From A Stable in Bethlehem

From a stable in Bethlehem

A followers of Jesus, we celebrate Christmas because of Emmanuel – which means He is with us, we celebrate because the Light of the World came to us so many years ago... God came near.

It is the season to be jolly because more than at any other time, we think of Jesus, more than in any other season His name is on our lips – the magical dust of Christmas glitters on the cheeks of humanity, ever so briefly – as for a few precious moments we look into the light of a Bethlehem stable and He is truly seen. ‘Come and behold Him..’ we sing – and all across the globe voices will ring out with carols old and new to offer Him praise.
Christmas is a time when for a moment it can be a little easier to imagine a world put right, when hope is rekindled for the peace and goodwill we associate with the best of the Christmas season to become a reality for everyone.

But today though, much of mankind overlooks the significance of what transpired 2,000 years ago...

God became a baby.

The birth of a child, maybe unremarkable in human standards, but by God’s standard it’s something utterly profound, every life is a miracle of creation and the birth of Jesus was truly miraculous. The hovering, life giving power of the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and she became pregnant with the Way, the Truth and the Life!

Jesus was in his lifetime both fully human and wholly God.
The omnipotent became breakable.
He who had been Spirit became pierceable.
He who sustains the world with a Word chose to be dependant on the nourishment of a young girl.
A sleepy carpenter and a peasant girl heard his first cries, no silky wrappings and palace bedroom for this Prince of Peace, but rough strips of cloth to wrap him and calloused, dirty and un-manicured hands held him.
If the shepherds hadn’t come there would have been no reception. If it wasn’t for an unusual star in the heavens there would have been no gifts from the group of star gazing wise men.
And this special baby’s first lullaby was sung by a choir of the heavenly host, though with all the racket I guess he didn’t sleep much that first night!

There in a smelly stable a teenage girl stares at her little bundle and knows she is holding God. Majesty in the midst of the mundane. As Mary changed God’s nappy angels watched the mystery of God’s plan to save humanity unfold before their eyes. The Almighty learnt to walk, talk, run and play. He was completely divine, but completely human.

Jesus grew up in a small village, argued theology with the scribes and the teachers in the temple where he regularly went to worship. He learnt how to work with his hands from his earthly Dad as he learnt the mission for those hands from Abba Father, his heavenly Dad. Hands that cut timber and carved doors would one day open blind eyes and heal the sick. Those hands that flung stars into space would one day be pierced for all the things we have ever done wrong.
He knew the daily struggles of humanity and would feel everything you and I have ever felt. Like being weak and weary, hungry and thirsty, afraid of failure, being hurt by friends, and though He knew laughter and joy, He also knew sadness and sorrow, He was tempted and He was betrayed.

The Son of God became the Son of Man, so that the son’s of men could become the Son’s of God. God walked the earth so we would know how to walk like him. How to be like him and how to do the same things that He did.

What it must have been like to be a shepherd on that that cold hillside and witness the Angel of the Lord appearing? The radiance of the Lords Glory shining and the heaven’s aglow with the light and sound of the choir of angels singing ‘Glory to God in the Highest’! And to have seen that star which lit a shining path for the wise men to visit the King of Kings in Bethlehem?


There is still light shining in that Bethlehem stable today.
Jesus, the Light of the World can bring light into your life.
2,000 years ago your heavenly Dad hung a gift on a tree for you. Your name is on that gift, written in ruby red. It is a gift without compare and without price, a gift like no other.
It is a gift of freedom, it is a gift of grace, it is a gift life and of love.

The wonder of it all is that when we meet Jesus our emptiness is filled, our broken hearts are bound up, our lives are changed and transformed from one glory to another glory as we begin the journey to fullness in Him. Healing and wholeness comes and we find a friend like no other, a big brother who will stand with you and beat down the bullies, He is my protector my lamp and my shield He is my fortress and I will not be shaken! Jesus will never, ever leave us or let us down.

And so may the peace of this Lord & Saviour, Jesus, be with each of us this Christmas Season.

Merry Christmas & a blessed and prosperous New Year to all!

And as Tiny Tim would say….? “God Bless Us Every One!”


Alun Leppitt (December 2008)