JESUS

"He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."
John 1:10-14

It's all very different from how most Christmas cards tell it. Far from being born in a sweet, cosy stable, surrounded by cuddly animals and adoring fans, Jesus came as a stranger into the world, unrecognised for who he was.

One very old version of events has it that Jesus was born in a cave outside Bethlehem, which is why this picture shows him that way, in the midst of jagged rocks and inky darkness. Jesus has come into the world to save it, but that means he has come into a place of darkness and danger. He is in the depths.

An ox and ass peer into Jesus' cot, recalling some famous words of Isaiah the prophet: "The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isaiah 1:3).

A final detail in the picture underlines the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem as an event of danger and jeopardy: Jesus' bed looks like a tomb. His birth anticipates his death, just as the gift of myrrh (a spice used in burials) points us to Jesus' death and burial.

So the nativity of Jesus, although it is joyful, carries a serious message. Jesus is God with us, God come to live the life of a human being on earth. But he has also come to die, to set us free from our slavery to evil, poverty and injustice. As one writer put it: "God became a human child so that we might become children of God."

Click here for a few moments of thought and prayer.