Isaiah 52:13-15 The Sin-Bearing Servant
“Behold, My Servant shall deal prudently; He shall be exalted and extolled and be very high. Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men; so shall He sprinkle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths at Him; for what had not been told them they shall see, and what they had not heard they shall consider.”
John 1:29-34 The Lamb of God
“The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.”
And John bore witness, saying, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.”
If your only ideas about Christmas center around eggnog, presents, Christmas trees, and parties, then these verses from Isaiah and John will come as a terrible shock. God is always intentional and always up to far more different things than we can possibly imagine. Boiled down to its elements, the Christmas story actually begins in shame, for Mary the virgin suddenly turns up pregnant, even though Joseph and she are only betrothed and are supposed to wait to have sex until after the wedding. Encouraged by an angelic visitation, Joseph braves the jeers of his friends and neighbors, most of whom assume that Joseph simply lacks the self-control necessary to wait out the year of betrothal. Mary’s parents may be heart-broken, despite her descriptions of the Angel Gabriel appearing to her. Anne, Mary’s mother, has been planning Mary and Joseph’s wedding, and is undoubtedly grief-stricken that her plans must be abandoned.
Due to the demands of the Roman government, Joseph and Mary have no choice but to travel to Bethlehem and struggle to find a place where Mary can give birth. Then after visits from the shepherds, the new parents take their son to the temple in Jerusalem where Simeon prophesies over the infant. But the last part of Simeon’s prophesy foretells the suffering that Jesus-and Mary-will eventually endure.
Through the years, there have been lots of myths regarding the flocks outside Bethlehem, the kind of manger used, and whether or not the lambs from these flocks were specially raised to become sacrifices. Chad Bird discusses a number of these ideas in a fascinating article entitled “Debunking Popular Christmastime Myths: Temple Shepherds, Migdal Eder, and Swaddling Lambs.” https://www.1517.org/articles/debunking-popular-christmastime-myths-temple-shepherds-migdal-eder-and-swaddling-lambs
Bird, a distinguished Hebrew scholar, goes back into the ancient Jewish literature, proving that these were ordinary flocks with ordinary shepherds who treated their lambs in an ordinary fashion. But Bird goes on to say that the story of Christ’s birth is already so rich that it needs no embellishment.
In many respects, the Christmas story is awful or awe-full, engendering awe when we realize how many different aspects had to be coordinated for everything to happen as it did. But what also should fill us with awe is the realization that even from the beginning, Mary knew that something terrible would eventually happen to Jesus. Isaiah’s predictions had been read in synagogues for hundreds of years, and Mary may have remembered those words. Was Mary there when John the Baptist made his pronouncement about Jesus being the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world? In a Jewish context, the only way a lamb could take away sins was for that lamb to die as a sacrifice. We don’t know if Mary heard John’s announcement, but we do know that Mary was standing at the foot of the cross watching Jesus suffer and die because Jesus turned Mary’s care over to John the disciple. At that moment, Mary may well have remembered Simeon’s words and realized that a sword WAS piercing her heart.
Eventually, Jesus’ visage and body will be marred, for the Roman soldiers will beat him unmercifully. Jesus will struggle to carry his cross, anointing the streets of Jerusalem with his blood. Those in the crowd who are close enough may even find themselves sprinkled with that blood as Jesus staggers through the streets. Eventually, that blood will not merely flow in the streets of Jerusalem or on Calvary’s hill, but that blood will spiritually anoint believers throughout the world.
There’s nothing wrong with celebrations, but let’s remember the greatest celebration of Jesus’ life-the moment that Jesus ascended into heaven and was reunited with his Heavenly Father. No more prayers at midnight. No more suffering. And let’s think about something else.
For those of us who believe in Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away our sins, some day we too will leave our physical bodies behind, joining our Lord in heaven. And for each of us, that will be the greatest celebration of all.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, please help us to remember that the shadow of the cross also falls across the manger and that Jesus truly is Your Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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