My goal in these blog posts about Christmas—which I hope to have 20 completed by Christmas day—has been to fan the flame of our passion for Jesus. I want us to worship the Christ all the more fervently. One of the best ways to do this is to take our cue from the original audience. What was their response? Fear? Joy? Confusion? Though the demographic of the audience was incredibly diverse, their response was uniform: white-hot, Spirit-filled praise.
The first person to respond to Jesus’ birth was the unborn 6 month old, John the Baptist. When his mother, Elizabeth, saw her relative Mary (who had JUST conceived—her pregnancy would not be evident), John the Baptist responded by leaping in her mother’s womb (Luke 1:41). He was worshipping Jesus. How could he have done this? It was because he was filled with the Holy Spirit, ‘even from his mother’s womb’ (Luke 1:15). Though he could not yet see anything with his physical eyes, he understood perfectly who Jesus was with his spiritual eyes.
The second person was Elizabeth. After John the Baptist lept, she was ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ (Luke 1:41) and called this days-old unborn child her ‘Lord’ (Luke 1:43). How remarkable is this?! This old lady is calling this infant her God and master! Incredible!
This act of being filled with the Holy Spirit and praising God was the consistent response of everyone else, too. Jesus’ mother exclaimed, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior” (Luke 1:46-47). Zechariah, after responding with doubt, praised God with his first words after his tongues were loosed (Luke 1:64) and was ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’ (1:67). The multitude of angels worshipped God before those awe-struck shepherds: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:14). The shepherds then responded by searching for the child, then returning by “glorifying and praising God” (Luke 2:20). Simeon ‘came in the Spirit’ (Luke 2:27) then embraced this child and “blessed God” (Luke 2:28-32). Finally, Anna the prophetess, who was also at the temple, began to speak of him [the Messiah] and “began to give thanks to God” (Luke 2:38).
Everyone—all 8 of these individuals or groups—responded to the birth of Jesus with fervent praise. They did this because they were filled with the Holy Spirit. This means that if we have God’s perspective in regards to Jesus, we would see how glorious it is and praise him. Let us not be content to be indifferent and apathetic to God being wrapped in human flesh. Aside from the death and resurrection of Jesus, there is no greater news that we could ever hear.
Come, let us adore this highly-esteemed child!
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