By: Tyler Cloud
Christmas time is my favorite time of the year. I can tell that the feeling is mutual with most of my students because they haven’t stopped asking me to play Christmas songs during class since November 1st. I joke with them about when it is appropriate to start getting into the “Christmas spirit,” but I realized this truth as I was teaching the Christmas story last week:
Some of you are going to take that statement literally and put Michael Buble on repeat, but I’m not talking about songs or lights or trees or ornaments… although those things do bring back sentimental memories of Christmas from my childhood. Christians, however, have the blessing of rejoicing over the real reason for celebration every day of the year, and that reason is Jesus! In the materialistic world we live in, full of gifts and gadgets and guests, sometimes from a few states away, it’s easy for the historicity and humility of Christ’s birth to get lost in the shuffle.
In Isaiah 7:14, we see Jesus’ birth prophesied. It says,
If you were like me growing up, your family sat around and read the Christmas story in Luke 2. If you never have, I’d suggest powering through all the teenage eye rolls and emotionless reading and giving it a shot. (I’ve learned that when you think students aren’t listening, they are, and when you think they don’t care, they do!)
One year, my grandmother decided to include Isaiah 7:14, and I thought, “Oh, cool, the prophecy came true!” It wasn’t until I began to study Isaiah that I realized that he wrote his book 700 years before the birth of Jesus! Think about how much has happened in the world in the last 100 years, and then multiply that by seven! God’s Word is true and it reigns supreme! Its prophecies are true, and it is the most historically accurate work in the history of the world.
This is proven in Luke 2 when the prophecy in Micah 5:2 that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem comes to pass. Imagine for a moment that you are Joseph and Mary. If you’re Joseph, your fiancé has come to you with the news that she is pregnant, not by a man but by the Holy Spirit Himself, and the baby is not just any baby; the baby is the Son of God who will be the ransom for all the sins of the world. If you’re Mary, everyone is looking at you sideways, thinking you’ve been unfaithful, and because of the strict nature of how Jewish people viewed infidelity, you’re likely being shunned by all who were once your friends.
And so the story unfolds and they are misplaced, forced to give birth in a stable and lay the King of Kings in a feeding trough (Luke 2:6-7). The world had no room for Jesus, starting from his entry into it. We know who He would grow up to be: our way of access to Almighty God through His blood, which is the atonement for our sin. It is important to remember, though, that His life started with Him being rejected and ignored as well.
As we approach this Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I want to ask, is there room for Jesus in your inn? Are you making time to study Scripture? It’s been proven to be true and sharper than any double edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). God’s Word is true, it is life-changing, and in it are many miracles, performed by the greatest miracle the world has ever known, the Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray this Christmas that if you feel left out, if you feel misplaced, like life isn’t where you planned it to be or there’s an empty chair at the table for the first time, that you would cling to the miracle of Luke 2. Hold fast to Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, remembering that He died for a world that hated Him in order to rise in victory for those who loved Him… and remember that it all happened because God promised it would and because two teenagers chose to trust Him in the most chaotic time of their lives.
May God bless every LCA family with a wonderful and Merry CHRISTmas!
Tyler Cloud
Upper School Bible Teacher
Email Tyler
Tyler Cloud is an Upper School Bible teachers with a passion for reaching the hearts and minds of students for Christ. Some of his favorite moments working at LCA are when he is on stage speaking truth into students during chapel services and alpha camps, coaching young men on our baseball teams, and building one-on-one relationships with anyone who walks through his door. Whether you have known him for years or just a few months, you will leave his classroom feeling seen, valued, and loved.
Tyler is one of our primary authors for “The Well” series and will be providing space for our LCA family and community to be filled up with the truth of God’s word each month. Keep up with our social media pages as well as Paw Prints to stay in the know about when the next devotion will be published!
