Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
Isaiah 53:1-2 NIV
Carried Our Sorrows
Canada’s House of Commons suddenly adjourned to mark the death of former prime minister Brian Mulroney this past February, so the foyer that usually bustles with reporters was cavernous and nearly deserted when 90-year-old Jean Chrétien walked to the mic to remember the man who governed Canada before him. When news broke about Mulroney’s death, statements from politicians, staffers and sorrowful Canadians streamed across social media timelines. Chrétien’s decision to unexpectedly appear in front of half a dozen reporters and deliver a tribute in person, was a statement on its own.
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If there is ever a time when we see Jesus in His complete humanity, it is during the Advent and Christmas season. The mystery of the Divine stepping into the world which He created never grows old. God has come to us, stepping into our world, to draw us to Himself. He entered our world as a baby – and who doesn’t love the arrival of a baby! The self-sufficient and all-powerful God is dependent upon the love and provision of his mother and human father. Listen to how the prophet describes him in Isaiah 53: “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” The words used by Isaiah here are beautiful and oh so human – a tender shoot, a root out of dry ground, ordinary. Just like most of us. This is the story of Christmas.
These have been words from the heart.
Bob Beasley