Since I was a little girl I’ve wondered what it would have been like to have been there when Jesus was born. Maybe you’ve wondered the same thing. What would I have said? What would I have offered? What would that have done to my faith? Why would He have ever chosen me for such an honor?

The Stream’s Tom Gilson recently wrote about the beauty and mystery of Christmas. I still feel like that same little girl sometimes, most notably when, as Gilson describes, some aspect of the beauty and mystery of Christmas becomes very vivid to me. One such mystery jumped out at me recently while reading the scriptures, and I’d like to share it with you. God tells such beautiful stories, and in this story, He made sure you could find yourself in it.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16 ESV)

Scripture tells us God sent His son because God loved the world, and he put a picture of the whole world in the Christmas story. I’ll show you what I mean.

Jew and Gentile Represented

Jesus was sent to save the entire world, but God created a very special vessel in the form of a nation to reach that world: Israel.

I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. (Isaiah 49:6 ESV)

The Jewish people are and will forever be holy in purpose and dear to the heart of God for this reason. This is intended for the world’s enrichment, because ultimately, heaven will be filled with both Jew and Gentile. Jesus reflected this when he said:

I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 8:11 ESV)

And in keeping with His plan, God wanted both Jew and Gentile there at this birth. He not only wanted them there, but used them both. In addition to Jesus’ Jewish parents and the Jewish shepherds, prophesy was fulfilled in the form of wise men — Gentile travelers from afar — bearing gifts for the newborn king. This is exactly how it will be in eternity!

And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. (Revelation 21:23-24 ESV)

So let us rejoice, for:

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  (Galatians 3:28 ESV)

Young and Old Represented

Mary was a teenage girl, yet she was instrumental in one of the most pivotal moments in the plan of God. Simeon (Luke 2) was an old man who, full of the Holy Spirit, God used to bless the newborn baby Jesus. We are precious and useful to God at any age.

Learned and Unlearned Represented

The Roman politician and lawyer Cicero tells us the wise men were highly educated and revered by kings of nations for their wisdom and counsel. God used the valuable gifts these academics brought with them to honor the Messiah to provide for Mary and Joseph when they fled to Egypt. But God also used the abilities of the working class:

And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the  shepherds told them. (Luke 2:16-18 ESV)

Shepherding was a blue-collar profession, but God gave the shepherds a vitally important and very personal message via his angels. He used the shepherds to spread word of His son’s birth.

Many people feel their background or lack of education precludes them from being used by God, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Don’t ever let someone tell you that you don’t have what it takes; all it takes is a willing heart (Exodus 35:5).

Rich and Poor Represented

Upon being told she would be the mother of the Messiah, the words of Mary reverberate with emotion as she says: 

My soul magnifies the Lord,
 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.
    
For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;
for he who is mighty has done great things for me,
    
and holy is his name.
And his mercy is for those who fear him
    
from generation to generation.
He has shown strength with his arm;
    
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;
he has brought down the mighty from their thrones
    
and exalted those of humble estate;

he has filled the hungry with good things,
    
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped his servant Israel,
    
in remembrance of his mercy,
as he spoke to our fathers,
    
to Abraham and to his offspring forever. (Luke 1:46-55 ESV, emphasis mine)

Mary is overcome with the natural and theological implications of God choosing someone of such low social status for this task. At the same time, God beckoned affluent magi from the Far East to come and witness one of the most tender and mysterious moments in history. What better picture could we be given to show us the issue isn’t our worldly, transient, and very temporal status, but the intangible disposition of our hearts?

The picture of Christmas past reflects not only our Christmas present, but our Christmas future. Heaven will be filled with people from all nations, backgrounds, and abilities, and it will be glorious. I hope you have been able to find yourself in this story, and that it creates in you a boldness to tell a world “in sin and error pining” that its Savior has come, so that all souls may feel their incredible worth.