The babe of Bethlehem grew up. He started a traveling ministry of teaching and healing folks, bringing God’s kingdom to earth. While Jesus’ ministry found popular support, it rankled and upset the Jewish religious leaders for all kinds of reasons.
Those tensions boiled over during the Passover week in Jerusalem. All four Gospel writers cover the events. Luke’s account begins in chapter 22. Jesus was arrested after being betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples. He was tried before the Jewish ruling council, before the Roman overseer Pilate, before Herod (one of King Herod’s sons), again by Pilate, and then, lastly, by the crowd who chose the murderer Barabbas over Jesus. With shouts of “crucify him” by the crowd, Jesus was taken outside the city and nailed to a cross.
Jesus died. The agony of the cross was foretold in Psalm 22 and recounted in the Gospels (see Luke 23:33 and following for one account). A follower of Jesus named Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body and laid it in his newly carved tomb. The tomb was sealed with a large stone and guarded by a contingent of Roman soldiers. The tomb was silent and undisturbed from the last hour before sunset Friday, all day Saturday, until Sunday morning. Then early Sunday morning, the sealed stone covering the entrance was forcefully moved away. The Roman guard scattered. Some women followers of Jesus came to the tomb, found it empty, but also encountered the risen Jesus.
But let’s return to that space of time while Jesus lay entombed. It is a grand silence in the entire sweep of cosmic and human history—a gigantic pause. What happened in the spiritual realm during that time is a matter of speculation and debate. But for our purposes, it is a time to ponder what Jesus’ death on the cross means for us. It is a moment to feel grief and sorrow.
This greatest pause reminds us why the babe was born in Bethlehem. We celebrate Christmas; it is a time of feasting and joy. A moment of hope, love, and peace. But that joy is experienced in the shadow of the cross. We have peace with God and others through the cross of Christ. And God gave us His greatest gift of love in the form of a baby that ultimately saved us all – just as the angels told the shepherds.
Only through the cross can we truly celebrate Christmas and the baby born in a stable. That pause, that grand silence between the cross and the resurrection, is for us. It is there to give us space to ponder and grieve over our own sins and to realize how much God loves us. In that space, we also think back to a manger and shepherds, stars and magi, Bethlehem and inns, and angel songs. But most of all to a baby, born of a virgin, the incarnate Son of God. “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16–17, NLT)
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