Hearing the Nearness of Jesus
I have a friend who raises cattle. I have heard the sounds of his cows lowing from a mile or more away. I live in the country and sound does travel, but if the cattle a mile away can be heard fairly clearly, then being close up to cattle lowing would definitely be hard to sleep through!
If you haven’t heard it or sung “Away in a Manger” yet this advent season, the familiar melody and words will soon be heard and likely sung by you or someone nearby before we get to Christmas Eve. You know the line I am thinking about:
“The cattle are lowing,
the baby awakes,
But little Lord Jesus,
no crying he makes.”
I suppose the person who wrote this line might be suggesting that God’s Son, being perfect, had no need to cry like all the other babies in the world. But we must remember that the divine Son of God, Jesus, did come in human form to experience our world. While none of us were there, I think it is reasonable to assume that baby Jesus did all the things babies do. And of course, he would have times where he cried and other times where he didn’t. Maybe the writer of this line was simply giving us an Instagram sort of moment where everything in the picture is perfect.
We know from the gospels that Jesus did cry at various times in his life. He cried when he learned that his friend Lazarus had died. Jesus felt grief. We know that Jesus cried out to his Father and shed tears in the garden of Gethsemane before he went to the cross to bear our sins. And in the passage I read this morning, we know that on the day of his triumphant entry to Jerusalem, Luke shared that “when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it” as he described the rejection that would come from Jerusalem and spoke of the coming destruction of the temple.
During advent we intentionally slow ourselves down as we wait to once again experience and celebrate the magnificent gift God sent to us in Jesus. In the first chapter of John, we read that Jesus came to his own and his own people did not receive him. That is the same rejection that Jesus wept about in Luke 19:41.
As we read and pray our way through advent, we become acutely aware of the gift that is ours through the birth of Jesus. John continued in chapter 1: “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, may we open our hearts anew to the wonderful gift that is ours as we place our faith in the promises of God.
Jesus had many moments when he didn’t cry. But he also has shed many tears for us as he sees and knows our struggles in this life. One verse in “Away in a Manger” expresses a prayer:
“Be near me Lord Jesus,
I ask you to stay,
Close by me forever,
And love me I pray.”
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, he gave us his Holy Spirit, that by his dwelling we would always have the presence of God, not just near us but living in us. Advent allows us to not only reconsider the gift of salvation through Jesus but to also renew our faith in the one who gave his all for us.
Next time I hear the cattle lowing, I hope that I will be awakened to the gift of God that came to us wrapped in swaddling clothes that first Christmas morning.
Father, thank you for the forgiveness of our sins and the gift of life that came to us through Jesus. Fill us with your Spirit today that we might bring a gift of love, encouragement, and hope to those around us in your name. Amen.
Your Time with God’s Word
Luke 19:41-44; John 1:11-14 ESV
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