Charles Spurgeon once wrote that for him, one of the marvels of Christmas was the willing and even joyful presence of the angels. It was remarkable, he thought , that they displayed no jealousy over the fact that God had chosen humanity to receive His son, instead of choosing the angels themselves to receive him.

I thought it was an odd perception. It was prompted by the enormous joy displayed by the angels to the shepherds, and the amount of participation of individual angels with Zechariah and Mary and Joseph. Unrestrained joy was the angels’ mood. There is no other display of hosts of angels such as greeted the birth of Jesus with their song.

With Spurgeon’s remark I thought how hard it is for us to comprehend the Spirit of God at work in our own world. Angels at least have supernatural qualities and would seem to be closer to God than human beings. Yet God chose two human beings to parent His son, and celebrated his birth with the dazzling display of the contents of heaven. His audience was a carefully chosen group of shepherds who responded as only the faithful would: they went joyfully at the angel’s word to visit “This thing that has come to pass.”(Luke 2:15)

In Jesus’ birth we catch a glimpse of God’s heart in welcoming the arrival of His son to live among human beings as one of them, while all the time belonging to God. That Fatherly love poured out on that night has never been extinguished, though it has been tried very hard for more than two millennia. When the baby grew up he expressed it to one who came to seek him out. Nicodemus had caught a glimpse of God in Jesus; And Jesus said, “For God so loved the world, that He have His one and only son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

God chose to visit us that we could draw closer to Him. The psalmist wrote, Taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8) At this time of year, there is much to taste! All along it had been God’s intention to draw human beings closer to Himself than even the angels. Not just at Christmas are we invited to Come see this thing that has come to pass!

Merry Christmas!

Love in Him,

Prue