Born in unhygienic conditions, even by the standards of Israel during the Roman Empire, in an unfamiliar region surrounded by strangers, in appearance just an ordinary baby boy, the salvation of the human race centred on Jesus.
The prophet Isaiah gave four descriptions of the Messiah who would come, who we now recognise as Jesus:
In Isaiah 9: 6b He is called,” Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Eternal Father and Prince of Peace”. These speak of Divine wisdom, power, love and peace.
The manger seemed an inauspicious arrival for the King of Kings but the wisdom of Jesus, the Wonderful Counsellor is infinitely wiser than any human wisdom; it is in Him that true wisdom lies.
He is One who knows and understands our circumstances. We are earth bound and limited in our understanding. We do not know everything, but He does. We cannot see the whole picture, but He can. How amazing that we can put our trust in Him knowing He knows best.
Secondly, as Mighty God he came and was cradled in a manger. How could the vastness of God be compacted to the size of a human baby? This is the true miracle of Christmas. I am amazed to consider how much information a teeny microchip can hold but this is much more mind boggling. All divinity in a swaddled-up baby sized bundle. All that creative and protective power in the size of a car battery! Why would he even want to lay aside his royal robes to take on weakness?
Well, because, thirdly, as Eternal Father, he comes to earth as Divine Love. He loves you that much. Even though He knows you inside out, warts and all; even though He would have the power to get rid of his corrupted creation without any suffering to Himself, He chose to come as a baby, to really get inside the skin of humankind, to suffer to buy you back and enable you to have the free gift of eternal life.
This leads us fourthly to Isaiah’s final description of Jesus, “The Prince of Peace”. Not just the absence of strife but the presence of a deep inner peace which makes all the difference to everything. When you accept that an all knowing, all powerful, all loving God is in control – even in these days of big bills, climate change, wars, refugees, homelessness and insecurity – we can have inner peace.