A Christmas Paradox

AM Psalm 2, 85 • PM Psalm 110:1-5 (6-7), 132
Micah 4:1-5, 5:2-4 • 1 John 4:7-16 • John 3:31-36

The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks about earthly things. The one who comes from heaven is above all...

Baby kings are a paradox. When a royal child is born, they are instantly given titles, honors, and responsibilities to live into. And yet they are still a newborn, entirely dependent on the love of their caretakers to survive. They simultaneously weigh no more than a heavy backpack and yet carry the weight of all the expectations of the world waiting to nurture, form, educate, and burden them.

Jesus, the royal baby’s birth we celebrate today, is both the “one of earth” and the “one who comes from heaven.” A paradox…how can one thing be in two separate categories? Especially categories that seem diametrically opposed like the mundane (earth) and the sacred (heaven).

But Christmas Day itself is like Jesus. It is a day both of joy and celebration and a day of missing those who are no longer with us to open gifts. It is a day of rest and slowing down and millions of people will clock into work this morning. Today we welcome an almighty Lord who is also a helpless infant. How beautiful, how holy, that Christmas can be “both/and.” Instead of struggling to solve it, what does it look like to abide in that in-between space today? What does it mean to lean into the paradox?

Written by Emma Mitchell

...who cannot believe you read an email on Christmas Day, but is so grateful you did.