The Height Of Expectation
Do you remember Christmas Eve when you were a little child? The almost overwhelming feeling of expectation you had as you went to bed that night, forcing yourself to go to sleep in spite of your excitement, fearful lest you be caught awake by Santa and deprived of all the goodies of Christmas. We regret losing those emotions of childhood, but make sure our own children’s Christmas is as exciting for them as it was for us. We create their memories in so many different ways, and preserve the essence of the holidays in the pure and simple joy of a child.
After all, isn’t that what Christmas is all about? A little Child, born of Mary, the promise of redemption to all mankind. What could surpass such a promise, what is there on this earth that could compete with the eternal joys of heaven, a heaven re-opened by this tiny Infant on Christmas morning?
If our childish hopes rose to such heights as these in the four weeks of Advent, imagine the hopes of the children of God, locked out of heaven until the coming of their Messiah. They walked in darkness but yearned to see the great Light prophesied by Isaias. They had no idea when he would come, but the prophet Micah had at least told them where he would be born: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, are the smallest town in Judah. Your family is almost too small to count, but the “Ruler of Israel” will come from you to rule for me. His beginnings are from ancient times, from long, long ago. The Lord will let his people be defeated until the woman gives birth to her child, the promised king.”
And thus, when the wicked King Herod heard from the three kings that they had come in search of a newborn King, he feared the loss of his kingdom and sent his soldiers to that town of Bethlehem to kill all the children of two years old and younger. No sooner is the divine Christ Child born than the devil turns his attention to the murder of all children—not merely because he hates the purity of their innocence, but out of spite for that divine Infant who will take away his power. The Devil uses Herod as his instrument, both of them with the same agenda—to punish God for daring to threaten their authority by means of a mere Child.
It is our duty and privilege to pay homage to this same Child. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords and to no man do we owe the same degree of allegiance as to this babe lying in a manger. To him be all the honor, the power and the glory, and may he bless us all this Christmas and for evermore.