The yearly celebration of the birth of the baby Jesus has made this event so commonplace that it loses its significance. It has become so familiar to us that we fail to grasp the tremendous importance of this fact, Jesus entered the world as a baby.

He could have arrived as an adult. In fact, some believe that the Old Testament appearances of the "Angel of the Lord" were really Jesus. And during these appearances He was a full grown adult.

What are some of the implications that we learn from His entrance as a baby?

1. He became just like us in the sence that He had to grow and learn just like we do. He did not enter this world with all knowledge already implanted in His brain. He had to learn the Hebrew alphabet, learn to read and talk, and even had to study the Old Testament Bible. We learn in the gospels that Jesus was a man of the Word. This knowledge was not automatically zapped into His brain. He had to read and study and memorize it.

2. He had the same physical limitations that we have. He could only be in one place at a time. When Jesus wanted to go from Galilee to Jerusalem (something He did several times) he had to walk and climb hills. He also had to feed His body and when He didn't, He suffered hunger. He had to sleep, something He had not done for eternity past. And, like us, He only had 24 hours in a day.

3. He had the same desires that any young adult male has. The writer to the Hebrews reminds us of this fact in Hebrews 2:15, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin."

4. He had the same need to seek direction from His Father in Heaven. That was why He spent so much time in prayer. One time Jesus spent an entire night in prayer and then in the morning, He went out and named His twelve disciples. If Jesus had to spend so much time in prayer seeking to know the will of His Father, how much more do I also need to spend time in prayer.

Conclusion:

We have a Jesus with whom we can identify. And just as important, a Jesus who can identify with us. He became a human and walked in our shoes. It was a tremendous demotion for Him to give up His glory in Heaven and come to planet Earth as a baby. In so doing He has left us an example.

Philippians 2:5-8

"Your attitude should be
the same as that of Christ Jesus;
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant
being made in human likeness
And being found in appearance as a man
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death
even death on a cross!