In the Field

At first, this chapter really didn’t get to me all that much. It did make me see a lot of things in a new way – like the fact that the Lamb of God would be revealed to a motley crew of shepherds – I’d never thought of the irony of that before. The fact that shepherds would be comfortable walking into a stable, comfortable around the animals and the smell of the animals really does make them a logical choice to be there to announce the birth of the King, despite their lowly position in the social scene.

But then I got to two sentences towards the end of the chapter, right before the prayer that have stuck with me all day. The first was,

“He is Christ the Lord. Yet, he has placed himself at the mercy of His creation…”

He put himself at our mercy not ONCE (at his death) but TWICE (at his birth.)

If anything, this book is making me realize how much trust and faith Jesus has in us - that we’ll love him and protect him until he can fend for himself…that we will feed him and care for him until he is old enough to be on his own…that we will welcome His coming to this world despite how unfathomable it may seem.

I wonder, despite all the talk about the Lord coming to be with us from all the prophecy over the hundreds of years…would I have bought the story back then? Would I have shown up at that stable to see for myself or would I have heard tell of those who did and say, “Yes! Finally! The King has come!” In this day of multi-media hype and commercial ratings and The National Enquirer, would I believe the story if it were to occur today? I shudder to think...

And then this sentence:

“His body once again against the wood. Lying there. Waiting.”

Okay, now that just freaks me out. FREAKS ME OUT. He started his human life lying against a brace of wood and He ended it the same way. It makes me think about the circle of life. About what goes around, comes around. About how even man can make the Lord Himself feel helpless…

And that he did this all for us - it just leaves me speechless.