God Comes Quietly: Immanuel in the Ordinary
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In the Old Testament there are several occasions where God worked dramatically—and his work turned heads—including fire coming down on Sodom and Gomorrah, the ten plagues in Egypt, the defeat of Jericho, and the cloud that hovered over the Tabernacle. But there are also times that God worked behind the scenes, through ordinary and humble means, such as in the story of Joseph (brotherly jealousy, a corrupt wife, the mistakes of Pharaoh’s butler and cupbearer).
Considering the magnitude of Jesus’ coming into the world, it may surprise us that God came with limited announcement (only a small handful of people heard the angels, and only an isolated group of searchers followed the star). In fact, there was much surrounding Jesus’ birth that was very ordinary and humble. God’s use of ordinary and little things amid declaring his glory and bringing comfort to his people should not only be an encouragement but also a source of praise and delight for his people as we live out our faith every ordinary day at a time.
God comes quietly.
In Luke 2:1 we read: “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.” At the very beginning of Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth, we are greeted with the pomp and circumstance of an earthly king who has “all the world” at his fingertips. This stands in stark contrast to the ruler of the universe who would be born naked and helpless, wrapped in rags, in a small insignificant village. John 1:3 states, “All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” Yet, Jesus came quietly into this world, lacking the pomp and circumstance the world could offer. Luke 2 is startling as it recounts the ordinary, little ways in which God chose to come and dwell among us, as well as recounting the divine majesty that surrounded Jesus’ birth. We are reminded by this narrative that God is glorious, and that he is also quietly near to us in our daily lives.
God comes in ordinariness and humility.
The account of Jesus’ birth is full of not only the ordinary and humble but also the divine and heavenly. This mix of lowly situation and glory reminds us of the mystery of Jesus being truly God and truly man. Humanly, so much was ordinary or humble surrounding Jesus’ birth: A king gave a decree, as kings will customarily do, and the ordinary citizens obeyed. Joseph and Mary did what every other family would have been doing—traveling. They experienced not only the stresses of travel during late-term pregnancy but also the horrible (but ordinary) isolation that happens among family when you are seen as an outcast since Mary was known to be pregnant before she married Joseph. Nothing was outwardly special about this little family trudging to Bethlehem, nothing glorious. In fact, they would have been viewed as very unfortunate.
They would have struggled through their day, with Mary going into labor after traveling on a dirty and dusty road and Joseph scrambling to find any place for his pregnant wife to rest and deliver the child. Luke describes the scarcity of their situation: “And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7). Can you imagine? There are no extravagances, no extras. And yet, even in the most humble and, in many people’s eyes, shameful circumstances, the glorious God of the universe brought comfort to Mary and Joseph. He drew near to them in their sparse situation.
God reveals his glory, and comfort is shared.
While there is much ordinariness about the beginning of Luke 2, there is also great glory for we get to see the ordinary happenings of earth from God’s perspective. We get to see God’s hand at work in those who, from worldly eyes, would be seen as insignificant; his plan unfolds through everyday people as they inhabit unpretentious places.
Mary and Joseph didn’t hear the angelic host sing, they didn’t get to see the angels or the glory of the Lord that night as it shone across the sky. They were in the throes of Mary giving birth and recovering from a delivery as well as caring for a newborn baby. Yet, God told the shepherds about Jesus and showed them God’s glory:
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.’” (Luke 2:10-12)
The shepherds weren’t exactly the typical guests new parents would be expecting to visit. The shepherds had to go search little Bethlehem for the odd sight of a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Imagine these shepherds knocking on the stable entrance and explaining to Joseph and Mary why they had arrived out of the blue, describing to them the angels and their message: “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God…” (Luke 2:13). While the Scriptures do not give us Joseph’s reaction to the shepherds’ news, we do get a glimpse of Mary’s as we learn that, upon hearing the shepherds, Mary “treasured” and “pondered” what they had told her (Luke 2:19).
Even though they were unexpected, these shepherds would likely have been a great encouragement to the exhausted new mother and adoptive father when they heard the news—that miles away a grand host of angels had heralded their small baby’s birth (Luke 2:16-18)! In these new parents’ pain and tiredness, they were reminded that they were under the watchful eye of their heavenly Father.
Joseph and Mary were reminded that this baby was their Savior by the words of the angels as recounted by the shepherds, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” They understood that they were part of God’s plan of making peace as they tended to this small infant: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14). God was indeed with them—and knew them. They saw their humble life from his heavenly perspective, and knew they were blessed and under God’s loving care.
God comforts us in our “ordinary.”
It is in these ordinary and humble times that we see God work. We know his presence, and he tends to us in tangible ways. Sometimes we see God work in big ways full of glory—someone may share an amazing story of God’s provision in a bigger-than-life way—but often we see God’s work through humble, ordinary, and lowly means, like a regular shepherd sent to us.
Perhaps it is the gift of a meal during a time of grieving. Perhaps it is a word of encouragement in the midst of trying to make a big decision. Perhaps it is a friendly note, call, or text during a day of depression or struggle. In these ordinary and simple ways we can know God’s love and care and should see these blessings as coming from his hand through ordinary avenues. God is glorious, but he is also near.
Immanuel—God came to dwell with us in flesh.
We know God’s nearness even more surely because he came in flesh to dwell with us. God became man: “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8). The Creator of the universe lay in Mary’s arms. Jesus, God incarnate, became low to live a life of humiliation for our sakes. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism describes it:
Christ’s humiliation consisted in his being born, and that in a low condition, made under the law, undergoing the miseries of this life, the wrath of God, and the cursed death of the cross; in being buried, and continuing under the power of death for a time. (WSC 27)
Jesus suffered for sinners throughout his whole life, and most excruciatingly on the cross. He suffered for sinners whom he loved: “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).
Jesus Christ is the most tangible way to know that God loves you and is near.
In all our sufferings and ordinary life, we can remember that God is with us and we are loved by Jesus. We can see our lives from God’s perspective—we are his children (John 1:12), and he watches over and cares for us (Matt. 6:26). He is near to us.
God humbling himself and coming to us in ordinariness is astounding. That he entered into our lives in such tangible ways as to take on flesh, dwell in time, and live among his created beings as truly human, should never fail to astound and touch us. That he continues to dwell with us by his Holy Spirit should not escape us. He comes in the ordinary melee of our lives and brings with him divine blessing for all who receive him. The apostle John writes,
He came to his own,and his own peopledid not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (John 1:11-12)
Jesus tends to our needs in our ordinary lives each and every day. He blesses, protects, gifts, and comforts us. As we celebrate Christmas, remember that our ordinary lives are blessed with a divine benediction as those who love God and are loved by God—a most amazing gift. Merry Christmas!
This article was originally published on December 24, 2021.
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