The mountains quake before him and the hills melt away. The earth trembles at his presence, the world and all who live in it. (Nahum 1:5)The earth sat silent, but you could feel the impending earthquake. Thunder in the distance, low lightning, the animals all sat looking toward the east waiting like animals do before some major natural happening.
In the distance you could hear the confused sounding whispering. What is happening, they ask. What goes on?
And then – nothing. A baby is born. The mother cries out in pain, the baby is born, the midwife whacks him on the rear and he cries. She wraps him in some cloth and gives him to his mother who begins to nurse him.
That’s it? The animals all lie down again, the thunder stops. But the confused whispering keeps on.
From heaven, the angels have just been instructed to sing the praises of the Son of the Most High to a bunch of shepherds. God has commissioned a great star to hang over the place where he lay.
And that’s it. The angels are wondering what the deal is. Why is it that the Son of the Most High received no accolades greater than just a song to some shepherds. It seemed to the angels that when the Word became manifest that there would be a lot more stuff.
On the other side, the devil is happy. He is looking forward to the challenge. There has never been a single person who lived who did not fall down in some way.
This one will be no different. God really messed up here. He sent his Son into my territory, the dark one thinks. And he will be mine, just like everyone else has ever been.
On one side, the angels are confused at the little pomp given the Royal Birth. On the other, the devil is looking forward to tearing down the kingdom of God through the baby.
But things will not turn out like either of them thought.
There was no pomp because God sent his Son to live among us, not over us. He was a man like any other, as Hebrews 4 says. He is, as the angel told Mary, Emmanuel – God Among Us.
But, on the other hand, he is not like any other in one way. He is the Son of the Most High. Although he is human and subject to all of the devil’s devices, he is still the Son of God.
No one has ever been sinless. But Jesus will be. People have always died because of the sin that was brought into the world. But Jesus, sinless as he is, will die anyway. And not only will he die, he will conquer death, giving us the ability to do the same.
The devil is sure going to be surprised. And the earth will know that there is a Savior born.
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