The Paradox Of Christmas

The Paradox of Christmas

The illustrations section of sermons.com has a humorous and potent story called “The Scene at Bethlehem,” named for Titian’s famous painting. You see, as the story goes, a father and his son were looking at Titian’s painting of the birth of Christ. The inquisitive boy asked his father why the baby Jesus was placed in a pile of straw and an awful cradle like the one in the painting. Logically, the father answered that Mary and Joseph were poor and that they really couldn’t afford anything more.

The son then responded with another question that brought a chuckle from the father: “If they were poor, why would they pay so much to have an expensive artist paint this picture?”

One of the things I love best about the Christmas story is that Jesus can identify with every man and woman. He can identify with the poor because he was born in a manger, in a stable, among livestock. At the same time, he was worshiped as the “King of the Jews” by the wise men, who brought him gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

The more you study Jesus’ life, the more you will see that whatever you are going through, no matter how difficult, he can identify with your situation. Have you thought about the King of kings being betrayed, abandoned, and tried as a criminal? The prologue of John’s Gospel captures this paradox beautifully. John 1:1-3 and 10-12 state,

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. . . . He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God.

What a paradox!

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 1:1