Why A Baby?

For the non-Christian, there are two great stumbling blocks to belief. One obstacle is Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. That problem comes to the forefront at Easter. The other great obstacle is Jesus’ birth. This is the problem that surfaces every Christmas.

And, yes. For the record, I fully believe both of these Christian essentials. God came to Earth as a newborn baby human, and lived here. He was killed by people he truly loved. But, being God, he didn’t stay dead. He rose from the dead, and is alive, even now, and forever.

It’s Christmas-time, so let’s talk about this baby. A question surrounds him.

Why?

Why — a baby?

Why not a glorious, visible, spiritual being, of eye-searing, intensely bright light? You know — kind of like an angel on steroids. Or maybe he could have appeared as the face of a man in the sun, speaking to us for fifteen minutes every day, telling us how we ought to get along and be nice. But no. God came to us as a baby.

And now I’ll tell you why. Please don’t be disappointed. I’m not going to tell you anything new. It’s an old, old story.

It has to do with the other reason Jesus came.

You see, he didn’t just come to pay the price for our sins. That’s the Easter story. No, he had other reasons, and one of those reasons…