{"id":3748,"date":"2021-12-20T21:07:26","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T21:07:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/?p=3748"},"modified":"2021-12-31T16:59:17","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T16:59:17","slug":"devotional-a-fresh-perspective-of-the-christmas-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/devotional-a-fresh-perspective-of-the-christmas-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Devotional: Fresh eyes on the Christmas story"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Allen Tennison<\/em><\/p>\n

The Christmas story is one of the most familiar stories in the Bible, but this year I am reading it with fresh eyes because of my wife Rhonda.\u00a0 She is one of the most amazing mothers I\u2019ve ever seen.\u00a0 Rhonda intuitively understands what a child needs and how to make children around her feel safe and loved. \u00a0When our son started elementary school last year, we signed up with a local ministry that offers respite care for families in need.\u00a0 This is a ministry where my wife shines like the superstar she is.<\/p>\n

We open our home to a child or a set of siblings for whatever amount of time their parents ask. Sometimes it is just for one weekend, sometimes for a week or two, and once for seven months. Somedays we get a phone call that changes our entire week.\u00a0 We have had to cancel long-held plans because someone else takes precedence. Yet no matter how difficult it is for our family; it is more difficult for the child in need who must depend on a family that they don\u2019t know. Their vulnerability in that situation is one reason why I work with my wife in her gifting to make children feel safe. It is a challenging but always rewarding ministry.<\/p>\n

This experience has led me to wonder what kind of life Mary and Joseph would have had if they were not called to be the parents of Jesus?\u00a0 Joseph would not have planned to call the marriage off.\u00a0 The census would still force them to Bethlehem, but Mary could have traveled more comfortably. There would be no post-labor visit by shepherds from the third shift, or by Magi from way out of town.\u00a0 Joseph and Mary would not need to make a hasty exit from Israel or live out of reach in Egypt.\u00a0 Mary would not have watched her son die torturously at the end of his young adult life.\u00a0 They could have lived an easier life, but one less rewarding for everyone (and I mean everyone<\/em>).<\/p>\n

What amazes me most is not that God would put two people in such a position, but that God would put himself in the position of needing parents for Jesus. Jesus does not show up as a secure adult but as the most defenseless human imaginable, a baby.\u00a0 He was fully dependent on Mary and Joseph in every way a child is.<\/p>\n

Jesus required everything Mary could provide to be carried to term. \u00a0He had to be swaddled, fed, changed, and put to sleep (despite what some Christmas songs might imply).\u00a0 And in a world where kings feel threatened enough by birth announcements to order the slaughter of babies, Jesus needed to be protected.\u00a0 Mary and Joseph met all the needs of Jesus because God called them to be the parents of Israel\u2019s Messiah, and that is what parents do.<\/p>\n

I can easily imagine God sending twelve legions of angels to watch over the child. I can imagine the \u201cbaby Jesus\u201d exercising divine power to protect himself, Mary and Joseph, and Bethlehem as a whole.\u00a0 I have a harder time understanding how God allowed Jesus to face what every child faces, a potentially hostile world with the power to destroy and the inclination to ignore them.\u00a0 I sometimes forget that the Incarnation means that God took on the weakness and vulnerability that comes with human form.<\/p>\n

I know that the cross exposed the vulnerability of Jesus. I know that the cross was a place where our treatment of Jesus became God\u2019s treatment of us, and Jesus died in our place as a sacrifice for our sins.\u00a0 The Christmas story reminds me that the vulnerability of the Incarnation was on full display from the beginning. \u00a0From conception to the cross, God entered into the fullness of human weakness to accomplish what we could not.<\/p>\n

The whole story of Jesus shows us that God can be found in weakness as much as in a miracle. \u00a0A used manger was no less a place for God than a virgin\u2019s womb.\u00a0 God was present in the baptism of Jesus but also in his hunger in the wilderness.\u00a0 God was there when Jesus walked across the water and when he was asleep in a sinking boat. God could be revealed on the cross as much as by an empty tomb.\u00a0 Human vulnerability isn\u2019t an obstacle to God but a platform for God.<\/p>\n

The Christmas story tells us that God is present in the circumstances where we question God\u2019s absence. From relationship and housing insecurity to threats against personal safety, God is there in every step of Mary and Joseph\u2019s journey because Jesus is there.\u00a0 Wherever Jesus is, we can also be.<\/p>\n

The Christmas story reminds me that God is at work even in my weakness. There are days when I am not looking forward to more children in our home. There are times when my wife, our star player, is sick so it is all on me. God is still present when I feel sick, tired, or stressed.\u00a0 My weakness is just another place where God is already at work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dr. Allen Tennison The Christmas story is one of the most familiar stories in the Bible, but this year I am reading it with fresh eyes because of my wife Rhonda.\u00a0 She is one of the most amazing mothers I\u2019ve ever seen.\u00a0 Rhonda intuitively understands what a child needs and how to make children […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":3750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,44,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-college-community","category-devotionals","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nDevotional: Fresh eyes on the Christmas story - Table Salt | NCU Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Christmas story is one of the most familiar stories in the Bible, but this year Dr. Allen Tennison reads it with fresh eyes because of his wife Rhonda.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.northcentral.edu\/blog\/devotional-a-fresh-perspective-of-the-christmas-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Devotional: Fresh eyes on the Christmas story - 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