Joseph
“These months…these weeks…these days…this night! Ever since Mary saw the angel for the first time, our lives have never been the same. Such an emotional time: surprise, anger, sadness, fear, uncertainty, anxiety, excitement! It has been extraordinary! I never imagined being part of something like this in my lifetime.
“Imagine it! I have been chosen to care for the mother of the Messiah and shape the beginning years of his life! And somehow, though I cannot understand it, he is the Son of the Most High. It is hard to grasp!
“Finally he is here. After a difficult journey to Bethlehem and the hours of Mary’s pain in this stable, He is here. I look at him swaddled tightly in strips of cloth lying there in the manger. It is hard to believe this tiny helpless baby is from Heaven itself! Yet never in all my life has Heaven felt closer.
“Though we are physically and emotionally exhausted Mary and I are moved with awe…the birth of every baby is a miracle: the birth of THIS baby...! And so, though it is a strange thing to do, Mary and I are the first to worship him. His name is Jesus. Indeed he is the Son of God. Before Him, We bow.”
Shepherds
“Shhhhh! Shhhh! You will wake the village! Shhhh! Even now the dogs are barking!”
“I don’t care if I wake every dog in the village! I don’t care if every household is awake after what we have seen! Besides, how can you run in the dark without making noise?!”
“Ow!!”
“See what I mean?! Who cares about noise?! Run! Run! Run! Faster!”
“I’m going as fast as I can!”
“Me too! That was the wildest thing I have ever seen! I mean I have seen foxes and lions and once even a bear while watching the sheep but I have never seen anything like what we just saw!”
“What were those things anyway?!”
“Angels you simpleton! Angels from Heaven!”
“The Messiah has come! They declared it! It must be so! Now we will finally have a savior from the Romans and the throne of David will be restored! And it all begins in David’s own hometown! Huzzah!”
So shouting and panting as they ran, the shepherds barreled down the main street of the town toward the inn. They almost piled up in a heap when they stopped short before the stable trying to pause just a moment to take stock of themselves and the situation. Joseph heard the unusual commotion outside and had already stepped protectively forward to meet this new unexpected challenge – ready to defend his wife and new child, his toughened carpenter’s fist ready to swing. Then peering in through the dimly lit gloom he saw the scraggly bearded face of shepherd.
“Yes?”
“Has a baby been born here tonight?”
“Yes.”
The face of the shepherd lit up in a smile.
“Then we are in the right place! Angels told us you would be here.”
The shepherds entered as quietly as curious excited shepherds could. Crowding round the manger they stared at the tiny swaddled form of their Messiah.
“He is so small…” murmured the shepherd as he fell to his knees. The other shepherds kneeled too. “For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord.” “Before you we bow.”
Temple Saints
“For years Simeon and I waited the promise of Messiah’s coming! For decades we have prayed and worshiped and waited! Today was the day. When I saw that young mother standing with her husband, with the baby cradled in Simeon’s old wrinkled hands, I knew that HE was finally here! I magnified the Lord and rejoiced. Between Simeon and me, we raised quite a noise! And I spoke to all who were awaiting the redemption of Israel…for He is here! What a wonderful privilege that these old eyes might see the Messiah and that these old bodies might worship Him! The King is born! The King has come! We bow!”
Magi
“The stars told us that this time is the most momentous time in all of history. For many days we have journeyed across many miles to come to this place. After a strange time in Jerusalem and the odd behavior of Herod, it has left us feeling strangely. But there it is! The star we have followed our entire journey! It has stopped over that house there!”
With the creaking of saddles, the clinking of metal, and the general hubbub of a caravan called to a halt, the magi dismounted before the little house in Bethlehem. Before you knew it the strangely dressed men, freshly bathed and perfumed, were there in the room with mother and child.
“Our eyes filled strangely with tears. I have never felt this way before! He is so little that it is hard to imagine he is the King foretold by the stars…yet I know in my heart that it is so. He is the King! I think he is the greatest king of all time! We have brought expensive gifts for him, but now I do not feel that even they are enough! The only thing we can do that even seems appropriate is worship him now! We bow!”
Us
Today is Christmas day – the day hallowed and celebrated across the centuries as a day of remembrance. It is the day we celebrate the coming of the Messiah over two thousand years ago. In a most unexpected manner he came as a baby that he might identify with us through every moment of our existence from birth to death. He was born into the most humble circumstances imaginable in a squalid town under the heel of Rome. It was a birth largely unnoticed and quickly forgotten by the people of the time. But that birth day – which we celebrate even now – changed all of history. And in the voices of these characters that I have just read to you, across history we glimpse the emotions, the uncertainties, the astonishment, and the wonder! And with them, we bow.
As we bow, we look ahead to the promise of His coming. We look forward to the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior once again. He promised to return in the same manner as He left. Today is Christmas day. We celebrate the birth of our Savior and look ahead to His magnificent return. He promised to come the first time and He came. He promised to come again and He will. And when He does, we will go to be with Him forever! There, around the throne of God, we will worship Him Who loved us and gave Himself for us and we will bow!
We bow before the baby in the manger.
We bow before the boy he would become under the tutelage of earthly parents.
We bow before the man baptized in Jordan with whom the Heavenly Father was well-pleased.
We bow before the man who overcame Satan in the wilderness.
We bow before the man who healed the sick and raised the dead.
We bow before the man who died upon the cross and shed his blood for the remission of our sins.
We bow before the man raised from the grave triumphant over death and hell.
We bow before the man who promised and sent the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We bow before the man who ascended into Heaven to prepare a place for us.
We bow before the Son of Man who will come again.
He is the Messiah. He is the Son of God. He is the Lord of Glory! He is the King of Kings! This is His birthday! Before Him We bow!
