BEHOLD!

We don’t really use this word anymore, so its hard to deliver the impact that the word is supposed to carry. BEHOLD! It’s a word that mixes surprise and wonder with commanding attention.

BEHOLD! Is a single word that means: wow-look-here-right-now-and-don’t-miss-this-extraordinary-important-occurrence.

As we have been working through a very traditional Advent worship theme, we have tried to enter into the experience of the coming of Jesus that we celebrate at Christmas…   even as we wrap our hearts and minds around the promise that, just as he came once, he will come again. We’ve done this through the words WATCH, PREPARE, REJOICE and now BEHOLD.

BEHOLD commands undivided attention. BEHOLD wakes us up from living the status quo. BEHOLD reminds us that that God is as unpredictable as God is powerful. BEHOLD ushers in wonderful but unexpected surprises.

¹⁸ Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. ¹⁹ Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. ²⁰ But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” ²² All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ²³ “BEHOLD, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel,” which means, “God is with us.” ²⁴ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, ²⁵ but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus. (Matthew 11:2-6)

As Christians, I think we should introduce ‘BEHOLD’ back into our daily lives. It is not simply the subject of a single week during Advent, because God still commands our attention. God still wants us to wake up from the status quo. God is still wildly powerful and unpredictable. God is still ushering in wonderful but unexpected surprises.

Because God so loved the world that God saved the world by being born as a baby in a stable yard…   absolutely anything can happen in your life and in mine!