He Knew
Click below to listen to the reach:
Christmas is on our near horizon dear people, and a good long pause is needed. It is our hope that you’ll give yourself the gift of time and let this week’s Reach-for-More-of Jesus help you breathe more deeply. Let these truths settle in. I originally wrote this Reach two years ago…but it is one that still makes me wipe my eyes if I carefully pause the rush of the season…and focus.
Since Christmas Day is next Thursday, we are choosing to not message you on that special morning — instead, this is your Christmas RFM of Jesus. It’s our invitation to you to go ahead and soak in the goodness of Emmanuel, God with us. Let’s bring the focus in tight and let our hearts hold the One thing that matters most — Here we go...
Jesus…
even before he inhaled his first earth air…
even before he felt swaddling clothes around him…
before he felt the touch of tender hands on holy skin…
He knew every detail of what had been, what was, and what was to come. Alpha and Omega lay in a manger.
Jesus knew what the air of Heaven felt like and he had memorized the face of the Father.
Jesus knew the span of time it took to create all that he had now come to redeem.
He knew that sickness would hinder and sin would snarl, that love would be misunderstood and pain would come.
Jesus knew the manger cave was only the beginning…
and that the end of his earthly days would carry him to another hard place — a tomb.
He knew that no stone could ever be large enough to hold him in that tomb.
He knew he would rise on the third day.
He knew the woman who would hold him to her breast was merely a girl who was willing to obey. And that the man who would carry him in his arms was willing to risk everything he had hoped for, all because the angel had come to him.
Jesus knew there would be a star above him to light the cave that held him, and that Shepherds would be his first visitors. He knew that with his birth the Light of God had shown among men.
Perhaps the star was the
Father’s spotlight.
Jesus knew the fullness of who he was and what he had come to do would save the world, but it would not be understood, for it was not what had been expected. He knew he would be doubted by many, criticized by some, and crucified by the confused…He knew…and still he came.
He knew that pride was the vilest of the enemy’s tools and that his most intense opposers would clothe themselves in it. These same ones would sit on thrones, wear royal robes, judge and condemn the weak; they would love power more than kindness and money more than love.
And yet…he knew he would offer himself…even to them. For he was sent because The Father loved the world, and wanted every soul to have a chance — to believe in Him — and not perish. The Father sent the chance for it all, when He sent Jesus.
But Jesus knew he would not be accepted by all. He knew he would not be understood even by those who loved him. For he knew he was dealing with earthly hearts. Oh why is it that we long so deeply to be “understood”, when our Jesus showed us that it is rare for Heaven’s treasured ones to be understood in this world.
Jesus knew that as the shepherds looked upon his tiny body, they would have no understanding that he was destined to replace the lambs they guarded in the fields. He would be the final lamb — the cross would become the altar. He knew.
He knew his brothers and sisters would not understand his purity, that his thoughts and actions would not fit with theirs. Oh but he knew he had come to save even them. Jesus knew the number of Joseph’s days, and that his earthly father would die before his Heavenly Father’s work began in him. He knew Mary would remain loyal to him for all her days. He knew the arms that tenderly held him in the manger would ache and tremble at the foot of the cross.
Jesus knew what Lucifer looked like, for he had known him in Heaven before he fell. Jesus knew that Lucifer would recognize him. He knew being half-man was his weakness, but he also knew that being half-God gave him all authority to make a way — for us. He came knowing hell screamed at his arrival, he listened instead to angels singing in the Heavenlies. The same angels the shepherds heard on the night the star shined.
Jesus knew who had a pure heart, a wounded heart, a dark heart, and an evil one. He healed those whose hearts believed and comforted those who hearts were broken. He walked past those whose hearts were hardened and focused instead on the lowly, the weak, the willing and brave.
He knew he would be the only way to the Father. He kept his focus and made a way for all who would believe. He knew he was the only completely pure truth and that only through him could life be found.
Jesus knew those who suffered the most had the greatest potential to become the best love-carriers. That the last would be first. He knew the way of the world is to turn suffering into self-pity — oh but the way of the Cross is to turn suffering into salvation. He knew his blood would bring freedom, his surrender would bring redemption, his suffering would take the place of ours, and his obedience would open the door to the throne room and the Father. He knew that His death would multiply life.
Jesus knew Judas would betray him. He knew a crown of thorns would be the only crown he would ever wear on this earth.
He knew his flesh would be baptized in the Jordan river and that the same flesh would be shredded by a cat-of-nine-tails. He knew the one who baptized him would suffer in a prison and the shoulders that lifted him from Jordan’s waters would one day lose the head that rested on them. He knew all this…and still he came.
He knew you would be created. Formed carefully. Knit together meticulously. He knew your soul would need what only He could give. He dreamed of you.
He refused to allow sin to keep a soul from Heaven’s homeland — if only that soul would reach for the gift he offered.
He sent you a book filled with love letters. He knows they might not seem lovely and yet they hold, in their fullness, the essence of who He is and how much He loves you. He is not a pretending romancer, he is a faithful lover to your soul. He smiles from Heaven each time you reach towards Him. He wants to be known by you, even as He knows you so intimately.
He knows you might not understand Him, yet His great heart hopes, you will keep trying. For he knows that as you seek him — you will find him.
He knew all this and much, much MORE —
before his eyes opened under the bright starlight.
It all began on Christmas morning, when Heaven’s gift arrived. The Light had come to show us the way as a baby cried in a manger.
Have a blessed Christmas dear ones. Emmanuel — God is with us.
