27 DECEMBER
DON’T BE AFRAID!
Lord Jesus, I am amazed that You stepped out of heaven for me; humbling Yourself to die on the cross in my place. I love You and give You my heart afresh. Amen
LUKE 2:42-52
42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they travelled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’
49 ‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME NEAR.
MARK 1:15
Nearly every tme an angel appears in the Bible, the frst words he says are “Don’t be afraid!” Litle wonder. When the supernatural makes contact with planet earth, it usually leaves the human observers fat on their faces in fear. But Luke tells of God making an appearance in a form that doesn’t frighten� In Jesus, born with the animals and laid in a feeding trough, God takes an approach that we need not fear� What could be less scary than a newborn baby?
On earth Jesus is both God and man� As God, He can work miracles, forgive sins, conquer death and predict the future. But for Jews accustomed to images of God as a bright cloud or pillar of fre, Jesus also causes much confusion� How could a baby in Bethlehem, a carpenter’s son, a man from Nazareth, be the Messiah from God?
Why does God take on human form? The scene of twelve year old Jesus debatng rabbis in the temple gives one clue. “Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers”, Luke tells us (2:47). For the frst tme, ordinary people could hold a conversaton with God in visible form.
Jesus can talk to anyone—His parents, a rabbi, a poor widow—without frst having to announce, “Don’t be afraid!” In Jesus, God draws near. o
PHILIP
YANCEY
Read today’s passage again. What is your reaction to God humbling Himself so that His people can easily talk with Him, sit with Him and know Him face-to-face?
Heavenly Father, we pause at Christmas to remember how Your Son came to us in the form of a helpless baby . . . and we worship in amazement and wonder that You have come near to us.