Christ The Lord
"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
– Luke 2:11
Before the baby was in her womb, Mary was told that she would conceive a Son and that she should name Him Jesus (Luke 1:31). Yahshua, Yahweh is salvation, what a perfect name for our Lord because that is what God came to do. He came to save His people. There is no mistaking that Jesus is the Mashiach. He came to fulfill the law, which we celebrate today.
Today, in many Nativity scenes, we see Joseph, Mary, Jesus, and the wise men from the East. It is a beautiful picture yet somewhat incorrect. The wise men did not show up until later when Jesus was a young child. They did not enter into a manger, where Jesus was born, but into a house (Matthew 2:11). They did bring costly gold, frankincense, and myrrh which were gifts fit for the King of kings. However, when Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the Temple on the prescribed day, they did not have these gifts. They could not offer a lamb for sacrifice. They had to employ the provision made to present two-turtle doves, the sacrifice of the poor (Leviticus 12; Leviticus 14:22). They were very poor at this time.
Many today teach that if you are a faithful spirit-filled Christian, you would be rich and that if you have enough faith in Christ, you can call things into existence. Yet I do not see that with Jesus and His life represented on this earth in the Gospels. When Jesus was talking with His disciples about the cost of discipleship, He said, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Luke 9:58). Jesus owned nothing at the beginning of His life and nothing at the end. His kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36). He humbled Himself and was cloaked in humility for our sake. Jesus came so that He could understand everyone, from the least to the greatest, because no one is greater than Him, yet He made Himself least of all so that you and I might be saved. I pray you and I remember what Yahshua came to do for us as we celebrate the greatest gift ever given, God with us!
"Jesus Christ wasn't just a great religious teacher who walked on earth some two thousand years ago. The Bible says He was far more than that: He was God in human flesh. This is what we celebrate every Christmas-and this is what we should celebrate every day of our lives. The Bible tells us that on that first Christmas, God did something you and I can barely imagine: He came down from Heaven and became a man."
- Billy Graham