Many people are anxious to carry pictures of their children, grandchildren or other dear ones and show them to others. They are the proud people who approach and ask you "Have I shown you the most recent pictures of my so and so?" You may want to say, “Yes, thank you, I have seen them three times already.” People have taken pictures from the beginning of history, not as photographs but as stories narrated in words. They might go around and say, "Our baby came last night, a boy, about 7 pounds, brown eyes, little bit of hair, got his father's nose or whatever." Such narratives seem to be more graphic since they leave more room for imagination.
There are some such pictures of the baby Jesus of Nazareth in the Bible. The earliest picture of Jesus is recorded by Luke when a group of shepherds went to see the baby in the manger. The shepherds took some pictures with their eyes, stored in their memory and went and proclaimed with their mouth. "When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning this child, and all who heard it were amazed." (Luke 2:17). We can see another picture of baby Jesus when he was about one month old. Joseph and Mary took him to the temple for a special Jewish ritual, similar to something like the infant baptism. Of course, no baptism is complete without taking some photographs. We can see an old man by name Simeon praying with the baby in his arms and a devout 84 year old woman by name Anna praising God for the child. We see another picture of wise men from the East visiting the baby and presenting him with gifts of gold, frankinscense and myrrh. The prints created by the gospel writers are so impressive that they have been used for thousands of years.
If you haven't noticed something peculiar, no matter how or who took these pictures, none of them says anything about the height, weight, color of the eyes or hair or skin of the baby. Was he chubby or skinny, bald or hairy? In fact, we have no details of the physical appearance of Jesus as a baby or adult. These pictures tell us who He is rather than what he looked like. They proclaim that the baby boy is for all the world, regardless of color, culture, language, race or geography. He is the savior to everyone who was born or will be born. It is "the good news of great joy for all the people."
Gospel writer John portrays another unique picture of Jesus in his book. "In the beginning was the word, the word was with God, the word was God, and the word became flesh and lived among us." (John 1:14). This picture was taken before all creation, beyond the light rays and recorded outside the human ear. This is not just a baby picture, but the picture of Jesus as the 'image of the the invisible God.' Although the music and the decorations are great during Christmas, the most important picture of Christmas is that God came down to the earth. He didn't come because we are nice people, but because we are lost people and he knew that there was not a chance that we could save ourselves. Christmas is not just "happy holidays", but "Merry Christmas"; it is much more than a celebration or a passing sentiment. It is the story of eternal salvation.
These pictures settle in human souls to a revelation of Jesus as the savior. An author writes, "If our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator. If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist. If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist. If our greatest need had been pleasure, God would have sent us an entertainer. But our greatest need was salvation, so God sent us a Savior!"
Merry Christmas!!!
Blessings
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