See the Child. He is born unto us, the breaker of all chains. For within this tiny vessel resides usurping power of the wholly divine. His first earthly cries stretch out in echoes that usher away darkness, pain, and invite all living creation to partake in a new genesis. A fresh baptism for all the world.
Darkness that has made an empire over man all these long millenniums, trembles now at the sight of the infant candle of the incarnate splendor of God. In only a span of thirty-three years from this moment, Death, who has sat monarch over all man since his inception, will be made a ruined king; his voice muted, his decree no longer sovereign.
The baby crying is the anthem of a new supremacy.
The man, holding the tiny messiah is a carpenter whose blood reaches back to the ancient kings of a chosen people. The baby, impossibly normal and immeasurably beautiful, is cloaked in the blood of humanity; crimson wet in the livery of God Almighty. The father’s name is Joseph and he cries tears of joy. Yeshua, the boy’s name is Yeshua, and as proclaimed by Gabriel, he has inherited the house of Jacob, will mend the Throne of David, and alone be known as the Son of the Most High.
Joseph’s adopted son, wrapped in burlap blankets dusted with mule hair, is viewed by his earthly father with a satisfaction all fathers have known, but none this fully.
Mary, a child of thirteen years calls for the baby. Her husband slips the child into her tired arms, then quickly stacks more wood on the fire. The mother looks into her son’s brown eyes and sees within him the tabernacle of God made vulnerable flesh. The magnificat of the birth she gently cantillates.
She loves him.
Cattle calls out. The moon peaks above the horizon. Stars portend the cosmic shift of power.
All the world is changed.
~Published by South Main Baptist Church in their 2014 Advent Book.