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Advent Meditation: The Humble Arrival of Jesus
In today’s Advent Meditation, we reflect on a fascinating and somewhat h… (visit YouTube for more)
Transcript
Today’s Advent Meditation is, to me, a bit of a comedy moment in the Bible, in the story of Jesus arrival. It’s in Luke, chapter 2, verses 11 to 12. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
This is the angel talking to the shepherds. And you can just imagine the shepherds’ reaction. Okay, a saviour, saviour’s come, excellent. In the city of David, that’s the prophecy, yes. Christ the Lord, wonderful. And he’s going to be where? In a feeding trough. What?
Now these were shepherds and they may well have been receptive to that kind of announcement. But to us, doesn’t this seem really odd? This is the King of the universe. This is the person who is able to save everyone. This is the Messiah. And the first location that people are asked to visit is a place where animals live. And in fact, he’s lying in the place where the animals eat.
You see, right from day one, God was telling us, this isn’t the kind of king or Messiah you were expecting. This is a king coming in humility. God highly, highly values humility and models it to us through Jesus.
This is God arriving as a human with all that goes with that, in the lowliest of locations. Think of how far Jesus had to stoop from his position in glory to come down and meet us here. That is how much he loves us.
Lord God, we reflect on your remarkable arrival during this time of Advent. Thank you that you were prepared to do this for us. Thank you that Jesus came in such humble circumstances to show us how to live and to show us what truly matters to you, our God. Amen.
