From the Cradle to the Cross

by GREGG MATTE

LIFE IS BOTH WONDERFUL and weird. Boring and uneventful days seem to last forever, and yet life also can turn on a dime. Things change so quickly, and before we know it, we are in a totally different place. I wonder at times how did I go from the Christmas morning kid running down the stairs in glee to the dad filming MY children doing the same. Seems like all I did was blink, and the years swooshed by. I can almost hear my grandmother say, “My, my, how things change.” Everyone says life goes by fast, but you don’t really believe it until half your life or more has passed by.

Luke 2 is an oh-so-wonderful Christmas account. Everything you could want is mentioned. A baby boy, gifts, unified parents, the worship of God, and angels to boot. But 20 chapters later, Luke 2 has become Luke 22. And things have changed dramatically for our Savior. The starry night of His Bethlehem birth is now 33 years in the rearview mirror. No longer shepherds and wise men bowing, no longer a baby’s tender skin caressed by Mary, no longer kind glances from Joseph …

“The time came for her to give birth” (Luke 2:6).

“The men who were holding Jesus started mocking and beating him” (Luke 22:63).

My, my, how things change.

It is hard to read the treatment given to the most loving and powerful person to walk the earth, the only begotten of God. Yet we know this is a part of the story of Christ. He was born — oh, so sweetly born — to die a gruesome death. UGH! The turn of events is excruciating — Baby Jesus is destined to be falsely accused, disrespectfully mocked, and gruesomely crucified. The cradle and the cross are distinctly connected for us. Jesus was born and beaten to save our souls. What a tremendous love and commitment on our behalf!

We are nearing Christmas on the calendar, and the sweetness is growing. Yet in Luke 22, we see the cross looming on the horizon. This is good for us. We must keep His pain and death in our view as we celebrate His birth. The complete picture is necessary for our salvation in Christ and relationship with Him. His birth and His burial are connected. He is the God in the flesh both in the cradle and on the cross. Luke 2 and 22 are both a part of the wise plan of God for securing our heavenly eternity.

In like regard it is necessary for us to keep our joys and trials in the same windowpane. Life has ups and downs, twists and turns, as well as long straightaways of peace. If we see joys and pains as disconnected, we will lose heart. The “why me of gratitude” will bring praise of God, but the “why me of grief” will cast us into doubting God. Gratitude and grief are a part of normal life, and both are under God’s love and command. He is with us and working in us on the highest summits and in the tearful valleys. God is painting a masterpiece in our lives with complementary dark and bright hues.

My, my, things can change — from the cradle to the cross and in our lives from Christmas last year to Christmas this year. I want to encourage you to trust God through the changes. Walk with God when the south wind blows and when the sun rises. Look to the obedience of Jesus from the nativity of Luke 2 to the beatings of Luke 22. The fruit it yielded was an example to the world and brings salvation for the believer’s soul. Much has changed for all our lives; that’s how life goes. But when we can hold both a “Merry Christmas” and a “Good Friday” in our hearts, we will trust deeply that God loves us and is working out His plan in our lives. My, my, how things change, but God is amid it all. Trust Him.

God is painting a masterpiece in our lives with complementary dark and bright hues.

GREGG MATTE is the pastor of Houston’s First Baptist Church and author of numerous books, the latest being Salvation Has Come: 25 Christmas Devotions in Luke. Gregg and his wife, Kelly, have a son and daughter, Greyson and Valerie.