The First Christmas Was Just an Ordinary Event

With miraculous glory hidden in every aspect

A young wife having a baby in the middle of the night was a very ordinary occurrence. Probably several thousand such girls gave birth in Bethlehem and Jerusalem the year Jesus was born.

But Mary was a virgin chosen by God to bear his Son.

Traveling 90 miles by foot from Nazareth to near Jerusalem was ordinary. Many of the devout Jews made a similar trek three times annually for the designated holy days.

But Mary was nearly nine months pregnant at the time she started the journey.

Many poor people then and since have lived and birthed children in very humble, ordinary, and earthy dwellings.

But the son of God was born in a manger in the midst of animals and their smells.

Ordinary parents proudly proclaim the birth of a firstborn son. Perhaps the father or a relative will make the announcement to the community.

But angels and a star from God announced the birth of this newborn.

A happy family ordinarily invites family and friends to celebrate with them. In some cultures, they may come from a long distance.

The celebration for baby Jesus started with strangers. The shepherds were Jews but from the lowest class. The Magi were Gentiles and presumably were from the upper class.

All the way through the story, we see God miraculously orchestrating events, sending angels, and declaring to a diverse group of people that the Messiah, the Savior of the world had been born. This prolific communication is extraordinary since we have no biblical record of God communicating with his people for over 400 years.

The birth of Jesus fulfilled dozens of direct prophecies and/or inferences from the Old testament.

Definitely not ordinary.

Jesus was uniquely fully Divine and fully human. For the first 30 years of His life, He seemed to be an ordinary man to those around him. When He began his ministry those opposed to him and his followers claimed in various ways that he was far from ordinary.

He simply did not fit with anyone’s expectation of a religious man and certainly not a Messiah.

God’s plan intersected the common in astounding ways which at once included the ordinary people and elevated all people into something much greater.

Because of this, ordinary people like you and me have full access to the magnificent Glory of our Savior. His grace makes us all equal before God–we are all common sinners who can only get to Heaven through the uncommon and unexpected life and death of Jesus.

The rich and the poor have a common bond, The LORD is the maker of them all.

Proverbs 22:2

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

Christmas can be a time to see the ordinary things of life through the eyes of Jesus–each person and each event is sacred to God. He is at work in each heart and each circumstance to bring us into a deeper knowledge of and trust in Him.

May you be blessed with eyes to see and ears to hear the magnificent glories of our Lord, and may He turn your ordinary into His extraordinary!

Read the story of Joseph, an ordinary man who had a pivotal role to play in the salvation of the world. A Father’s Joy

If you are touched by this post and want to be notified of each new article by email, please subscribe to my blog.

(c) 2021 Holly Craw