Hidden Messages

 Throughout this Christmas season, the thought has occurred to me on more than one occasion that symbolism is a big part of God's Son coming to earth. It struck me as I listened to the pastor's Christmas Eve message that it wasn't a random thing that He chose to reveal Himself to lowly shepherds. Not only were they the least of society in a way, and it shows a picture of God not being afraid to enter into our shamefulness, but also wouldn't it make sense that the Good Shepherd would be greeted first by those who raised sheep for the sacrifices that would one day no longer be required because one Savior would sacrifice Himself?! They would acknowledge that the Lamb of God had come to earth as told to them by the angels.
 God chose a humble carpenter to be the earthly father of our Lord: a sign that one day Jesus would die on a cross of word for the sins of mankind.
 A humble teenage girl would be His selection for a mother, and the baby would enter the world on a bed of hay. No kingly arrival in a palace. Just a simple stable was all God needed to give our world the greatest gift of all.
 God doesn't always arrive in the way we expect. He doesn't appear with fanfare and announce His coming, although His second appearance will not be as quiet as His first. I marvel that God humbled Himself in such a way as to show His face to the least of these - first. No one else had seen Him yet except two teenagers, and some lowly shepherds. That is the way our Lord does things. We must look for Him in the unexpected. It is in this way that He reveals to us just how far He will go to identify with us and redeem our souls.