The most transformative miracle of Christmas is much more than we consider.
It isn’t the fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies written thousands of years before the arrival of The King. It isn’t angel messengers delivering wildly unexpected revelations to an unsuspecting priest, a favored virgin, her initially unconvinced fiancé, and ragged men keeping watch of sheep by night.1 It isn’t a baby shower hosted by wise men and a thwarted murder plot.2 It isn’t even the ultimate, unimaginable heavenly chorus of God’s attendants filling a dark sky with previously unheard songs of sounding joy beneath the star to end all stars.3
The most powerful miracle of Christmas is this.
Mary held Jesus and did not die.
Joseph looked at the face of God and was not consumed.
Shepherds and wise men were physically in His presence and lived to tell about it.
In the book of Exodus, as God continues introducing Himself to a world that rejected relationship with the Creator to exercise our own wit and wisdom, He gives very specific, seemingly terrifying instructions to Moses.4
The Great I AM has invited Moses to a meeting on the mountain. He wants to lead the people He loves. He has already rescued them from slavery, showing all involved the unquestionable difference between standing in the wrath of God and standing in the shelter of His divine protection.5 Knowing they are prone to wander, He has not left them alone, a pillar of cloud by day, pillar of fire by night.6 Knowing they are helpless against the enemy, He has stood between them, walking them across dry land while those who would destroy them are wiped away.7 Knowing they hunger and thirst, He has provided bread from heaven and water from rocks.8 Now, in Exodus 19, He wants to teach them what it means to be His beloved. His treasured people. A royal priesthood. A holy nation.9
And the first thing it means is that they cannot come near Him or else they will die.
What at initial consideration does not seem exceptionally loving or invitational is actually the opposite, the ultimate example of truth, love, and sacrifice, setting the stage for the miracle of the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with Us.
Moses tells the people to prepare to be as close to God as they can be. On the third day, once they’ve washed their garments and tried to spend a couple of days thinking and living pure thoughts, God will come down to Mount Sinai.
In case people want to camp out early for the best seats, God makes things clear.
“And you shall set limits for the people all around saying, ‘Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot, whether beast or man, he shall not live.”
Exodus 19:12-13 (ESV)
Consider how difficult it is to discern where exactly a mountain begins, the precise location where elevation begins its ascent, turning flat ground into rolling hill, rolling hill into mountain, the mountain where Moses will meet with God.
God tells his people not to touch the outer limits of a pretty large boundary, letting them know in spite of their best efforts to be as clean as they know how to be, they are not clean enough to touch even the edge of the mountain where He will be. In fact, anyone- any man, any woman, any child, any animal– who touches the edge of the mountain accidentally or on purpose must be put to death, and put to death in a way devoid of all contact, no one touching the one who touched the edge of the mountain where God was.
So holy is the Lord.
The morning of the third day arrives and so does thunder, lightning, thick clouds, and trumpets from heaven. People tremble in fear.
No wonder.
Moses brings the people out of the camp to meet God, and they take their stand at the foot of a trembling mountain- a trembling mountain– covered in smoke because God has descended like fire. Trumpets grow louder and louder and God speaks to Moses in the thunder.10
I like to think had I been there, I would have the good sense to stand in the very back. But the next few verses point to our propensity toward the pride that blinds us from understanding exactly how far we are from the holiness of God, the pride required to believe equality with God is something we could attain with a fruit bite.11
The Lord calls Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses goes up to hear a message from Holy God their Savior. What is the message? God tells him to go right back down and warn the people once more. One of the first Emergency Broadcast System reports.
“Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the Lord to look and many of them perish. Also, let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them.”
Exodus 19:21-22 (ESV)
Moses , who must not have been wanting to count his steps for the day, replies,
“The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, because you yourself warned us saying, ‘Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.’”
Exodus 19: 23 (ESV)
This is a curious thing. Did Moses think God needed reminding? Was he so trusting that he thought one clear explanation of the expectations and a make-shift fence was enough? Was he presuming righteousness in the lives of his family and friends, believing the condition of their heart to be something it was not? Was he willing for those who would not listen to such clear instructions to “get what they deserved?”
God repeats his instructions. “Go back down and tell them again,” He says. His repetition in and of itself is an act of love, unending grace and pursuit of people prone to hear truth from their Creator and choose the opposite. Mercy from the mountain.
Maybe God saw then what He sees now.
People in the front of the line looking around at each other, comparing personal holiness, inching closer and closer, hoping for a head start.
“If you are this close to the edge, why can’t I be? I am at least as good as you are."
Super religious, wanting to secure VIP access, a backstage pass, those thinking their balance scale of good and evil tips toward the good.
“If Moses was invited, surely I can go , too. He was in Pharaoh’s house just a few years ago- isn’t nearly as good with words as I am.”
