Little Baby Jesus (Do You Hear What I Hear?)

I have noticed this crazy backlash in the church, from seeing Jesus as a meek and mild.

Now, I think He grew up into a strong man, and that He was assertive and even forceful when he needed to be. I think the Bible is clear on His authoritative nature. I think He may even be the "man's man" of chest-bumping college guy small groups everywhere, drinking and making fart jokes and having spitting contests with the disciples during the late nights camping on the coast of the Sea of Galilee.

However, the other morning I was reminded of the beauty of the "holy infant, so tender and mild" who was born over 2000 years ago in a Bethlehem stable. I was listening to a song we are doing for the upcoming 3F service, an updated version of "Do You Hear What I Hear?" The line "a child, a child shivers in the cold" caught my attention and got caught in my throat as I sang along. It was cold that night, and for some reason I thought of our Savior, who was at the right hand of the Father, and by whom all things were created... shivering. He was a baby, in a manger, shivering.

Shivering is our body's way of trying to fight the cold. He humbled himself to the point of becoming a defenseless baby, shivering in the cold, relying on His mother to wrap him up and keep Him warm, and on his feeble young body to fight off hypothermia.

He's been weak and helpless before. He knows how to help us when we feel that way, because He humbled Himself. That is so beautiful, that He would love us enough to come in such a lowly estate. I teared up a bit.