“O Source of all Good,
What shall I render to Thee for the gift of gifts,
Thine own dear Son, begotten, not created,
my Redeemer, Proxy, Surety, Substitute,
His self-emptying incomprehensible,
His infinity of love beyond the heart’s grasp…

O God, take me in spirit to the watchful shepherds,
and enlarge my mind;
let me hear good tidings of great joy,
and hearing, believe, rejoice, praise, adore,
my conscience bathed in an ocean of repose,
my eyes uplifted to a reconciled Father,

place me with ox, ass, camel, goat,
to look with them upon my Redeemer’s face,
and in Him account myself delivered from sin;
let me with Simeon clasp the new-born Child to my heart,
embrace Him with undying faith,
exulting that He is mine and I am His.”
Puritan Prayers

For all the glory that comes with Christmas, there’s one more gem I want to treasure: God’s sacrifice.

“Sometimes we sentimentalize Christmas…focusing on the sights, sounds, and smells of Christmas that give us good feelings. Dazzling decorations, fresh baked sugar cookies, poinsettias, family get-togethers, gift shopping, twinkling lights, Christmas carols, cards from friends, tree-cutting expeditions, wrapping presents. Of course, all these Christmas traditions are an expression of common grace, for which we can joyfully thank God… But man-made traditions aren’t the whole story, or even the main story of Christmas, and they fail to solve our deepest problems or fulfill our deepest needs.”
Bob Kauflin

Jesus didn’t come to be a good teacher. He didn’t come to promote universal love. He didn’t come to abolish the law. Jesus was born to die. Good Friday was already waiting in the shadows.

But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. Galatians 4:4-5

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
Hebrews 2:14-15

“When I was undone, with no will to return to him,
and no intellect to devise recovery, he came,
God-incarnate, to save me to the uttermost
as man to die my death,
to shed satisfying blood on my behalf,
to work out a perfect righteousness for me.”
Puritan Prayers

Christmas is only the beginning.

Mystery, messiness suffering: does this mean there is no place for Christmas celebration? Not at all. It is because of these gems, not in spite of them, that we can and should burst out in praise:

“O come all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant…”

“Hail the heav’n born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness!”

“Joy to the world! the Lord is come.”

…that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Phillipians 2: 10-11

The mystery of God taking on flesh, is astounding enough. But there is another unexpected gem of Christmas: mess.

“We sanitize Christmas when we only present a picture-perfect, storybook rendition of what took place in Bethlehem 2000 years ago…The straw in the manger is fresh and clean. There’s no umbilical cord to cut and no blood. It’s a “silent night.” The surroundings are strangely free from the pungent odor of manure. Joseph and Mary are calm, cool, and collected. Everyone gets a good night’s sleep. There’s no controversy or gossip surrounding the birth. It’s a pleasant, appealing way to think about Christmas, but obscures the foulness, uncertainty, and sin that Jesus was born into. We forget that rather than coming for the put-together, well-to-do, and self-sufficient, Jesus identified with the rejected, the slandered, the helpless, and the poor.”
Bob Kauflin

Jesus came to live in the world He created, a world of beauty and delight. But it was also a world broken by sin, an uncomfortable world.

Along with the fragrance of warm bread, there was the stench of rotting flesh.

The song of a goldfinch was drowned out by the curses of an angry neighbor.

Along with the beauty of a spring meadow there were deformed limbs, misshapen faces, leprosy.

The sweetness of honey came with painful stings.

Along with soft sheep’s wool, there were cold nights sleeping on scratchy straw.

Besides the external mess, Jesus experienced discomfort in the flesh:
*hunger
*weariness
*sorrow

And as if that wasn’t enough,
He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
Isaiah 53:3

This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for He faced all of the same testings we do– yet He did not sin. Hebrews 4:15

Physical discomfort, the emotional pain of loss and betrayal, the spiritual suffering of temptation–these were all part of the life of Jesus. They make the birth we celebrate not a weak, watered-down present but a precious gift of love.

I love the rich cultural heritage of Christmas: treasured ornaments, warm candles, the smell of pine, Christmas cookies, chocolate, bells, Christmas music. It’s a beautiful season of wonder and joy.

But there are three special elements I often forget and I want to be sure these gems are added to my celebration this year.

The first is mystery.

“The miracle and meaning of the Incarnation can be so difficult to grasp that we can give up and start to view Christmas in ways that leave us impoverished and unimpressed with the real story. Even in the church our songs and reflections about Christmas can fail to leave people gasping in amazement or humbled in awe that God would come to dwell among us.”
Bob Kauflin

I don’t want to skim over the mystery of the Creator being born in the form of what He created, including:
*toes that collected dust and dirt
*hair that blew in the wind
*a stomach that digested olives and figs and fish

*lungs that inhaled the brisk winter air of Palestine
*cheeks that became sore with laughing
*eyes that overflowed with tears

This reality should make me awestruck in a jaw-dropping, heart-thumping kind of way. Or bring me to my knees.

“That man should be made in God’s image is a wonder,
but that God should be made in man’s image is a greater wonder.
That the Ancient of Days would be born.
That He who thunders in the heavens should cry in the cradle…”
—Thomas Watson

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
Phillipians 2:6-7

Mystery indeed.