Babies are needy and utterly dependent. Whether they are hungry, soiled or tired all they can do is cry and wait for someone to help them. Everyone knows this. Everyone expects this kind of neediness when a baby is born.
And yet at Christmas, we celebrate the unexpected—that the All-Powerful and All-Sufficient God, willingly wrapped Himself in the neediness of an infant. Though He could have entered His world exalted, He entered lowly in a manger and stooped to being swaddled, fed and changed—just like any other child.
I love to ponder the significance of this. Why did Jesus come as a babe instead of a grown-up? Why did He arrive lowly instead of exalted? And while there are many glorious facets to these answers, one thought stands out to me today:
Perhaps Jesus came in the form of a tiny, needy baby to remind us of our own neediness.
Look at what Matthew 1:21-23 says:
“She shall give birth to a son. You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.” Now all this has happened that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel,” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”
The truth is that though we are grown and capable, we’re still just as needy as infants before God. We have stains and hunger pains we can’t resolve on our own.
But that is why Jesus came. Jesus came to meet the needs of stained and lonely people like us.
Jesus meets the needs of sin-stained people.
The angel announced, “You shall name him Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)
“Sin” isn’t an accepted word in our culture. And the idea that we cannot save ourselves from the wrong things we do is also unaccepted. “I can stop whenever I want to,” we retort. “and I don’t feel a bit bad about doing it, anyway.”
But sin isn’t just something we do when we want to. It’s something we submit ourselves to. Sin keeps us dancing on its puppet strings long after the pleasure has faded. And despite our protestations, it stains our souls with guilt and shame.
Have you ever repeated an act you swore you’d never do again? Or have you ever felt unworthy because of things you’ve done in the past?
Be encouraged. Jesus came to save us from every facet of sin. With His life, death and resurrection, Jesus gives all who believe in Him salvation from:
- Sin’s power to control us
- the penalty sin earned us
- and even the shame and stain it marks us with.
And no matter how long we’ve been saved, we need to remember these truths—especially at Christmas.
If the drama and stress of the holidays tends to bring out the impatience—or even unkindness—in us, this passage reminds us: we are no longer dancing on sin’s puppet strings. With God’s help, we can make different choices and have different responses.
And if we notice that we’re side-lining ourselves at church or in life because of the mistakes of our past, Matthew 1:21 reminds us this: We don’t need to hang our heads in shame over stains Jesus washed away. He makes us clean and new. He makes us worthy.
Jesus meets the needs of lonely people.
Of all the hunger pains we humans feel, none cuts deeper than loneliness. We were made to be in relationship with God and with others. So, when we live isolated, it hurts and something in us cries out for connection.
But all the way back in the Old Testament, God revealed His plan to remedy our loneliness: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel,” which is, being interpreted, “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23, quoting Isaiah 7:14)
Our sin separated us from God, yet He sent Jesus to reconcile us to Himself. And even though life in this sin-broken world often includes isolation and loneliness, we never have to be truly alone.
There is always Someone who is there, to lean on and talk to. Someone to love us and for us to love in return. As believers, we have been brought near to the Father and we will never be parted from His love.
So, this Christmas, if you have to attend the office party without a plus-one, or if the happy families all around you accentuate your empty nest, remember: Jesus is Immanuel. He is God with you—at the party and in the empty house.
Jesus lived, died and rose again so we could be close to Him and He to us. He saved us for relationship and that relationship fills up the deepest empty places in our souls.
Even though we don’t want to admit it, we, like infants, have needs we can’t meet for ourselves. But we have a Savior who can empathize and satisfy our deepest longings.
May we cry out with childlike faith and wait on His help this Christmas season.
This devotion is based on one of the Scriptures from my Advent reading plan: “God With Us.” To receive a copy of the reading plan (and future reading plans), sign up for the email list below. Hope you’ll follow along!
Written by Paige K. Burhans
©2024 Paige K. Burhans
Scriptures taken from the World English Bible British Edition. Public Domain.
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