A Thought For The Week Of December 23

"Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14) Immanuel. God With Us. It's what Christmas is all about really. It's the sign that God is with us. Not over us, or beyond us, or above us. But actually with us. And even more than that - God is both with us and one of us. Matthew's Gospel takes this verse from Isaiah and applies it to the reality of Jesus - that through his birth, God was coming to us. And Paul speaks of Jesus being born of a woman. It's the same message. Through Jesus, God is both with us and one of us. There are a lot of uncertainties and even a lot of mysteries around the birth of Jesus. None of them perhaps as great as the simple words "the virgin will conceive." I for one don't try to explain that; but because I can't explain it, neither do I simply reject it. I accept it as yet another wonderful part of a story that in one way makes no sense, but in another way makes perfect sense: that God, out of love for what he created, would choose to become a part of that creation. To me, that's the wonder and the mystery and even the majesty of Christmas: that God loves us enough to come to us. Have a great week - and have a blessed and merry Christmas!