Profess Creatives

2024 flew by like a plane on steroids. And Christmas is in 2 DAYS!

To wrap up the year in fine style, last time we reflected on our 2024 wins and losses and put some pensive thoughts towards 2025

Today, I want to dedicate a post to the Story of Jesus’ birth that would also visually simulate prophetic artist.

Think of it as us going to an art museum that details the birth of Jesus. And as we walk around the room we see various artifacts from the nativity night around first century Bethlehem .

There are a couple of things in the museum scene that stand out to me:

Bethlehem

Technically, this one isn’t visual per se but its an important mention that gives context to the other nativity artefacts.

In fact Bethlehem was popular for quite a few things besides Jesus birth: the burial place of Rachel, where Boaz married Ruth and where King David grew up.

The word ‘Bethlehem’ in Hebrew means “House of Bread.” Which is quite though provoking when we hear Jesus refer to himself as Bread of Life in John chapter 6.

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Why does Jesus metaphorize himself as bread? So that we could remember God’s provision for the Israelites.

When the Israelites wandered in the wilderness God satisfied their physical hunger by sending manna from the sky. Jesus juxtaposes himself as another form of “bread” that came from the sky to explain his coming from heaven to satisfy the spiritual hunger of the world (John 6:51).

Jesus being born in Bethlehem also fulfilled prophecy in Micah 5:2:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be rule over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

Bethlehem, Jesus birth place, is symbolic of Jesus being the Bread of Life and coming from the line of King David.

Three wise men + a star

These men were wealthy, scientific scholars, knowledgeable in the magic arts and advisors to kings. Quite similar to those who were seen alongside Pharaoh in Exodus 7:11-13.

God allowed these dignitaries to see a star that they interpreted as the emergence of a new king of the Jews (Matthew 2: 1-2). However, in those times king Herod claimed to be said ‘king of the Jews’. This star is a sign that directly challenged the legitimacy of his authority.

King Herod in his Jealousy secretly sought to kill the Messiah. So he sent the wise men to find Jesus under the guise that he would worship the new king too.

What are the odds that these stately scholars would humble themselves to bring costly gifs and worship an unknown baby in a smelly animal shed? Only the Holy Spirit can bring such an epiphany that the child was God incarnated. In fact the Holy Spirit continued to guide them after their encounter with Jesus by warning them in a dream not to return to Herod.

The star and the wise men serve as a greater sign to us: Jesus is ruler above all kings and welcomes even dignitaries who humbly seek to worship him.

The shepherds + a manger

Let’s touch a bit on sheep and shepherd culture.

Sheep were very important in Jewish society. They were used mainly for sacrifices, food, milk, wool and their horns. Shepherds dedicated their time to care for large flocks of sheep_ a time consuming task that would often mean them spending large amounts of time away from the general society.

Sometimes they would even sleep with the sheep while they watched them at night. This is how the star shepherds of the holy night encountered the angel on the night of Jesus’ birth.

“This is the sign. No other king anywhere in the world was lying in a feeding trough. Find him, and you find the King of kings. And you will know something. Something utterly crucial about his kingship.” –John Piper

It must have been strange for the shepherds to hear that king was laying in a manger, a structure used to hold food for animals. This is quite interesting metaphor too considering that Jesus is the Bread of Life.

The manger may be the smallest of the artefacts but by no means the least important. It was the sign that God used to communicate with the shepherds in their agricultural lingo. And the kingship of Jesus was confirmed when heavenly hosts began to sing praises to God around the child (Luke 2:13–14).

Unlike the wise men, they came empty handed but came humbly worshipping the king. This is a sign to us that Jesus, the good shepherd, is accessible to all, including the socially secluded.

What does this night tell us about Jesus ?

God was so intentional about how he put together the events leading up to and during Jesus’ birth night including the people and symbolic objects featured.

Jesus came to establish his authority as the sovereign God and save the entire world__ from the socially least to even kings, as long as they humbly accept that they NEED Jesus to be freed from the wages of sin.