“…And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” …
…Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
Luke 2:12, 19 ESV
A baby wrapped in swaddling cloths… lying in a manger… a sign for you…
Sign… translated from the Greek…
semeion... 1 a sign, mark, token. 1A that by which a person or a thing is distinguished from others and is known. 1B an unusual occurrence, transcending the common course of nature. 1B1 of miracles and wonders by which God authenticates the men sent by him…
–Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon
How often did Mary ponder this sign…? a baby wrapped and lying in a manger…? as her son grew…?
How often did she return to this moment…? remembering it as a sign…? a wonder…? a miracle…?
God wrapped in a blanket… fresh from a virgin womb… tucked quietly in a feed trough…
Did she remember Gabriel’s words…?
“…He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
Luke 1:32-33 ESV
Did she ask afresh…? How will this be…?
How will this baby tucked into a feed trough… because there was no room in the inn… grow to be all the angel said…?
Did she ponder the things she treasured all those many years when she saw her son nailed to a cross…?
Did she remember the sign…? the baby in the manger…? the divine words of angels spoken on either side of His birth…?
Did her question to God change…? How can this be…?
But she saw… and came to know the upside-down nature of God compared to the world…
Hope wrapped up humbly as a vulnerable Babe… then the Son of Man wrapped again in a tomb… to emerge victorious over sin and death… for all who believe
His people now waiting… for His return… the coming of the King…
In a world still upside-down from His ways… one which appears to grow darker and darker each day… our current Advent question should be the same as Mary’s… a hope-full… expectant…
How will this be…?
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Revelation 19:11-16 ESV
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