Christmas is one key story about God’s Great Reversal. Caesar Augustus, a human who thought he was a god, issued a decree that forced Mary and Joseph to make a hard trip with Mary nine months pregnant. Jesus, the true God become human, spent his first night on earth in a humble animal shelter in Bethlehem. On Christmas Eve, we reflect on the birth of the child who showed us God’s kind of power—the power of selfless love.

• Scholar William Barclay wrote, hauntingly, “That there was no room in the inn was symbolic of what was to happen to Jesus … He sought an entry to the over-crowded hearts of men; he could not find it His search—and his rejection—go on.” What role is Jesus playing in your Christmas celebration this year? How are you making room in your heart, and in your life, for him?
• A contemporary Christmas song has Joseph say, “Why me? I’m just a simple man of trade … Why here, inside this stable filled with hay? Why her? She’s just an ordinary girl … This is such a strange way to save the world.” If you were God, would you trust the Messiah to a family as poor and “ordinary” as Mary and Joseph formed? What are some of the key ways God’s values challenge yours?