Christ is exactly like God, who cannot be seen. He is the first-born Son, superior to all creation. 16 Everything was created by him, everything in heaven and on earth, everything seen and unseen, including all forces and powers, and all rulers and authorities. All things were created by God’s Son, and everything was made for him. 17 God’s Son was before all else, and by him everything is held together. 18 He is the head of his body, which is the church. He is the very beginning, the first to be raised from death, so that he would be above all others. 19 God himself was pleased to live fully in his Son. 20 And God was pleased for him to make peace by sacrificing his blood on the cross, so that all beings in heaven and on earth would be brought back to God.       Colossians 1:15-20 (CEV)
A baby was born yesterday. Actually there was probably several thousand babies born yesterday across the world but this baby was special to me because I had been watching and looking for him. I have known his mother since she was a young girl and now she is a grown woman with a husband and son. His birth was much anticipated and is now much celebrated.
More than 2000 years ago another baby was born. His birth had been foretold for generations. An entire nation watched for Him to be born and yet they did not see Him. He was the Messiah sent to redeem God’s people so that they had an eternal relationship with their Creator, their Father. And they did not see Him. Now before I get all righteous about how I would not have missed my Savior, let’s consider some of the reasons they missed Him:
A preconceived idea about how, what, where, when, and to whom He would come. The 1st century believed God would come with a sword, as a king, to set them free from the Roman Empire. They thought, as God’s children, they would be “special†in the eyes of men and be prosperous and above all others.
Jesus came in perfect love to give Himself as a sacrifice so that all would be saved and live forever with the Father. Jesus came to serve. He teaches me, His disciples, to do the same. I am special to my Heavenly Father because He loves me so very much. A parent loves his/her child from the moment they connect. God loved me before I was formed in my mother’s womb.
Too busy. The people of Bethlehem were too busy with the Passover and the census decree to notice some poor young couple who had to sleep in a barn. Jesus was born and lived right in the middle of God’s people and they were so busy with their lives that they missed the One who would overcome death and this world to give them eternal life. Too often I am so busy trying to fix my problems and reason out solutions to my troubles that I miss Jesus who is right in the middle of it all. He is there to lead me on my life’s path and carry me when I cannot take another step. He is there to provide wisdom, comfort, understanding, strength and courage for each day and I exhaust myself trying to do it alone.
Blind. I have read stories about Doctors Without Borders who come into areas of the world, where what are to us here in the West very common procedures, and fix cleft palates, remove huge tumors, and cataracts and forever change the lives of people who had no hope. Can you imagine living with traumatic cataracts on your eyes since you were a young child and this doctor shows up and does a 30 minute procedure and you can see! All of a sudden you know what yellow looks like. You see your mother’s smile for the first time.
For 40 years I wandered around looking for what was missing in my life. I tried to make people and my career fill that emptiness and didn’t understand that they were a square peg I was trying to fit in a round space. I was blind to Jesus who was right there all the time. Accepting that I was a sinner in need of a savior seemed too simple. Besides, I had went to church all my life and that didn’t seem to help!
When I finally gave up and held out my hands to Jesus, it was like the cataracts fell from my eyes just like they did from Paul’s (Acts 9). For the first time in my life I saw Jesus right there in front of me and now I live to have that kind of relationship with Him every day. I wake up and look expectantly for Jesus in each day. It is a good reason to celebrate every day.
Can You See the Lamb written and sung by Lindell Cooley
