“And the angel said unto me again: Look and behold the condescension of God!” 1 Nephi 11:26
My oldest son was born not long before Christmas. His birth was beautiful and has forever changed my feelings about Christmas. As I stared into his sweet, pure face that first Christmas day my heart was overflowing with gratitude to think that Jesus Christ, the creator of heaven and earth, the great “I Am”, came to earth as a humble baby. The salvation of our souls and the fate of the world depended upon him, and yet he had enough trust in the goodness of the world– in the goodness of a woman — to come down to earth….helpless, poor, and humble.
I can hardly wrap my mind around it.
Why?
Why would God come to earth as a baby? Why would he come to an unknown girl and her young husband? Why would he be born into poverty and anonymity when it was within his power to come with glory, might, and majesty? When all he had to do was speak and the earth was created.
Why then come as a baby?
This is a question I am still pondering over in my mind, yet the more I ponder on it the more I see that it was because of his incredible love for us.
He came to earth as one of us– as a helpless baby, a hungry toddler, an inquisitive child, as a son, a brother and a friend– to show us the beauty and divinity of our mortal experience. To teach us that these mortal bodies we inhabit are capable of much more than we ever dreamed of. That if we just come unto him all the weakness, sin, fatigue, suffering and pain we experience in our mortal bodies can be overcome and healed. He came to teach us that the relationships and interactions we have with one another matter– that they shape the very fabric of eternity– and that love is the most powerful force there is.
He came to teach us about love, because He is love.
And as this Christmas I again stare in to a new, little face from heaven my heart is filled with gratitude and immense love for the incredible condescension of our God.
There would be no love, no life with out Him.
And as your Christmas gift this year I want to share this beautiful song and video with you. I love how it depicts the mortality of Christ’s birth; Mary laboring and giving birth, Joseph “catching” the baby, and the look that passes between them as they lay their tiny baby to rest in the manger. It is a look I have shared with my husband after each of our children’s births– a look of amazement and awe at the miracle of life. One can only imagine how much more they must have felt those feelings when they pondered on who their little baby really was.
