Everyone calls it the Christmas story. You probably call it the Christmas story. But the point of the Christmas story is that it is not a story at all. It is a question. And, to add insult to injury, if you don’t see the question, you’ll never get the story right. And it is not a brand-new question that no one had ever thought of before. It’s been around since the very beginning, but we still fail to ask it. Sadly, we are not alone in this, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s begin at the beginning.
Genesis 1 starts off with a remarkable claim. Eleven times in a chapter of thirty-one verses, we read that God spoke. It is an astounding claim. There are many who believe that God, if he even exists, is silent. But Genesis proves otherwise. Far from being silent, distant and unknowable, God comes into our world to reveal himself. He speaks; and in speaking, he seeks to establish a relationship with us. He is our creator and we are to worship him. Psalm 95 proclaims what our response should be (vv. 6-7):
“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker;
for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.”
But there is a problem. The very next verses in Psalm 95 underscore this issue. They read (vv.7-9):
“Today, if only you would hear his voice,
‘Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,
as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested me; they tried me,
though they had seen what I did.’”
At the very beginning of our story, we learn that God has revealed himself to us. He is our creator and king. He has spoken into the darkness of our world. And yet, we have hardened our hearts and refused to listen. Even though we have heard God’s voice, we have ignored it. This is the story of Genesis 3; but in spite of our incessant rebellion, God continues to speak.
In Genesis 12, God begins a new work of grace. He seeks a people with whom he can dwell, a people he can call his own. And so he comes to Abraham. And he comes speaking. In Genesis 12, we read (vv. 1-2):
“The LORD said to Abram: ‘Leave your country, your family, and your relatives
and go to the land that I will show you.
I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you.’”
God speaks to Abraham, and Abraham hears and obeys, and God promises to bless him and the whole world through him. God speaks and our world is changed. God calls Abraham; and through Abraham and his descendants, God will bring salvation to the world. God speaks and grace floods over the earth.
Centuries later, God spoke again, this time out of a burning bush. And when Moses heard God’s voice calling him, he said (Ex. 3:4): “Here I am.” And we read in verse 6:
“And God said, ‘I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham,
the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.’”
And from the burning bush, God calls Moses to return to Egypt and to free the people of Israel from their slavery. But Moses balks at God’s choice. He is a shepherd, not a liberator. Since this is so, Moses implores God to reveal his name to him. If God’s character is good and strong and powerful, then Moses will think about his role in the matter. But instead of God displaying his power in might and miracles and majesty, he speaks his name. In Exodus 3:14 we read:
“God said to Moses, ‘I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites:
“I am has sent me to you.’”
I find it staggering that God responds to Moses’ question, not with an act, but by speaking. Indeed, everything God feels he needs to communicate to empower Moses to set the people free from Pharoah’s tyranny is found in this name. And Moses takes this name and goes to Pharoah and says (Ex. 5:1):
“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says:
‘Let my people go, so that they may hold a festival to me in the wilderness.’”
God speaks, and it is so. He brings the plagues down upon Egypt. He brings the Passover. He brings deliverance and allows the people to cross the Red Sea. And he brings them to Mount Sinai. And there, God gave his people “the ten words,” the Law. Here are the first three verses Exodus 20:
“And God spoke all these words:
‘I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
You shall have no other gods before me. . . .’”
God speaks and gives his people the law, God’s wisdom set apart for his people to reflect his holiness and glory and goodness.
And while Israel had moments of listening to God’s voice, the sad truth is, for the most part, they turned a deaf ear to God. And that is why that most common refrain from the prophets, “Thus says the Lord,” has about it an echo of deep sadness. The people needed to be reminded that what the prophets were saying was not of their own creation, but was God’s very word; a word they had, for centuries, refused to hear. Isaiah 1 puts it in perspective (vv. 2-3):
“Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth! For the LORD has spoken:
‘I reared children and brought them up, but they have rebelled against me.
The ox knows its master, the donkey its owner’s manger,
but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.’”
This alone explains the bitterness of Isaiah’s call. In Isaiah 6, we read (vv. 8-10):
“Then I heard the voice of the LORD saying,
‘Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?’
And I said, ‘Here am I. Send me!’
He said, ‘Go and tell this people:
“Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving.”
Make the heart of this people calloused; make their ears dull and close their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.’”
Isaiah would represent God to the people. He would speak, but they would not listen. He would declare God’s purposes, but they would close their ears and refuse to understand. But this was a culpable act, not brought about by deafness, but by hardness of heart. This is the point God makes in Isaiah 42 when discussing Israel’s call to serve him. We read (vv. 18-20):
“Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!
Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send?
Who is blind like the one in covenant with me, blind like the servant of the LORD?
You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;
your ears are open, but you do not listen.”
But it is not only Isaiah. All the prophets have this same theme. Jeremiah writes (5:21):
“Hear this, you foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes but do not see,
who have ears but do not hear.”
Ezekiel states the same thing (12:1-2):
“The word of the LORD came to me: ‘Son of man, you are living among a rebellious people.
They have eyes to see but do not see and ears to hear but do not hear,
for they are a rebellious people.’”
Hosea also condemns the people (4:1, 6):
“Hear the word of the LORD, you Israelites,
because the LORD has a charge to bring against you who live in the land:
‘There is no faithfulness, no love, no acknowledgment of God in the land.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also reject you as my priests;
because you have ignored the law of your God,
I also will ignore your children.’”
And Zechariah follows suit (Zech. 7:8-12):
“This is what the LORD Almighty said:
‘Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.
Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the foreigner or the poor.
Do not plot evil against each other.’
But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs
and covered their ears.
They made their hearts as hard as flint
and would not listen to the law or to the words
that the LORD Almighty had sent by his Spirit
through the earlier prophets.”
And this is the situation when we come to the end of the Old Testament. And yet, all is not lost. God still speaks hope to his people. We read in Isaiah 40 (vv. 1-3, 28-31):
“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.
Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.
A voice of one calling: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD;
make straight in the desert a highway for our God. . . .’
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary;
they will walk and not be faint.”
Buried in these words is the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah and the one who will be his forerunner. Hope is broadcast liberally throughout the prophets. The Messiah is coming. God will come to his people. God will give his people a new heart and new Spirit. And these words of hope come to fruition when John the Baptizer comes on the scene, saying (Mt. 3:1-3):
“‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’
This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
‘A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the LORD,
make straight paths for him.’”
Shortly after the birth of John, a greater birth takes place. And in that story, we find these great words (Lk. 2:13-20):
“Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,
praising God and saying,
‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.’
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven,
the shepherds said to one another,
‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has told us about.’
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.
When they had seen him, they spread the word
concerning what had been told them about this child,
and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God
for all the things they had heard and seen,
which were just as they had been told.”
In the beginning, God spoke. And now, at this climactic new beginning, God speaks again; and this time he speaks definitively. We read in Hebrews 1 (vv. 1-3):
“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets
at many times and in various ways,
but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,
whom he appointed heir of all things,
and through whom also he made the universe.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being,
sustaining all things by his powerful word.”
This is the Christmas story. This is the Christmas question. God has spoken. Are you listening? God has spoken. Will you hear? God is still speaking. Is your heart soft to his voice? God has spoken. “Today, if only you would hear his voice.” (Ps. 95:7)
