The Glory of His Birth

The Weakness of Christ · BC 6

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.

Luke 2:12

The Lord of all creation concealed His glory and came to us as a helpless infant. In this first unit we trace the events surrounding Christ's birth and ask why the Almighty would stoop so low — veiling the majesty of His eternal power in the weakness of human flesh. His humble birth is a sign of peace.

Read: Luke 2:1–38; Matthew 1:18–25; Micah 5:2

The Word Made Flesh

The Son of God concealed His glory by becoming a vulnerable baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed into a manger. He did not come dressed in armor for battle, nor adorned in His own shekinah glory. Instead He veiled the majesty of His eternal power with the weakness of human flesh and came to us as a helpless infant.

How could a tiny newborn baby be God? Though we confess that Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, it is hard to fathom the incarnation. God became man without ceasing to be God — as the prophet foretold and the apostle declared.

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14

The Birth in Bethlehem

The low estate of Christ's birth may seem unfortunate, but nothing about it was accidental. It was no mistake that He was born in the little town of Bethlehem. Joseph and Mary were forced by imperial command to leave Nazareth and travel about ninety miles south to register in their ancestral town — and so to fulfill what was written.

But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel.

Micah 5:2

The Angelic Announcement

“Glory, glory, glory! Peace on earth and goodwill toward men.” This was the triumphant message declared by a host of holy angels to a few shepherds in a nearby field. The message of the Lord's appearance should have been more terrifying than the appearance of the angels — for it is one thing for holy angels to draw near, and quite another for the holy Judge of the universe to come and dwell with us.

Yet the angels' message was not one of dread and judgment but one of hope and salvation. The sign given was not a warrior astride a white horse but a baby; not a flaming sword but swaddling clothes; not a war-horse but a wooden manger. Because He did not come to judge the world, He clothed Himself in humility.

Simeon Sees His Salvation

The shepherds were not the only ones filled with joy. When the time came for Joseph and Mary to bring their newborn into the temple, the Spirit led in an old and devout man named Simeon, to whom it had been revealed that he would not die until he had seen the Lord's Christ. Holding his mighty Savior in his feeble hands, he did not depart disappointed.

Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples.

Luke 2:29–31

For Reflection

“Down, down, down the Son of God came to us.” In great humility He came down from glory to rescue us by becoming one of us. His humble appearance and the weakness of His flesh remain a sign of peace.