AND where did the greatest story ever told take place? I asked the audience of businessmen and their wives who’d come to celebrate with a Christmas dinner? ‘Not in a manger,’ I told them, ‘but in the realms of heaven where a worried and frustrated God looked down at a sinful earth and wondered what more He could do. ‘I created those men and women so that I would have company.
I created them in my own image, so we could be like one family, but look at them, just look at them now!’ And all the angels, saints and others looked down with God, and saw the wickedness below. ‘I parted the Red Sea for them. Rescued them from Egypt. Gave them manna to eat, water to drink. Made them victorious in wars
Did miracles. What more do they want?’ An old angel, maybe Gabriel or Michael, must have slowly gone to God and whispered, “Whip them Lord, thrash them, beat them, kill them. Send a flood and finish them off!” But God paced up and down and finally whispered, “There’s only one solution to know what is wrong, I will have to go down and find out!” And God came down on Christmas! He came as a baby, born in the poorest place where animals were kept, lived with ordinary people like you and me, and found out what was wrong.
I think the first sounds he recognised was the sound of his father Joseph the carpenter’s tools. Day in a day out he heard Joseph hammering and sawing, and must have realised how hard he worked, and then listened to the sounds of customers who did not pay Joseph in time. He must have seen days of no business too. What did Jesus understand from that? ‘Jesus,’ I told the businessmen, ‘God understands the struggles as you build a business. He understands your cries to him as a customer doesn’t pay or when there’s no business for you. Take that problem to Him!’
What else did Jesus see? He saw a mother struggling to make both ends meet. And you mothers and wives as sometimes you struggle to bring up a family. Jesus understands. He knows and listens to your prayers. Then he went to Lazarus’s grave and what did he do? He wept! He understood grief. The grief of losing a friend. Today that same Lord can wipe your tears away and comfort you, because he knows what grief is. He understood the Samaritan woman at the well, and the woman caught in adultery. The world of men laughed at them, but Jeus understood they were survivors, and forgave them. In fact, he made the Samaritan woman an evangelist who brought many people from her village to Him
He also understood how we are pulled down by people who discourage us. When Jesus started preaching, people laughed at him saying, “Can any good come out of Nazareth?” They chuckled. Do people laugh at you and say, “Can any good come from you?” And he knew what betrayal was. For three years his twelve disciples walked with him, preached with him, healed with him, and finally one betrayed him. So, those of you who have been betrayed, Jesus came down and knows what you are feeling. The Greatest Story Ever Told my friends, is all about you and me. We are the story..!
—Email: bobsbanter@gmail.com