People defining God on our own terms rather than His, presuming the boundaries received in the Word are merely crowd control demanded by cultural powers that be rather than control control deserved by Sovereign power that is.
“If God really loves us like He says He does, if we are His chosen people, He’s not going to strike us down just because we move one little pebble closer to the mountain. Everything will be fine in the end.”
Applying the measuring stick to those surrounding the base of the mountain rather than the Absolute Truth reigning from the top of it made each one of them look a little taller than they were. Minutes before, they trembled in fear. Now they needed to be reminded of God’s supreme holiness. A different kind of no wonder. Distorted reality of elevated self. Distortion that leads to death.
In any case, God tells Moses to get back down to the bottom of the mountain to set the limits again.
No one comes to God on any terms except God’s.
No one can be in the presence of Holy God, experience the fullness of His glory, and live without His invitation and protection.
Not exactly a heartwarming story of Christmas.
Until we consider this.
The God of that mountain came to the manger.
That baby, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a feed trough, is the same Holy God Who descended on a trembling mountain in fire.
Mary held God With Us tightly, lovingly, in her arms, stroking His check, kissing His forehead.
Joseph studied every feature of the same face whose radiance reflecting in the face of Moses required a veil12, counting his fingers and toes, watching his chest rise and fall to be sure He was breathing.
Shepherds and wise men were invited well past the edge of a holy mountain into His presence to experience the joy of worship without fear of immediate death.
God has always extended an invitation to His presence. It is why He created us- to be in a loving relationship with Him for eternity.
Our pride has always disqualified us from being in His presence.13
The holiness of God and all that it demands did not, will not change. It is Who He is.
But the love of God, born out of His holiness, and all that it demands did not, will not change. It is why He set protective boundaries, why He came to Earth as a man- to be the qualifier for a loving relationship with Him for eternity. The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us.
But Jesus, who though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God as such a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant, begin born in the likeness of men.
Philippians 2:6-7 (ESV)
The infant whose cries pierced a Bethlehem night was God Himself dwelling among us.14
What other religion has a God who willingly left His rightful throne to come down to man? Christianity is it. All other faith systems reverse the plot: man must do things, earn things, practice things, in distant hopes of becoming qualified enough to meet God or at least earn favor for a better afterlife. The beautiful truth, love, and sacrifice of the God of the Bible, the God of Christmas, the God of Christianity, is that His deep love, born from His immutable holiness, resulted in His birth, life, death, and resurrection.
And he wants to lead the people He loves.
The Great I AM, born a baby, crucified as man, raised as Savior, returning as King, has invited us to a meeting on another mountain, Calvary, where He rescued us from slavery, showing all involved the unquestionable difference between standing in the wrath of God and standing in the shelter of His divine protection.15
Knowing we are helpless against the enemy, He stood between us, taking the wrath of God we deserved and wiping our sins away.16
Knowing we hunger and thirst, He is the bread of life, living water.17
Knowing we are prone to wander, He shepherds us.18
Now, through the presence of His Holy Spirit, He wants to teach us what it means to be His beloved.19 His treasured people. A royal priesthood. A holy nation.20
There remains an invitation for a meeting on a mountain (date TBD) – a permanent meeting place on the mountain with Holy God, eternal residency in His city, the heavenly Jerusalem, where innumerable angels will celebrate while those who are enrolled in heaven, the redeemed, assemble together, made righteous by the baby in the manger whose blood satisfied the justice of God.21
This Christmas season, as we reflect on the myriad of miracles of that holy night, consider the the greatest one of all.
God is with us.
References
- See Luke 1, 2:1-21; Matthew 1:18-23
- See Matthew 2:1-23
- See Luke 2:13-20
- See Exodus 19
- See Exodus 7-12
- See Exodus 13:17-22
- See Exodus 14
- See Exodus 16:4, 17:6
- See Exodus 19:5-6
- See Exodus 19:17-19
- See Genesis 3
- See Exodus 34: 29-35 and Keller, Timothy. “A Light Has Dawned.” Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ, Viking, New York, NY, 2016, pp. 5–19.
- See Genesis 3
- See John 1
- See Matthew 27:46; Romans 6; Galatians 5:1
- See Hebrews 7:26-28; 1 Peter 2:22-25
- See John 6:26-40, 4:13-14
- See Psalm 23, John 10
- See John 14:15-31, Galatians 5
- See 1 Peter 2: 9-10
- Hebrews 12:18-24, paraphrase mine
Faithful To Complete 
This is beautifully written and such a powerful reminder that the same God of the mountain is the same God in the manger. Heartwarming and affirming of the beauty and majesty of our Lord. I can’t wait to read more. Great work.
-Crystal Washington
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