"And she gave
birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in
a manger." Luke 2:7 ESV
When I was
a boy, I never wanted to hold babies. All that ended when we had one of our
own. The minute I stared into the beautiful blue eyes of my first-born, I
understood what all the fuss was about.
A few days
after she was born, we took her to church. I was the proudest father there. I
held her and showed her off to everyone.
Many
members of the church approached me and asked
“May I hold the baby?”
Hold the baby?
Hold my child? How dare they ask to hold my baby! My most perfect child! I thought. No
one is touching my child! What if they drop her? What if they have an
infectious disease? How do I know if
they are worthy to touch my child?
Now that
I’m older, and my babies are grown, I understand. Once you fall in love with
babies, you never get over it. For the rest of your life, you’ll want to hold
every baby you see..
We were
made in God’s image. Our feelings reflect God’s. We may therefore assume that
God’s feelings for His child are at least as strong as ours. Our love is
imperfect—His is perfect. God knew the
ache of parenthood, just like us
Look at
how proud God was at the birth of his Only Begotten Son--so proud that He put a
special star in the sky just to celebrate. So proud He sent an army of angels
to announce it. God was bragging, like every father brags. God’s angels partied
over the fields of Bethlehem. “Come see God’s Boy!”
The
shepherds came at the angels' call.
There they found Mary holding God's baby.
Then
(though it isn't recorded in the Bible) the shepherds must have asked, “May we hold the baby?”
Mary
looked at those shepherds. When was the last time they took a bath? Do they know how to hold a baby? Could she entrust the Son of God to the rough
hands of clumsy men?
Was it any
easier for God? God gave his Son to the world, but He never left his side.
There was no place that His Son went that his Father did not accompany
Him. All through His earthly life God
held Jesus. When He was baptized, He was
there. When He came up out of the water,
God would keep silent no more. His voice
boomed out “This is My beloved Son!” Which is God's way of saying "That's
My Boy!"
But in the
end, God gave him up. God turned his back on His Son as he hung on the cross.
Jesus cried out “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken Me?” And for the only
time, God didn't answer.
On the
cross, God stopped holding His baby.
God gave
up His son because He loves us so much. He let go of His baby, so He could hold
us. Christ suffered for our comfort. He took pain for your relief. No love is
greater than this. He gave up His Son,
so we could become His children.
This is
the reason Jesus was born. He came—to
be given up for us. No one ever loved
you more than this. Through His
willingness to give Him up, he showed His love to us.
Now, God
gives His son to us—His baby. Only we
don’t hold him. He holds us, and he will
never let us go.
"Thank you, Jesus for holding us in Your divine love. In Jesus' Name. Amen"
