Daily Reading
Luke tells the familiar story of the birth of this baby that was promised from the beginning. Odd, isn't it, that at this very point in history something so seemingly ordinary as a baby born to a young woman happens at a certain time and in a specific place while life around goes on as usual: There's a specific emperor, there's a trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem, and this is where this baby is to be born.
Any birth is special for the one giving birth. But this one ... this one is extraordinary. This is the Son of God himself taking on the body and limitations of his creation at its most vulnerable. In this simple story, we see the eternal God, creator of the universe, contained in the skin of an infant.
At this point early in the Advent season, we see what the world has been waiting for. Yet for Joseph and Mary not only was this a significant moment, the fulfillment of a prophecy , this was also the birth of their first child. She wraps him up and puts him to bed in a feeding trough in the barn where they are staying. This is a first step towards Calvary and the empty tomb—nothing ordinary here. Hallelujah, Christ is born, Hallelujah.