When God steps into human history, it is not an ordinary, every day event. There is no way God's power and majesty can be masked. It was manifest over and over again: to Moses, with the burning bush and the parting of the Red Sea, to Joshua and the walls of Jericho, to the shepherd boy, David, to Elijah, to Ezekiel. And so it was with the events leading up to the birth of Christ.
The angel Gabriel was sent to Zechariah. 'Don't be afraid,' he told him. You are going to have a son. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." - Luke 1:16-17 NIV At this, Zechariah was incredulous and he was immediately unable to speak. When he came out of the temple, everyone knew something life-changing had happened to him.
A short time later, Gabriel appears to Mary with the same words. 'Don't be afraid.' You are going to have a son. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." - Luke 1:32-33 NIV
As soon as Jesus was born, another angel appeared to shepherds tending their flocks in a nearby field. 'Don't be afraid,' the angel said. 'A child has been born.' Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." - Mark 2:11-12 NIV
Everything that had been told by the angels was confirmed when Jesus was presented at the temple when he was eight days old. Simeon, who had been waiting all of his life for the consolation of Israel, and who had been promised by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Christ took the baby Jesus in his arm and proclaimed:
"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you now dismiss your servant in peace.
For my eyes have seen your salvation,
which you have prepared in the sight of all people,
a light for revelation to the Gentiles
and for glory to your people Israel." - Luke 2:29-32 NIV
God has broken into history. For those afraid of the dark, 'don't be afraid.' The light has come. Nothing will ever be the same. The light has come.
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