may it be as you have said.

Christmas is commercialized. I don't think many people will argue that. What I didn't realize was just how much the story of Jesus' birth has been commercialized. We assume we know what happened from seeing the manger scenes and Nativity plays. We assume that there were 3 wisemen that showed up the night Jesus was born after a conversation between Mary & Joseph and the inn keeper at some sort of primitive motel. We assume that an angel with pretty white wings and a smiling cuddly face appeared.

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As we are going through the real Christmas story and reading what ACTUALLY happened around the time of Jesus' birth I am learning that I have taken what the world told me without question and never truly taken the time to get to know this servant that I call my Savior.

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Seriously, actually READ the Christmas story. And not just the few sentences about laying Him in a manger. There is so much that surrounds the story and affects its outcome. Until this week I never really considered the foretelling and birth of John the Baptist as having anything to do with Christmas until I actually read it and considered what it had to say about the birth of Jesus.

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If anyone is interested I have a word document with all of the gospel accounts of Jesus' birth put into chronological order so you don't have to flip back and forth to get the whole story.

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We read Luke 1:5-2:40 the other night. As we read through we discussed some things that really opened my heart to a deeper understanding of what I worship. I'm including them here if anyone is interested in delving deeper into the story.

*What do you picture angels to look like? If you picture them like the majority of society does with the pretty white wings and sweet little face why do the angels almost always end up telling people "Do not be afraid" when they are upon them? The bible says that no man can look on the face of God and live. You have to wonder what a being would look like and how they would radiate having spent all their time in the presence of God and if they put on the armor of God to fight spiritual battles with demons I somehow feel like we should be putting G.I. Joes in our nativity scenes instead of the little cuddly haloed butterflies everyone has come to love.

*How did Zacharias respond to the angel when he was told Elizabeth would bear a child? Why was he made mute?

*Contrast this with how Mary responded to the angel when told she would bear the Son of God.

*What is the symbolic importance of Jesus being placed in a manger and why it was one of the few details mentioned in the minutes surrounding his birth.

*What is the significance of John & Jesus' names? In a culture where the firstborn son was always given his father's name or a close relatives name to pass on the family name (this was a much bigger deal at that time then it is now), going against the culture and following God's commands showed the utmost submission to His will. We also discussed that Jesus in that time was probably pronounced Joshua and was not an unusual name for the time and further demonstrated his coming to earth as a lowly servant.

*When was Jesus cognisant of being God? This one really has no answer but we discussed trying to wrap our heads around the concept of a child having no sin and when Jesus went from being a sinless baby/child/man to God incarnate. This ties into the concept of God coming to earth as a lowly servant and truly experiencing life while still remaining God.