Home for the Holidays

The Lovely Joanne and I are finally back in our house after four months to the day of renovations and six months to the day from the original damages. We've learned a lot this year from the experience! As we reflect on the story of Jesus' birth, I'm struck once again by the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity, coming to live in a 'home' of human flesh. Giving up the perks of perfection and peace in heaven, he entered our chaotic and threatened
existence in order to save us.

John 1:14 says "So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son." There was always something a little different about Jesus, even as a boy of 12 when he questioned the teachers in the temple. His "unfailing love and faithfulness" shone through in every situation of his life, and so it should have.

But his new home in the flesh was a temporary dwelling as we might think -- it was permanent. When he was resurrected, it was into a body full of glory, but still a body, and he ascended to heaven in that body (Luke 24:35-53). Another way to put it is, Jesus came and made his home with us, so we could have a home with him forever! Our real "home for the holidays" is always going to be with our Savior, who loves us perfectly and welcomes us into his home as his own brothers and sisters (John 14:1-4).

One more thought: there are many people in our society whose "home for the holidays" and every other day, is a cardboard box, a doorway, the underside of a bridge, or at best, a shelter run by a charity. By identifying with Jesus, who had a much less comfortable home with us, we also identify with all others who have an uncomfortable home. What could you do to ease their suffering?