I know that many of you do not believe what I believe. That is understandable, because I am convinced that a thirty-year-old Jewish construction worker is responsible for the universe, that’s weird. But if we think that is a hard sell today, it would have been harder in the first century. We tend to think ancient people were gullible and we are not, but that is just silly. Trying to convince the average Roman to worship a crucified Jew would be like trying to convince him that God is a penguin. And yet, within twenty years, this idea had swept across the empire to Rome itself and even into the household of Caesar.
I propose a thought experiment for us this Christmas. Let us all assume, for the day, that I am right. That there is a God, and that Christmas is true. That the child born in Bethlehem came from outside this world; from a land of Light and Love and Glory; from an eternal Presence that is forever burning just beyond our mortal field of vision. What would it mean? What would it tell us about this God? Most of us find God unrelatable, as if He were a theory, or a concept, something that doesn’t really touch our lives. But what if, as Joan Osborne famously asked, “God was one of us?”
It would mean that God has been hungry, and cold, and wet.
It would mean that God had a job; he had to work and learn a trade to pay the bills.
It would mean that God had parents, and siblings, and all that entails.
He knows what it is like to bury a parent. (it is probable that some years before the crucifixion Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, died. Leaving Jesus as head of the household.)
It would mean that God has wept at the grave of a dear friend. (Lazarus)
It would mean that God has had to pray. And has had prayer go unanswered. (let that one sink in)
He has been sad. He has been happy. He has been frustrated. He has been tired. He has passed out from exhaustion. He has been wearied of people. He has been in pain. He has bled. He has been weak.
He has been disrespected. He has been slandered. He has been betrayed by a friend. He has been heartbroken. He has been abandoned by the system and by his friends. God has experienced death.
If Christmas is true, then God is the most relatable supernatural being there has ever been. He knows; God knows, what it is like to be us. Because He was one of us.
It means the untouchable has become touchable.
It means the unknowable has made Himself known.
It means the unrepresentable has stood before our eyes.
It means the unimaginable One has walked among us.
It means the immutable has been scarred forever.
I know that is a lot for one thought experiment, but the list could go on and on.
“For to us a child is born”, the prophet says, and “to us a son is given…and his name shall be called Wonderful”. If Christmas is true, then a child was born (human), but a Son was given (divine). The first Christmas gift was God giving Himself away. It means that He has not abandoned us, even though we may have abandoned Him. He will not forsake us, because He was one of us.
Joan Osborne goes on to sing:
“If God had a face, what would it look like? And would you want to see? If seeing meant that you would have to believe? In things like heaven and in Jesus and in the saints and all the prophets?”
God does have a face. And this month we celebrate that face, as it was reflected in the beautiful eyes of a teenage mother from the poor village of Nazareth; when she nursed the One who made the stars. The day Absolute Sovereignty became helpless, for us. It’s all so weird and wonderful.
Whether you agree with me or not, I wish you a Merry Christmas. 😊