The Christmas story and Jesus’ entrance into our world is wonderful on many levels. It reminds us that God keeps his promises. It’s a demonstration that God sees and responds to our unmet desires. However, I’m not sure that’s the best part of the story. The best part, in my humble opinion, is that the Christmas story shows us that we don’t serve, love, and interact with an aloof God. Our God is one who was willing to enter the mess of our world.
Gods Are Usually Elsewhere
The idea of a god of some kind is not unique to Christianity. People throughout history have believed that there’s something out there that’s bigger and more powerful than us that’s ultimately in control of our world. Multiple religious and mythologies have been developed to help people keep that higher power happy and us in its good graces.
The one thing that these religions all have in common is that the god is somewhere else. The gods are up on Mount Olympus or in Valhalla or in heaven somewhere. Sure, there are stories about the gods coming down to earth and interacting with people (even having children with them in some cases). Still, there’s always a separation of some kind between the gods and humanity. The gods have abilities that people don’t have. They can go places we can’t. They don’t experience the hard pieces of life in the same way even if they do make their way to the land of humanity.
Our God Is Different
That’s not the case with the God of the Bible. We have a God who came down to earth and lived as a human. At Christmas, we celebrate that He was born as a baby, just like every human. He experienced the same awkward process of growing up and learning. He was somehow fully God and fully human, experiencing the limitations of humanity while still retaining his divine character.
Most importantly, he experienced pain and suffering in a way no other divine being has ever claimed to. He was betrayed by his friends, called crazy by his family. People in his hometown rejected him and tried to kill him. Jesus was persecuted by the religious leaders and rejected by the very people he was promised to as a Savior. He was beaten and died and experienced all the depth of sorrow that a human can feel.
Christmas Means God Is With Us
Why is that important? On first read, it sounds pretty depressing. Yay, someone else has suffered! It’s not that Jesus came to suffer and die just for the heck of it. Nor did he just come to earth to die in order to redeem us (though that’s obviously a very important part of his life).
The important part of Jesus coming to earth is that he is Emmanuel, God with us. Because of Jesus, the God of the universe not only created us, but has experienced what it is to be us. We don’t have a God who can’t sympathize with us. We serve and love a God who has been tested in every way and experienced life trials just like we do. He knows what it is to be human, to have limits, to be tempted, to experience pain, to be betrayed.
We have a God that can be with us and can sympathize with us. That means that in the midst of suffering he is with us in a way that a God that’s just above us can’t be. That makes a big difference. The truth is, there is a difference between having a friend and having a friend that can sympathize with us because they’re going through or have gone through the same thing.
An Example from Real Life
I would like to think that I am a good friend to my officemate, Fabi. We are good friends and hang out outside of work. We get along well and we’ve supported each other quite a bit in the two years that we’ve shared an office.
However, a month or so ago, she lost someone in her life that meant a lot to her, someone who was like a little brother to her. While I have lost people before, they’ve mostly been grandparents or older relatives. Though I was there for Fabi, I couldn’t sympathize with her. I haven’t been through anything like what’s she’s currently going through.
However, there’s someone else we work with who lost her brother several years ago. One day, I walked into my shared office and she and Fabi were talking about their loss. She could relate to my officemate in a way that I simply can’t. She could not only be there for Fabi (which I also can be), but she could truthfully say, “I know how you feel. I’ve been there myself.” I have a feeling that their conversation was more helpful to Fabi than any conversation I could have with her on the subject.
Christmas Means God Understands
That is what God can offer to us because of Jesus’ life on earth. While I can theoretically think through how Fabi is feeling, I’ve never experienced it myself. That’s how the gods of other religions work. They can see what’s happening, but they’ve never felt it. In contrast, Jesus can say “I’ve been there. I know how you feel.” There is something remarkably comforting about that.
Let’s be honest, the conversation Fabi had with someone else who had experience loss did not solve her grief. Things were not “fixed” by that conversation. However, there is real comfort in the midst of pain when there’s someone else who walks in something with you, who’s been there, and who’s made it to the other side.
Jesus’ coming to earth didn’t fix all of our sufferings, not yet. His second coming will, but his first one still leaves us in the awkward position of “already and not yet.” However, there is comfort in knowing that Jesus is with us, even in the midst of pain and suffering. He knows what we’re going through and he can be an encouragement to us along the way.
Photo by Mariana B. on Unsplash