The first time a new mom sees her baby, there is an instant ‘I already know you’ look that passes between them. The mother-child bond has been forged over nine months. The connection has now been completed. The first time a new dad sees his baby, something significantly different happens. There is a near-divine moment as he looks not just into the baby’s face, but into the whole life which he has co-authored, a life which has, up till now, been hidden from him, unknown, mysterious. Fatherhood is birthed in him, bubbling up from a soul-deep well, with him vowing always to protect this little one with every ounce of his strength. Emotions often overwhelm during this sacred, father-child moment.
For Mary and Joseph, it would have been much more intense, with them both terrifyingly aware of the holy parenting privilege to which they’d been called. This newborn before them was at once ‘theirs’ and at the same time, not theirs. God alone could be consulted as to what to do at each step of this uncharted journey, now begun.
The child Jesus, locally known as the son of Joseph and Mary, grew up normally, not drawing particular attention to himself or to his family. So much so, that, at the age of thirty, when he began a public ministry, folks (not to mention his skeptical siblings) in his hometown wouldn’t believe him, dismissively calling him the carpenter’s son. Worse, they accused him of blasphemy and attempted to throw him off a cliff!
This child in a manger born, this same child, the fulfillment of numerous prophecies, this Holy One of God, would declare to his disciples and in front of his gathered enemies, ‘I could ask my Father for help and He would instantly send out 72,000 (12 legions) angels (the armies of heaven) to protect me.’ What he didn’t add was that he wouldn’t do that out of obedience to the Father’s bidding.
The tiny Babe of Bethlehem, the Christmas child, would come to be spoken of like this: ‘in him the image and likeness of God is made visible in human life in order that everyone may recognize their true origin in him.’ (And this additional note: What darkness veiled from us is unveiled. In him we clearly see the mirror reflection of our original life. The son of His love gives accurate evidence of His image in human form. God can never again be invisible!) Or, ‘the full measure of everything God has in mind for man indwells him.’ (or again, ‘So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding.’ Colossians 1:15, 19, MIRROR & MESSAGE.
Armed with this information, I can, with confident assurance, say: Happy New Year, Y’all! PD
