Tuesday, December 23
Are you the expected one, or shall we look for someone else?
—Matthew 11:3
No wonder we still ask. Jesus comes among us in a lowly cattle stall. There are no triumphant choruses singing to a gold-encrusted cradle. He's not wrapped in silk and fine linens. No, Jesus comes among the dirty, messy life of this world. So we naturally ask, "Shall we look for someone else?"
More and more, I am thankful that Jesus came simply. When I stand at the bedside of a loved one who is dying, as I look into the eyes of boys and girls living on the street, as I think about the hunger and famine in the world around us, I treasure the real Jesus. We already dress him up enough, drawing him in stained glass, sterling, and silk. Jesus came simply in a manger that God might know what life was really like and that we might know how deeply God loves us.
As we walk the last days to Bethlehem, how do you see Jesus around you? Are you looking for someone else or are you seeing Jesus as he really is? Consider taking the time in the busy-ness of these days to walk around a downtown area, a park, anywhere just looking for the images of Jesus among us.
Do you see him in the faces of those who are in pain? Do you see him in your family? Do you see him in the mirror? Can you let Jesus be Jesus this Christmas? Or shall you look for someone else?
Help me see you Jesus. In the smile of a child, in the eyes of a mother, in the sickness of one who needs care, let me look into your face and see you for who you are, that knowing you, I might walk with you wherever I find you in my life. Amen.
