luke 2:7-14) I beseech you to remember Christ not just a Babe born in Bethlehem, but in that life-long struggle 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 loud cry “It is finished!” It began in a manger and ended on a cross; but oh, the sad interval between: the black pictures of persecution, when his friends abhorred Him; when His foes frowned at Him as He passed through 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. And he (Pilate) said to the Jews, “Behold your King!” He (Jesus) stood there after a merciless scourging, bloody, emaciated, and crowned with thorns: a very contemptible creature indeed to Pilate, the Roman Governor, and the Jews who despised Him. It was somewhat of a chiding by Pilate, who despised the Jewish people as greatly as they despised Christ, when he said, “Behold your King, your long expected son of David. Is this blood 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 as their King, and Pilate and Rome scoffing the idea, I see believers gladly owning 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 preparing His thorn to rule over His enemies. 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 as your KING?
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