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The Book of Exodus
describes how the Pharaohs of Egypt enslaved the Israelite nation for 400
years (see Exod 1:1-14; compare Gen 15:13-14). God then appeared to Moses,
in a burning bush, and issued a
solemn command:
Go,
I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out
of Egypt. (Exod 3:10, NIV)
At first, Moses hesitated:
[He] said to God,
"Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your
fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is His name?' Then
what shall I tell them?"
God said to Moses, "I AM
WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I AM has sent
me to you.'"
God also said to Moses,
"Say to the Israelites, 'The LORD (Hebrew YHWH or
Yahweh), the God of your fathers -- the God of Abraham, the God
of Isaac and the God of Jacob -- has sent me to you.' This is my name
forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to
generation." (Exod 3:13-15)
When Moses asks for God's name, the Lord identifies
Himself as "Yahweh." This name closely resembles the Hebrew word for "I
AM." The Lord seems to be saying, "Tell the Israelities you were sent by
the God who 'is,' the God who actually 'exists.'
Tell them you were
sent by the 'living' God as opposed to all those idol gods that
don't really exist at all."
This is what you are to say to the Israelites: "I AM has
sent me to you." (Exod 3:14)
Centuries later an unusual rabbi, Jesus of
Nazareth, began an itinerant ministry along the shores of the Sea of
Galilee. Filled with divine power, he healed the sick, raised the dead,
and taught like no one else. In one conversation with would-be disciples, Jesus
declared:
"Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw
it and was glad."
"You are not yet fifty years old," the Jews said to him, "and you
have seen Abraham!"
"I tell you the truth," Jesus answered, "before Abraham was born, I
AM!" (John 8:56-58)
The living God -- the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- has come to
us in the man Jesus Christ. This is the meaning, the miracle, and the
magnificence of Christmas.
In 1984, leaders of his Nashville church asked Mark Lowry to write a
musical for their Christmas program. Lowry, a singer and comedian with
Bill Gaither's vocal band, remembers that time:
I tried to picture Mary holding the baby Jesus on the
first Christmas morning and wondered what she was thinking about that
child. She knew he was special -- the Virgin Birth was her first clue --
but could she ever imagine all the things that he would do while he was
here?
Reflecting on this mystery, Lowry wrote a monologue
that he recited between scenes of the musical. Six years later, Buddy
Greene added music to produce a beautiful Christmas carol:
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
would some
day walk on water?
Mary, did you know that your baby boy
would save
our sons and daughters?
Did you know that your baby boy
has come to
make you new?
This child that you've delivered,
will soon deliver
you.
Mary, did you know
that your baby boy
would give sight to a blind man?
Mary, did you
know that your baby boy
would calm the storm with his hand?
Did you
know that your baby boy
has walked where angels trod?
And when you
kiss your little baby,
you have kissed the face of God.
Oh Mary, did you
know --
The blind will see,
the deaf will hear, the dead will live again.
The lame will leap, the
dumb will speak, the praises of the Lamb.
Mary, did you know
that your baby boy
is Lord of all creation?
Mary, did you know that
your baby boy
would one day rule the nations?
Did you know that your
baby boy
is heaven's perfect Lamb?
This sleeping child you're
holding
is the great I AM.
Reflect...
Read Luke 1:26-56 and 2:1-40. According to these texts,
what did Mary know about Jesus at the time of his
birth? | 