It’s only speculation, but I can imagine the angels anticipating the birth of their King with bated breath. That anticipation exploded into glorious worship above the shepherds when Jesus was born. And I can imagine Joseph and Mary’s anticipation, as they treasured the angelic messages about the true identity of their firstborn and the cosmic significance of His birth.
To wait for Jesus, “the Lord saves,” to come (Matt 1:21). To wait for Immanuel, “God with us,” to come (Matt 1:23). To wait for the Ruler who would shepherd Israel to come (Matt 2:6). To wait for the Savior, Christ the Lord, to come (Luke 2:11). To wait for “the consolation of Israel” to come (Luke 2:25). To wait for the “Light of revelation to the Gentiles” and the glory of Israel to come (Luke 2:32). The life of every saint before Christ was one of Christ-centered anticipation and longing.
And then, in the fullness of time, He came. The wait was over. Hope materialized. Promises were fulfilled. Jesus was born.
The Word of Life, the eternal life, which was with the Father in eternal glory, was manifested (1 John 1:2) so that sinners could be brought into fellowship with the Triune God (1 John 1:3).
Life came to life in real space and time, in human flesh and blood, as a defenseless, altogether normal infant, so that everything that only the divine Christ could do would be done.
The wait for salvation is no more. We are born of God; we are saved; we are redeemed; we have life, His life…all because of Christ’s first advent.
But now, there is another wait. The good work that God began in us will be completed one day (Phil 1:6). On that day, at the second advent, the good work will be done. We will be like Christ, because we will see Him just as He is (1 John 3:2).
And the One we worship on Christmas and everyday because of Christmas, will prove to be more than worth all of our anticipating. In fact, Christ will prove so overwhelmingly glorious to our souls when we finally see Him that our deepest anticipations of Him in this life will seem relatively weak in the life to come.
