The year was 1809 and the attention of the world was riveted on Austria and the various invasions of Napoleon. At the time of the invasions, babies were being born. But who in the world could have possibly been interested in babies at a time like that?
To be honest, 1809 was a very good year for babies. Tennyson, the famous poet, was born that year as was Gladstone, the great Prime Minister of England. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Darwin, all were born that year. Oh, there was one more. Did I mention Abraham Lincoln? Famous names, all.
Only a handful of people today can name even one of the Austrian campaigns --- but who can measure the impact of:
I find an interesting parallel. The year was 4 BC. Rome was what was happening then. Who could have possibly cared about Joseph and his pregnant wife making an 80-mile trip south from Nazareth? Who cared about another Jewish baby being born in the small village of Bethlehem? Seemingly no one. Even the Holiday Inn had hung out a "no vacancy" sign. Only heaven appeared to take notice at all.
Sadly, everyone missed it. The biggest thing that happened in the world in 4 BC was the birth of that baby in Bethlehem. You see, that baby was Jesus, the Son of God, Jesus the long-awaited Messiah. And again, they missed it.
Now to today. It is said that it was the evening before Christmas and the night watchman was making his usual rounds after a large department store had closed for the holiday. Floor after floor presented piles of boxes and cartons of all shapes and sizes. It looked as if a small hurricane had blown through there.
But a bigger shock awaited the watchman when, under one of the counters, he found a man who had apparently been pushed aside and trampled on in the mad rush to get in that last moment of shopping before the store closed. The man was an absolute stranger. He carried no id. When His body was examined for tell-tale markings, the only thing that could be found were some nail prints in His hands and feet.
What is the moral of the story? Let me put it this way. Jesus came into the world as the greatest expression of God's love. He truly was God come down to earth. He was mercy with a robe, He was grace wearing sandals. And yet He has somehow been lost somewhere in the shuffle.
Once again, as at Calvary, He is rejected. Once again, as at Bethlehem, there is no room for Him in the Inn. Once again, as with the shoppers at the department store. They simply missed the meaning of it all. Have you missed the meaning of Christmas? Do you celebrate the birth of that babe that was born to us some 2000 years ago?
The Redeemed Team
To be honest, 1809 was a very good year for babies. Tennyson, the famous poet, was born that year as was Gladstone, the great Prime Minister of England. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Darwin, all were born that year. Oh, there was one more. Did I mention Abraham Lincoln? Famous names, all.
Only a handful of people today can name even one of the Austrian campaigns --- but who can measure the impact of:
- Tennyson,
- Gladstone,
- Holmes,
- Poe,
- or Lincoln?
I find an interesting parallel. The year was 4 BC. Rome was what was happening then. Who could have possibly cared about Joseph and his pregnant wife making an 80-mile trip south from Nazareth? Who cared about another Jewish baby being born in the small village of Bethlehem? Seemingly no one. Even the Holiday Inn had hung out a "no vacancy" sign. Only heaven appeared to take notice at all.
Sadly, everyone missed it. The biggest thing that happened in the world in 4 BC was the birth of that baby in Bethlehem. You see, that baby was Jesus, the Son of God, Jesus the long-awaited Messiah. And again, they missed it.
Now to today. It is said that it was the evening before Christmas and the night watchman was making his usual rounds after a large department store had closed for the holiday. Floor after floor presented piles of boxes and cartons of all shapes and sizes. It looked as if a small hurricane had blown through there.
But a bigger shock awaited the watchman when, under one of the counters, he found a man who had apparently been pushed aside and trampled on in the mad rush to get in that last moment of shopping before the store closed. The man was an absolute stranger. He carried no id. When His body was examined for tell-tale markings, the only thing that could be found were some nail prints in His hands and feet.
What is the moral of the story? Let me put it this way. Jesus came into the world as the greatest expression of God's love. He truly was God come down to earth. He was mercy with a robe, He was grace wearing sandals. And yet He has somehow been lost somewhere in the shuffle.
Once again, as at Calvary, He is rejected. Once again, as at Bethlehem, there is no room for Him in the Inn. Once again, as with the shoppers at the department store. They simply missed the meaning of it all. Have you missed the meaning of Christmas? Do you celebrate the birth of that babe that was born to us some 2000 years ago?
The Redeemed Team
