Don't be alarmed! Ruth and I are not pregnant at 50-plus years of age. But I did give a devotional at our recent Northwest Christmas party that carries a baby and Christmas theme. Hopefully it is refreshing as you move into the heart of the holiday season.
Unto Us a Child is Born
“We have a baby!” It’s a common statement. Proud parents or even grandparents say it when their newborn comes into the world. Usually there are phone calls right after the event and a written birth announcement to follow. “We have a baby!” “It’s a boy!” Or, “It’s a girl!” Name, length and weight. It’s all there along with plenty of opinions expressed eventually on who the baby resembles. Comments are made connecting the baby to its parentage. “Oh, look, he’s got his mother’s mouth!” Nose, eyes, fingers or toes are often included in these comparisons. Predictions soon follow. “She’ll grow up to be just like her Mom.” Or, “This kid has the makings of a great fisherman.” It’s all about fitting the little one into the family or affirming what everybody already knows… “We have a baby!” Thousands of other parents may have had a baby at the same time, but this baby is ours!
I know the feeling. When our first child was born there was immediately a tremendous sense of both awe and ownership. Ruth as a first time mother kept exclaiming through her tears, “It’s a baby!” I suggested we take a little picture with a little camera of the little fingers and little toes. Ruth called her folks and I called mine. Kindra Emeline Hazen was born! She was ours, as were the three that followed. We had a baby!
It is interesting to me in the Advent story that nothing is mentioned concerning Joseph and Mary’s response to the birth of their new son. Maybe it was the humble setting or the mystery around a virgin giving birth. But nothing is recorded. However, one assumes that when these parents saw this tiny son, they were moved as we are today. Perhaps they counted the fingers and toes and commented on his little nose, ears and mouth. Is it possible that they whispered in amazement, “We have a baby!” Yes, it’s possible; but it’s bigger than that.
Consider this father issue. To the casual reader, Luke 3:23 would raise some questions. “He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph.” Is there some question about Joseph being the father? Well, yes! We know that Joseph was not the actual father but that Mary was pregnant by the Holy Spirit. So, when Jesus was born, is it possible that God himself might say, “We have a baby!” It sounds a bit unusual but yes, that would at least be accurate. But it’s bigger than that.
You begin to get a fuller picture when you read the angel’s announcement to the shepherds in Luke 2:11, “Today, in the city of David, a Savior has been born to you.” You? We can understand Jesus being Joseph and Mary’s baby and maybe even God’s. But could it be that he was also the shepherds’ baby? Could they have left the manger scene all excited and said, “We have a baby?” Yes. According to the angel, this was their baby too. But it’s even bigger than that.
Isaiah, the Old Testament prophet, said it for the birth of the God-Man baby in Isaiah 9:6. “Unto us a child is born.” Same thing as, “We have a baby!” And with it are all the things one would expect from a proud couple of parents. You know, expressions of special names like Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God and Prince of Peace. Well, okay, those aren’t everyday names for any normal kid but they do sound like what a parent might say when talking about special names, especially reflecting a kid’s heritage. And, of course, there are the proud predictions of this kid being a ruler and a deliverer of people. Yup! Sounds like the stuff you’d hear from a beaming couple bragging on their boy. “We have a baby!”
Funny thing, though. Isaiah is not speaking the words of the parents, Joseph and Mary. Check it out for yourself. No record of a birth announcement from the parents. Sure, he was their son. At least Luke later calls them his parents. But something else is going on here. Isaiah is speaking the words of a whole nation, Israel. “Unto us a child is born.” Could an entire nation claim this baby as their own? Yes, that is what Isaiah is saying. “Israel, we have a baby!” Amazing! But it’s bigger than that.
Remember Simeon, the prophet, the guy in Luke 2:25 who had received God’s promise that he would see the Messiah before he died? He meets the couple and child at the temple and describes Jesus as “a light for revelation to the Gentiles.” That’s you and me and every person on earth who is not a Jew. Wait a minute! Could it be that this was the world’s baby? Could you and I echo the words of Joseph and Mary, the shepherds, the nation Israel and perhaps even God himself and say, “We have a baby?!”
One of my family’s favorite holiday videos is “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” We watch it every year around Christmas time and basically know every line. It is the imaginative story of a church that always puts on a Christmas pageant for the community, until the lady who is the main organizer goes down with a broken leg. After a flurry of worry, phone calls and speculation, the hot potato of responsibility is passed on to one of the unassuming mothers in the church. All the normal traditions are soon broken as this rookie tries to patch things together and put on a pageant worthy of the tradition it deserves. That is, until the Herdman kids get wind of it. The Herdmans are a welfare family known for their ill behavior, filth and intimidation. Like one of the “good” kids says, “They lie, steal, smoke cigars… and take the Lord’s name in vain.” The six Herdman kids show up for the casting meeting and the regular church kids flee to the fringes of the room. Imogene Herdman tells the normal star of the show what she will do to her if she doesn’t surrender the role of Mary. Imogene’s brother, Ralph, becomes Joseph, three other brothers, Leroy, Ollie and Claude are cast as the three wise men, and the other sister, Gladys, takes the role of the Angel of the Lord. Practices are a disaster and the performance evening finally arrives with a packed house; everyone expects the worst. But that evening, something happens to the Herdmans. Leroy doesn’t show initially. He is disgusted that a wiseman would bring a flimsy cardboard container representing something he didn’t even understand. He heads home and arrives just in time to bring in the ham the welfare lady had left for the family. Gladys, the Angel of the Lord, runs in with her star wand and yells at the shepherds to move up and see the baby. But it’s Imogene who is truly transformed. Just before her entrance with Ralph, she notices a picture of Mary holding the baby Jesus. Her face softens as she adjusts her veil and gently caresses the doll in her arms. During the performance, tears come to her eyes as she realizes… she has a baby! He was hers… or was she his? The movie ends with Gladys jumping up on a planter on Main Street as the kids are running home, waving her star and exclaiming, “Hey, hey, unto to you a child is born!”
Gladys was right! You see, the amazing thing about this baby is not just that he was Mary’s or even Joseph’s. He belonged to the shepherds. He belonged to all of Israel. He belongs to the Kurds. He belongs to the Chinese. He belongs to Africans. He belongs to the world. He belongs to you and he belongs to me. “Unto us a child is born.” We have a baby! He is Christ the Lord!