New Testament #2: Look With Me

Hush.  Look with me.  Do you see it?

A velvety night sky, full of stars.  Look!  A new one arises.  It shines bright.

A gentle breeze caresses emerald carpet beneath our calloused feet.  Can you feel the soft warmth of the blazing bonfire?  Sheep, fluffy and white, graze calmly afar off.  Father comes, leaning on his ancient shepherd's crook.

Of a sudden!  An angel stands above the ground.  He tells us of a Babe in a manger in Bethlehem.  He says the Child is Christ the Lord.

The velvet sky is full of them now, the angels.  They are singing "Glory to God, and on earth, peace, good will to men!"  Their music is not of earth, but of heaven.  No man can remake it.

"We must go," you whisper, and Father nods.

"What shall we bring Him?" I ask.

"A lamb," you answer.

Yes, we will take Him the best we have to offer...our favorite lamb.

Through the dark city streets we fly, yelling and calling our glad news.  But others do not listen to us.  They think we are crazy.  On we go, to the stable bare.

There!  The star rests over that stable, behind that inn.

Do you see Him?

A young woman, dark hair and sparkling eyes.  A young man, her husband, calm and collected, yet strangely in awe of what has taken place.  In her arms, his wife holds the Son of God.

You go over to the woman, and she shows you a bundle.  But it is not just any bundle.  In those tightly-wrapped blankets lie a child.  And not just any child.

The Son of God Himself.

He has dark hair, and a tiny nose.  When He opens His little eyes, they are dark like His mother's.  A little hand reaches out, and grasps for His mother.  Tiny fingers wrap around her littlest one.

Look with me.  Do you see it?

The new star in the sky.  It looks far away, but we must go.  The three of us will travel long, on weary camels' backs, and the Babe will be two or three years old by the time we arrive...but we must go.

You, bring frankincense.  You, bring gold.  I shall bring the myrrh.  We will give Him gifts.

He will grow to be a man, with friends named Peter and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Joanna and Mary.  His mother will feed Him His favorite meals, and His father will teach Him of an earthly trade.  He will give hope and strength and healing and love to many.

He will be persecuted and scorned, tried and afflicted.  He will be whipped, and given a crown of thorns.  He will wear a purple robe and be made to carry a large wooden cross.  Men -- earthly men -- will put nails in His hands and in His feet, and cause Him great pain.  They will pierce His side, and He will die upon that cross.

But He will not stay in the tomb.  He will rise again the third day.

For the Child Who is born tonight is the greatest Gift of all, and He will give us that which cannot be repaid.  He will give His life for us, and will wash away our sins for eternity.  We will live forever with Him when our time is through.

Yes, the Child Who is born tonight is the greatest Gift of all.