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Journey to Bethlehem Day 23

Monday, December 23 Psalm 24



1 The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein,
2 for he has founded it upon the seas
and established it upon the rivers.
3 Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
And who shall stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to what is false
and does not swear deceitfully.
5 He will receive blessing from the Lord
and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
7 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And be lifted up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord, strong and mighty,
the Lord, mighty in battle!
9 Lift up your heads, O gates!
And lift them up, O ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory! Selah



The Nativity of our Lord nears. Tradition has it on this day, a long, long time ago a major miracle took place, one on the order of what many in the world now regard as the Big Bang.
But this was not the day the universe was created out of nothing; rather it was the day the One who created the universe out of nothing entered his creation as a baby. He grew to become a Jewish man from a backwater village in Galilee, a Jewish man named Jesus. Many in the world now know his name.
This man Jesus was God the Son, a difficult claim for us to comprehend even today but one completely beyond most of his time. The Jews had endured significant hardship to cement their commitment to God as one and one only. That he has a Son, that God therefore is Father, seemed a backward step for their “metaphysics”—their conception of what is above existence, of what transcends physical reality. It remains hard to see God as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and yet one. We want God to be easy.
Except this one who was born in Bethlehem, who grew to manhood in Galilee, who died in Jerusalem on a Roman cross, who rose from the dead three days afterwards as said he would, who now sits at the right hand of God the Father, interceding with him for you, for me, for all who come to him—he understood.
For the earth is all his and he stands in the holiest of places. His hands are clean, his heart is pure. He is the King of glory who left heaven and came to earth so that we might come to God when we leave the earth.


Lord Jesus, we lift up our hearts that the King of glory may come in!