November 25, 2014
Three
years ago, at about this time of year, I was pondering (something I am wont to
do for good or ill) the amazing fact of the Word becoming flesh and dwelling
among us. I’d often wondered, through
the years, what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph to know she carried
the Son of God in her womb. What an
awesome, and frightening, truth and responsibility that must have been for those
two young people. Then another question
occurred to me: What must it have been like in heaven at that moment when the
Word made His exit to take up His dwelling in Mary’s womb? What occurred in heaven when the One we now know
as Jesus voluntarily made that incredible transition to take upon Himself the
form of a man?
I
wrote the following little article as a result…
THE MOMENT
A
little over two thousand years ago, as we reckon time on this earth, came The
Moment. I have wondered if there was any
fanfare in heaven when that moment arrived.
Were angelic choruses thundering praise as the Cherubim ranged around
the Throne? Or, was there a dramatic
silence in heaven as the angelic host looked on in breathless anticipation? Did the Father speak some last words of
charge or of comfort? Did the Spirit
cover all with His attentive, loving presence?
What was the last gesture of the Word before the Moment came?
What
was it like in heaven at that Moment? That
moment that would change everything. A
moment unlike any that had ever occurred in eternity. A moment when God’s love for His creation
would be declared and demonstrated in a way without precedent?
What
was it like in that Moment when “the Word became flesh and made His dwelling
among us” (John 1:14)? Did heaven give a
collective gasp or sigh or cry of triumph when He,” who, although he existed in
the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped…emptied
himself” (Phil 2:6,7). In that moment of
emptying, did the heavens shake? Did the
Word smile as He transformed or vanished from sight?
In that
moment, in a little house in a little town in Galilee, did a young woman’s eyes
suddenly widen? Did she reach down for a
moment to touch her tummy? Did she
suddenly feel within her womb a presence not there a moment before? Did she quietly bow her head and begin to
pray because she knew, as the angel had prophesied, that the Moment had
come?
And,
for heaven and earth, after that Moment nothing would ever be the same…
Dan
Rouse
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