For those who come to Christmas a little dry, feeling the season to be somewhat hackneyed and worn, I would implore you to jump into the story. Don’t just read about Zechariah and Elizabeth before breakfast and the run. Pause as you read. Put yourself in their shoes. Erase what you know about Jesus and put yourself, for a moment, into their dusty small, insignificant town. The promises came to them out of a vacuum. Messiah expectation had been around for centuries. Barrenness had been with them for decades. Confusion was unavoidable. From Zechariah’s, "How can I be sure?" to Mary’s "How can this be?", the confounded response (whether faith filled or doubt filled) certainly makes sense, given the circumstance.
Put yourself in the story and realize that as stark as the confusion and quizzical nature of events might have been, the unveiling must have been equally spectacular. The unfolding reality of God incarnate spills through the words of Anna, Simeon, Elizabeth, Mary and Joseph and even the prenatal somersault of John the Baptist. These realities unfurled over time. This was not five pages to be scanned in a morning, but months of angelic visits, prophetic announcements, conception to birth events and temple epiphanies. The shepherds and wise men make their cameos along the way. Herod’s intrigue brings its own tragic flavor. There was no lack of mounting excitement followed by delightful fulfillment.
After all of these years, we should not just look back, but live back- filled with amazement. We should not just look forward, but live forward- filled with hope. We should not just look at the now, but thrill at God’s presence in this moment. God became flesh- God incarnate in the Son. God comes among us in Spirit today filling us with wonder. I have not lost a sense of amazement. I hope the story never grows old for you either. I hope the story is a historic event that reflects our present reality. God’s revelation is still powerful. Have a Merry Christmas.