MORE THAN A BABE


Christmas is a day chosen to celebrate the birth of a small baby boy, 
a child who's Father is great, and his mom was just a willing vessel.

And then he grew, very much like our children grow. I bet he had 
chubby, wobbly little legs that buckled under Him as he learned to walk.

Then in a blink, Mary looked around, and there He was grown tall, on 
His way to being a man, but not there yet. A teenager, all gangly 
legged and arms that
just seemed to have minds of their own. Probably tripped over his own 
feet a time or two before he 'grew' into his body.

Then on a trip, he disappeared! Mary searched frantically for him and 
the whole party had to backtrack to find Him. There He was, with a 
slight smile on His
face and a mom, 'why are you worried so' on his lips and, 'I am just 
doing the Fathers business. How Mary must have wanted to strangle him 
and hug him all
at the same time.

Then another blink, and Jesus was a man. Wow look at how He has 
grown, I bet she thought. I look at my 25 year old son, and am so 
proud of Him, and notice
how very grown up He looks, and it seems just yesterday, I was wiping 
His snotty nose. Time flies.

Then when just 30, Jesus began his ministry. He turned the water to 
wine, He healed the lame, opened blinded eyes, freed the captive. But 
most of all, He
loved everyone. He walked among the people without shunning even one 
of them. He touched the leper, the leper that nobody else would even 
set their eyes
upon. Yet Jesus healed him, and made him whole again. I bet Mary was 
oh, so proud of her son.

Then the religious crowd came in and decided, that Jesus man had to 
go. He was disturbing the status quo, He was making waves and 
breaking the church's laws, what were they to do?

People flocked to Him, leaving the synagogues, and following the man 
who loved them. A simple spoken man who used stories to make a point. 
A man who did no harm to anyone, only loved them.

Then one day, they took Him and bound Him and 'tried' Him. And the 
crowd turned on Him. They demanded His Blood, they demanded His Death.

And so they beat Him, and they ridiculed Him, they spit in His face. 
Then He walked up the hill, carrying a wooden cross so heavy it 
nearly crushed Him. And
when they reached the top, they laid it down, and laid Him on it, and 
then drove nails through His hands and feet, all the while jeering 
and laughing and tormenting.

Then they dropped the cross in the hole, and he hung there,
naked, bruised , battered, covered in His Blood.

He raised His eyes toward the sky, toward Heaven where He knew His 
Father was, and said, 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what 
they do.' And then He died. Oh, how Mary must have sobbed, how she 
suffered, watching her son die, and watching her hopes and dreams die with Him.

Yet on the day she went to 'care for' His Body, He was not there. An 
angel was, and he told Mary that Jesus was not there, that He was 
alive. And Mary wept
with joy. He is alive.

Prophesy had been fulfilled.

The birth of a babe brought on the saving grace of the world. Without 
that tiny little baby, lying in a warm quiet manger, we would not 
have the forgiveness
today, we would not have the grace today, and we would all be still 
trying to find the right 'sacrifice'.

So, as you look upon this season, take a minute and thank the Father 
for the Son and for His grace and mercy, and most of all, His love.

Jackie Raborn