Hi, this is Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to Christmas Eve with this old, old carol…
Who is He in yonder stall at whose feet the shepherds fall
‘Tis the Lord, O wondrous story, ‘Tis the Lord the King of Glory
At His feet we humbly fall, crown Him, crown Him Lord of all
And that’s an “Amen”! Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away, an angel left on a journey. He soared across the paths of suns and stars until finally he entered another small galaxy. The angel then crossed one solar system after the next, passed planets and stars and flew to one specific planet. He entered the atmosphere of earth and crossed continents and oceans, finally arriving in a barren little land in an obscure corner of the world.
The angel folded his wings and set his feet on the edge of a little town called Nazareth. He passed streets and alleys and came upon a certain home. Here, in Nazareth, his journey across time and space had ended. The angel had flown across a universe to pause in front of a dusty little house on a side street in a small village by the edge of a desert. Across eternity and innumerable light years, all the way from the very gates of heaven, the angel had come. His message was for neither King nor Prince. Caesar was unaware of his visit and Herod would know soon enough. The angel, though, had been sent to speak to a peasant girl—a young, ordinary teenager sitting on the side of her bed in her room in that little house. The angel appeared to her and spoke these simple words that sent shockwaves rippling across the galaxies:
He said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored. The Lord is with you. Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High and His kingdom will never end.”
Artists have tried for ages to capture that moment on canvas. Poets have pondered it. Musicians have written about it. And dreamers have wondered about it. And we can only guess what that young peasant girl did at the pronouncement from the angel. Did she hide behind a pillow on her bed, as any teenager might do? Did she gasp or weep or laugh or sit there in a daze? Thanks to Scripture, we may not know what she did, but we know what Mary said. With childlike simplicity, she responded to the angel with a simple, direct question—a question that also sent shockwaves across the galaxies. “How will this be?” she asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” In all the universe, since time and space began, never had anything like this happened. God was about to become man. And the girl from Nazareth would never ever be the same.
This Christmas Eve, ask yourself the same question as Mary did: “How can this be?” It’s simple and direct, and it’s an honest question. And when you find the answer—the answer that God became flesh, flesh and blood, a man for you—you also will never be the same. That’s something important to ponder on this, Christmas Eve.
© Joni and Friends, 2013
Compliments of Joni and Friends
PO Box 3333 Agoura Hills, CA 91376