Today’s reading: Luke 2. ““Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!””

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. John 1:1-2 The glory of Christmas is that it is not the beginning of Christ. Long before that first Christmas, his story had begun—not just in various prophecies, but in an eternal divine person. Christmas may be the opening of the climactic chapter, but it is certainly not his first. Christmas does mark a conception and birth. We read Mary’s magnificent song of submission and of the shepherds’ visit to her newborn son. We’re told that she “treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart” (Luke 2:19). For mere humans, such is the stuff of our origins. Prior to our earthly beginnings, we simply did not exist. But it is not so with the Son of God. His “coming forth is from of old, from ancient days” (Micah 5:2). Unlike every other human birth, the birth celebrated at Christmas was not a beginning but a becoming. Christmas wasn’t his start, but his commission. He was not created; he came. No other human in the history of the world shares this peculiar glory. As remarkable as his virgin conception is, Christ’s pre-existence sets him apart even more distinctively.

Christmas is far more than the celebration of a great man’s birth. God himself, in the second Person of the Godhead, entered into our space and into our frail humanity, surrounded by our sin, to rescue us. He came. He became one of us. God sent God. The Father gave his own Son for us and for our salvation.

Father in heaven, may your Son assume his rightful place in our hearts this Advent. At this most material time of the year in our materialistic society, your Son’s pre-existence reminds us of his preciousness over every party and present, over all the trees and trimmings. He is before, and better than, anything in this created world. Cause our hearts to swell in this season at the gift of the person of Christ as our greatest treasure. In his precious name we pray. Amen.