Hey 28:20! Most of you are probably familiar with me, but if you're not, my name is Felix and I am the head author for Team Black Wolves. This is the first of my new blog series, The Truth Beneath, where I highlight new perspectives and dig deeper into bible stories we all know by heart to help everyone reading these to become closer to Christ. I thought that I would start out my posts with a little something on the story of Jesus's birth.
As 2021 comes to a close in these final weeks of the year and we near 2022, I would like to just remind you all again of the amazing wonder of Christmas from a new perspective. Of course, there's family, friends, lights, trees, food, presents- all of them gifts and blessings from God. But we can often easily forget how the first Christmas day was one of the least known events at the time!
Think about this: the bible story of Jesus's birth is known by all christians and sometimes non christians. Jesus's birth and death tend to be some of the most remembered stories from the bible. But have you ever realized that while so many people knew about the crucifixion, not many people really payed attention to Jesus's birth at first, at least at that time. To them, it was just another couple, another baby, another normal night. They didn't know who he would grow up to be. Some of the people who saw him die may have even walked past Mary and Joseph on the streets without even realizing it. Most people wouldn't have even thought anything at that time, Joseph and Mary would have just been background characters, people who couldn't find room at the inn, sleeping in a stable. It was likely fairly common for events like that to happen. God can turn seemingly ordinary things into lifetime gifts of forever love.
Of course, you all must have started thinking about the shepherds and the wiseman by now, and I certainly haven't forgotten about them. But compared to other stories in the bible and the stories behind the other well-known holidays we celebrate, a group of shepherds and three astronomers isn't really that many people who knew that Jesus was important from the moment he was born. I'm not sure how many of you realized before reading this that our savior's birth was not a very well-known or important seeming event until later on, and I certainly don't blame you if you didn't realize. But that can bring a new meaning to Christmas: humility.
When people talk about the meaning of Christmas, the word humility doesn't always come to mind at first. Joy, love, peace- those are how we always imagine Christmas. And they certainly aren't wrong. The joy of our Lord's birth, the love of God who sent his son, the peace that came to earth on that night. None of those words are wrong, that's not what I'm trying to say. My point is that we are missing something, an aspect of Christmas that we tend to miss but is painted all over the scene. Our Lord being born in a stable instead of a grand castle: humble. Sending the news of the birth of the greatest king the world would ever see to a group of shepherds, some of the lowest-class citizens, first: humble. Sending the Son of God to parents as low-ranked as a carpenter and his new wife: humble. And following my earlier point, having just another common birth, no parades to welcome Mary and Joseph, no fine horses or comfortable rooms to give birth in. All of those represent humility.
Some other thoughts that may be running through your mind at this time could have to do with the Christmas star. And of course that must have been noticed, but how many people would guess that it would be celebrating the birth of a carpenter's child? None. Now of course, Jesus wasn't just a carpenter's child, but how many people would have guessed anywhere near the truth, have thought that the star represented the birth of God's son? Probably not many. The wise men, of course, knew what the star meant. But they weren't normal people. They were part of God's plan to show us that wether we are shepherds or kings, Jesus came for us. No matter what.
To wrap things up here (not a Christmas pun, I promise), I will just end by saying please think about what I've said. Humility can be a lot of things, it can be disguised as love when you are giving a gift to a friend. It can be disguised as joy when you stop to say thank you to someone, even if it means going out of your way. Just stopping to thank someone for a thoughtful gift, no matter how big or small, can make their day and bring happiness to their hearts. We all need a little more humility in our lives. We can make a difference in this Christmas season.
And we can start right now.
Felix Wolf
Head Author, Team Black Wolves
creativewriting2820@outlook.com