By Dr. Kerry Knight, Emerald Beach Church of Christ
“Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants,
You have perfected praise” (Matthew 21:16b)
Imagine for just a moment, a tiny newborn baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. He is so vulnerable, so helpless, so dependent. It is hard to envision that little child changing the world, but He did. Mary, His mother, knew of His destiny. An angel had told her. His mother would guard Him so carefully until His time came. She nursed him, clothed him, and read to Him from the scriptures. His earthly father, Joseph, would teach Him the value of hard work, and give Him the perfect model of a strong, Jewish man. He finally announced, “I must be about my Father’s business. And then from the baptism by John, which led to the cross of Calvary, His every move was to show compassion and offer salvation to all those who mirrored His own helplessness as a baby. The man, Jesus, healed approximately 40 people, personally, yet when you consider the multitudes that followed Him, He could easily have healed hundreds, maybe thousands. The Bible says in Matthew 9:36, “He looked on the masses and had compassion.” And then He gave them the greatest gift of all, His blood on Heaven’s Cross.
And it’s hard to believe that it all began with that little baby in Bethlehem.
