immanuel

Jesus’ role as Immanuel has been the same source of comfort that I have run back to for the past few years. Sometimes when we grow up in church our whole lives some of the most profound stories start to become rote. It becomes all too easy to tune out the depth of what we are hearing or reading.

Within that reality, focusing on Jesus himself coming into our depraved world should cause our hearts to fall to their knees. The only perfectly pure and holy Son of God experienced the hideousness of our world. He came into the filth of sin that we live in and was unchanged by it. The picture of His birth alone, in the midst of that dirt and darkness, uncelebrated and ignored, should cause us to weep from how profound what He did for us truly is.

Christ’s birth and life on earth mean that there is no experience or emotion we face that He is ignorant to.

He felt grief.

He felt loneliness.

He felt pain.

The only things He can’t relate to us in are our choices of sin. He never repaid sin for sin. He experienced the corruption and hypocrisy and vileness of humanity and stayed fully holy. He met broken people where they were. He rebuked evil and He proclaimed who God is. He washed the feet of sinners.

In a world that quite literally told Jesus there was no room for Him, He chose to pursue the most wicked people because He promises we are never too far gone for His grace. He chose to pursue us.

The truth of “God with us” should overwhelm us. Every. Day.

Whatever this holiday season holds for you, you are held by the One who gave us a reason to celebrate. No one can take the true hope of Christmas away from you.

Merry Christmas,

Marissa