Advent Devotional, December 20

Jesus never wears any disguise but the ones we insist on seeing when we look at him. He was a real baby, not someone cleverly disguised as one. It’s not that he looked like a baby, it’s just that a baby wasn’t what we were looking for. 
Similarly, at his Crucifixion the placard and the crown of thorns, both of which were provided by Roman soldiers with cruel irony, were not a disguise because he really was and is a King. 
In the stable at his birth he was not the kingly Son of God disguised as a helpless person, and on the cross he was not a helpless person disguised as the kingly Son of God. He was, in both instances, a helpless person. And he was, in both instances, the kingly Son of god. Praise him!

Matthew 27:37

Prayer: I love you, Jesus, for being all of who you are. I confess that you are sometimes more than or other than what I was looking for. Help me to love you just as well when that’s the case. Because I know that if I’m ever surprised by you it’s not because you’ve misled me. 

Song: Another new Christmas song today! The Gray Havens song “Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery” captures wonderfully the beauty of a Savior whose very nature is essentially mysterious. If you would grasp him at all, you must accept that he is beyond your grasping.