AP: we were created to WONDER....

I was reading in my textbook for my e-school class and was struck with how fascinated I was with Jesus' humanity. Many of these things I had never thought of and just always thought, "Yeah, Jesus is human and He is God." I never really had thought anything past that. But pondering and meditating on Jesus is the introduction to your fascination with God. You know those funny/dumb commercials that say, "Are you bored with your life? Well, then now is your time to try________". You fill in the blank. My commercial would be, "Does the subject of God bore you? Well, try meditating on Jesus. Just thin about Him and when you read the Bible, ask Him why He did what He did the way He did it. If you're not fascinated in less than five minutes....well, that won't happen because you will be. Guaranteed! The love of the Christian life is to gaze upon the mystery of Jesus.

First place for you to begin to marvel, He was born. Jesus, rather God, outside of time became a baby. He was helpless, dependent upon His parents. The point of the incarnation is to make you ponder. That is just what His mother Mary did. She knew He was human and she knew He had come from inside of her. Yet she knew He was God. In her arms lay the Maker of the universe. She gently stoked the tiny feet of the One who made her. He had made her yet He came from her. He had tiny, frail, little feet! The God of the universe had tiny two inch feet.When He was a baby He couldn't talk, walk, or even sit up.God was a baby just like any other baby. When you picture a baby, think about God. Jesus was just like that baby! Mary bore Him in childbirth, brought Him forth with real pain. After Jesus was born, the Bible says that Mary was perplexed. She had given birth to the baby that the angels were praising. She probably thought, "I know He is God, but I felt real pain and real movements in my belly as He was growing. How could that be? How can it be that the angels tell shepherds about this and wise men come to visit Him bearing gifts, and yet He came out of my loins: How can it be that God has my eyes and nose?" She found the joy of pondering the mystery and kept these things in her hear. (Luke 2:19) Have you ever thought about why God's first appearance on earth was that of a little baby?

Luke tells us that Jesus was not only born with a human body but He grew up. Most children have an awkward stage where their ears outgrow their head. What did Jesus' awkward stages look like? Can you imagine what He looked like as He sat through rabbinical school waiting for the time when His head caught up with His ears? He was just like each of us, but without sin. What did it look like when Jesus lost His first tooth and had His first haircut? What was it like? Luke says that Jesus grew and Mary was perplexed again and again. What was Jesus like as a child? What was His favorite game? Who was His best childhood friend? Did He ever Play a practical joke? What was holy fun to Him? What was harmless fun to Him: Can you imagine what it must have been like for Mary when Jesus would come to His mother with questions? What was it like for Mary to teach God, the One who created the human frame, how to speak?

Not only did He grow up but He grew in the Spirit and was filled with wisdom. The grace of God was upon Him (Luke 2:40) He grew mentally and spiritually. What was it like for Jesus to learn math: What was it like for Him to study the Torah, thinking all the while, "This is so familiar. It is almost like I wrote this."? What was it like when He read the word as a human and remembered speaking it as God? Wat was it like as He began to discover in stages that He was the unique God-Man? I am sure He wondered, "Something feels different about Me. I never get in trouble like James does." What was it like when His mental and spiritual capacity got to the point where He began to remember the throne room: Can you imagine Him standing there with trembling fascination the first time He saw and angel and He must have said, "I feel like I know you from somewhere. Have we met before?" amd the angel responded, "Yes, you know me. You made me." and Jesus looking in awe as His memory starts to come back to him. What was it like for a human to see all the angels around everybody else?

All we really know from Scripture is that He grew. God left the rest for us to ask Him about because He wants our attention, our affections, and our fascination. Does Jesus have Mary's cheekbones? He was fully God, yet He grew. He is fully man. If you could ask Mary some questions about being the mother of God, what would they be? I might ask some of these: What was it like watching Him pray? How did He respond when He saw other kids giggling during the service at the synagogue" When He saw a rainbow, did He ever mention a flood? Did you feel awkward teaching Him how He created the world? When He saw a lamb being led to the slaughter, did He act differently? Did you ever see Him with a distant look on His face as if He was listening to someone you couldn't hear? How did He act as funerals? Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying was asleep under your own roof? Did you ever try to count the stars with Him....and succeed? Did He ever come home with a black eye? How did He act when He got His first haircut? Did He have any friends by the name of Judas? Did He do well in school? Did you ever scold Him? Did He ever have a question about a Scripture? What do you think He thought when He saw a prostitute offering to the highest bidder the body He made? Did He ever get angry when someone was dishonest with Him" Did you ever catch Him pensively looking at the flesh on His own arm while holding a clod of dirt? Did He ever wake up afraid? Who was His best childhood friend? When someone referred to Satan, how did He act? Did you ever accidentally call Him Father? What did He and His cousin John talk about as kids? Did His other brothers and sisters understand what was happening? Did you ever think, that is God eating my soup?

We seldom think about these things yet this is reality. This is your God. This is your King. This is your Brother and your Bridegroom! You can fall in love with Him. It's okay. Did you know that? You really can fall in love with Him because of the incarnation. We've been robbed of Jesus for far too long. It is time to ponder. It is time to enjoy the depths of His mystery and the mystery and the richness of His shared life. So grab a fuzzy blanket, a cup of coffee, a comfy chair, a notepad, pencil, and your Bible. It's time to be fascinated with Jesus!!