Love Came Down!

I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born! Luke 2:10-11

The story is told of a prince who went in search of a maid suitable enough to be his queen. One day as his carriage was passing through a poor section of town, his eyes fell upon a beautiful peasant maiden. In the days that followed, he often passed by the maiden, and he soon realized he was in love with her. However, the prince had a problem. How could he court her? He could order her to marry him, but then he would never know if she loved him or just felt coerced into marriage. He could put on his most splendid uniform and drive up to her home in his carriage drawn by six horses, but he would never know if she loved him or was just overwhelmed by the splendor.

The prince came up with another solution. He would give up his kingly robe, and move into the village, not with a crown, but in the garb of a peasant. So, he did. He lived among the people, shared their interest and concerns, and spoke their language. In time, the maiden grew to love him because of who he was and because he first loved her. Love came down.

The Love that came down at Christmas came much like the prince in the childlike story. God sent Jesus to be born, live, and die among us so that He could reveal Himself to us in an understandable way. Jesus became flesh just like you and me so that He could be understandable to us, and we would know of His amazing love for us.

God came down that Christmas, and He was wrapped in swaddling clothes and and laid in a stone feeding trough. He was welcomed and worshipped by two groups of people outside of his family – the Shepherds and the Wise Men. These two groups of people were poles apart socially, economically, ethically, and in every other way except spiritually. When the Shepherds and the Wise Men met at the feet of Jesus, they worshipped on common ground.

Just like the Shepherds and the Wise Men, we are all on common ground this Christmas as we come to worship and celebrate the birth of our Lord. The Bible doesn’t record any physical gifts brought by the shepherds, but they gave Him their devotion and worshipped Him. We all know the Wise Men brought gifts of gold, franckincense, and myrrh which were symbolic gifts of kingship, divinity, and a foreshadowing of things to come.

We all come to Him this Christmas with different gifts that we can offer to show our love. This Christmas, we can give him our time and let Him fill it. We can give Him our hands and let Him guide and use them. We can give Him our treasures and let Him store and invest them in safe places that bring everlasting rewards. We can give Him our future and let Him plan and direct our life. We can experience love coming down this Christmas.

There is a famous painting by the artist Holman Hunt showing how Jesus came into the world to die. In this painting called “Jesus at the door of the Carpenter’s Shop in Nazareth,” Jesus is depicted as a boy. He is coming out of his Dad’s shop. and he goes to the door to stretch because his limbs had grown cramped working over the carpenter’s bench. He stands there in the door with his arms outstretched, and behind him on the wall, the setting sun throws his shadow. The shadow is one of the cross. In the background stands Mary, and as she sees the shadow, there is the fear of the coming tragedy in her eyes.

Jesus came into the world to live for us, and in the end, to die for us. He came to give us His life and His death for us. Gold for a King, Frankincense for a priest, and Myrrh for the One who was to die – these were the gifts of the Wise Men. Even at the cradle of Christ, they foretold that He was to be the true King, the Perfect High priest, and in the end, the only Savior of mankind.

This is the Christmas message of Love coming down. The message of hope, the message of peace, of joy, but most importantly, the message of love.

Merry Christmas!