Sometimes, we complain to God: “O Lord, there is nothing impossible for you! But, why don’t you do it?” This was exactly what the Jews at the foot of the cross asked Jesus on the cross: “Come down if you are the Son of God!” But, God does not do that. Even for God, who created the universe, things were not so easy! How many times have we thought that God could have avoided all these problems! Just think about the troubles Son of God had to undergo when he was about to be born into the earth.
The ruthless command of King Herod when the birth of Jesus was near. The couple, his parents, had to travel though mountains and forests to enlist their names in the record book. Couldn’t God influence Herod and postpone or even cancel his decision? Couldn’t God make it easier for His Son to be born? Did He really need to let His Son undergo all these troubles? When we ruminate on these events, we would be tempted to think that someone had conspired to thwart the advent of Christmas. And what troubles follow the command of the king! No door is being opened before the fully pregnant mother of God. Couldn’t God send one of His angels to the owner of an inn to open the door for this poor couple?
From time immemorial, innumerable children were born into the sweetness of life on this earth. Hundreds of princes have been born into the lap of luxury, escorted by maids and midwives. Yet, here is a very important personality, being born on the wayside! And the God, who split apart the Red sea, is being chased away by the soldiers of King Herod! Why does it happen?
The self-emptying of God in Christ confounds men. God lowers Himself. He becomes a weakling. He leaves our eyes moistened. Till that time, the human race imagined a God, who reigned supreme. All God-concepts come to a halt at this moment. He lowers and equates Himself with men, and even counts Himself less than men! After all, a cowshed is no place for men to be born! Why does God do so?
Christmas is a different story. It tells that the birth of the Son of God is not all about stars, music and celebration. Above all, Christmas is God coming down and sharing the sorrows of human beings. It is taking sides with the people living in the fringes of society, who are forced to walk hunch back through the hardships of life. Nothing is easy for them. They are refugees, who have lost their homelands and homes. No one even recognizes their names. No one is interested to know about them. Doors are being banged against them. From every closed door, they are withdrawing with a dropped head. Finally, they reach before a heart that has no door. That heart was formed on a snowy night in December, in a doorless cowshed!
Christmas night is when we lament saying, O God, life is not so easy to live. When we have to wait in a long queue, when all our efforts of a whole day go in vain, when we are forced to sleep on a railway platform because we have missed a train, when a bosom friend, who we expected would help us, shut the door against us, when God, Who we expected would miraculously heal us when we are ill, remains silent, when we think that God could solve all our problems with a single word and nothing happens… Christmas night blooms! Even for God, nothing was easy. Or he decided that nothing needs to be easy for Him.
A journalist once said to St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta: “Even if I am paid a million dollars, I would not do this horrendous job you are doing – nursing the dreadful lepers!” Without a second thought, the Mother replied: Neither will I do it even if I am paid a billion dollars. Christ is the only reason why I am doing it!” This same reason has inspired and empowered millions of people with enormous faith and courage! Christmas Night, which tells the tale of weaknesses, is its true secret!
Once, God hobbled through the peripheries of the world. Chariots, palaces and marble-gods vanished. But, the God who was born with the stench of cattle and hay, who walked through the streets with the smell of soil and sweat, is an everlasting inspiration for men to love selflessly.
Since you came and dwelt in my hut made of mud, my distant admiration for you has been transformed into ardent love. O God, you have become my brother on this snowy night!
Abhilash Fraizer
