"Tiny Stranger in a Manger"
"....History consists of parables whereby God communicates in
terms that imagination rather than the mind, faith rather than knowledge,
can grasp...The only reason for studying what goes on is to get at this
parable that it [history] conveys. Otherwise it is just like an interminable
soap opera whose situations recur although the characters change...To
decipher the parable(s) of history we need the key...and of course the key
that came to us is the Incarnation." -Malcolm Muggeridge
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"The great majority of people will go on observing forms that cannot be
explained; they will keep Christmas Day with Christmas Gifts and Christmas
benedictions; they will continue to do it; and some day suddenly wake up
and discover why." --GK Chesterton
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"For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on
his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of
Peace." (Isaiah 9: 6)
Two thousand years ago in Jerusalem, Jewish scholars, priests and
scribes were given the task of preserving and interpreting the scriptures
(and the endless commentaries on those scriptures) that had been passed down
to them through the centuries. Part of their duty and assignment was to
carefully examine and decipher the record regarding The Messiah who the
prophets said was coming. They diligently studied the words of the holy
Prophets and the rabbis who followed. They studied to understand what they
could about this 'Anointed One' who would enter the City of David
(Jerusalem) as Conqueror, Redeemer, Savior and King.....the 'Lion of Judah'
who was coming to rule and reign in righteousness.
These religious scholars were the officials of theological discourse at
the time. They were well-established and secure in their authority. They
poured over the Law and prophecy and then added their own speculative
footnotes to the speculative footnotes that had accumulated over the
centuries. They studied the political and spiritual landscape of the day in
an attempt to discern the time and circumstance when this Anointed King and
Savior would at last appear on the scene. They immersed themselves in the
written code. They were, after all, legal experts, and they knew each Letter
of the Law. These men were Israel's appointed spiritual shepherds,
and year after year they climbed their ivory watchtowers of
religious scholarship to ponder all that had been written about Messiah, the
coming King.
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At the same time, hundreds of miles to the East, there were other
scholars at work. These were the Magi, the seers and astrologers of ancient
pagan Babylon and Persia who studied (and worshiped) the night skies from
their temple/watchtowers (called ziggurats). Apparently
they, too, had a prophetic written record about the coming Jewish Messiah
and King.
Nearly five hundred years earlier an exiled Jew named Daniel served in
the highest courts of Babylon and Persia as statesman, confidant and seer
for powerful Middle Eastern Kings. Indeed, Daniel had written of a future
time, a specific year, when Israel and the world could expect this
powerful Jewish King to appear.*
And so, when an extraordinary light....like a star...appeared suddenly
in the western sky in the direction of Jerusalem at just the right time,
these pagan Wise Men did not hesitate. They gathered together precious gifts
appropriate only for kings (and gods) and set out across the desert toward
Israel and Jerusalem to seek this foretold Jewish Savior 'born king',
the long-awaited fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy.
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In the fields near the Judean village of Bethlehem Ephrathah, there
stood yet another watchtower called Migdal Eder** (ie., "the
watchtower of the flock"). It was here, just a few miles from Jerusalem and
her magnificent Herodian temple, that simple shepherds tended their sheep.
But these shepherds were not watching over any ordinary flock. The shepherds
of Migdal Eder were charged with watching over, identifying, selecting and
protecting the very choicest lambs to be sacrificed by the priests at the
temple on Mt. Moriah during the year. And it was also from this flock that
the finest unblemished lamb of all was to be selected for sacrifice
at The Passover celebration in the Spring.
It was there one night in the fields of Migdal Eder that these
shepherds were suddenly confronted with a glorious and inexplicable light.
Right before their eyes in a brilliant blaze of Divine Glory angelic beings
pierced the shepherds' routine and mundane lives and proclaimed the
long-awaited Good News: Joy to the world! Tonight the true Lamb
of God will be revealed . Messiah is born!
Perhaps, at just that moment the familiar words of the prophet Isaiah
flooded the shepherds' thoughts:
"The people walking in darkness have seen a great
light....
...For to us a child is born..." (Isaiah 9:
2...6...)
"Tiny Stranger in a Manger"
Magi and the Jewish Shepherds
Saw the Light and sought the King;
Iv'ry-Towered legal scholars
Simply didn't see a thing.
Though the Host of Heaven praised Him
In the field...'The Kingdom's come!"
All the Herods and the Skeptics
Could not...would not
See the Son.
He appeared not as a Lion,
But a Lamb...unblemished, pure.
Christ the King came first as servant...
God Almighty's Holy Cure.
Daniel, Micah and Isaiah
All foresaw this King to come;
Son of Man and Son of David...
Son of God:
Anointed One.
Tiny stranger in a manger
Quite a danger to man's Pride!
Mortal threat to Herod in us...
(Fallen hearts would rather hide.)
There!...Behold Him!
Meek and humble...
Paschal Lamb who sets men free;
Precious Gift in Time delivered
In the Light of Calvary.
Born in flesh that we might know him;
Son and Father coincide...
Holy Spirit fans love's ember.
God with us still seeks his Bride.
Herod in us plots against Him.
(Pharisee in us as well...)
Dark deception blinds the spirit
Since the day that Adam fell.
But still Wise Men come to seek Him...
Help each one, Lord, see the Light!
Bethlehem to Mount Moriah,
Where the blind are given sight.
There!...Behold this Child of Wonder,
Son of Man yet still Divine;
Sacrificial Lamb of Glory
Died for us in Space and Time!
Made for us below the Angels...
Witness God's True Sacrifice.
Just in Time!
Love's Gift delivered!
Amazing Grace!
Eternal Life!
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* Daniel 9: 25
** Micah 4:8, 5:2
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