A prince lived with his Father in their perfect home, reigning over all. He knew no pain, no grief, had never sinned or knew darkness. He loved, and He loved well. But His Kingdom was slowly falling, slowly fading away. 

They were dying. 

The old prophecy was that a perfect man would have to defeat evil, but no perfect men walked the earth. Some thought they were good enough, some couldn't seem past their hard-headedness and only saw everyone else's sin. 

But some knew they needed saving and they waited for the prophecy to be fulfilled. 

His father loved Him, the Prince, His only son. It broke his heart at the thought that His son would have to feel pain, to know the sting of imperfection, but the Prince willingly left the his Home, because, like His father, He loved the people despite all they'd done. He looked at them and saw their brokenness, their ugliness, their darkness, but he looked beyond that, and saw beauty. He could see in His mind's eye, them rising out of the ashes, darkness defeated, the Prince of Demons falling. 

But it would only be happen if the True Prince died. 

He didn't know what death felt like, though from His Home He'd seen it take place many times. He saw that death wasn't pleasant, and from the prophecy, He knew that if He was willing to make this sacrifice, then it would be the worst death ever to touch the face of the earth. 

But He came because He loved. 

He came because He saw our brokenness and loved us, and wanted us to know the Love of His Father. The Love He'd known, and the Love He could only share if darkness was defeated. 

So He came, born of a young girl who would marry a carpenter. It wasn't a rich life the Prince would live and it was very different from the life He'd lead before. He left His Home the ruler of all, and came down, doing everyday things. He scraped His knees, as He grew from boy to man his voice changed, He walked the dusty streets, He ate common, everyday food. He knew what it was like to be hungry, to be thirsty, to be tempted, to go through what we all go through. 

He walked the earth and knew what we know, yet He never sinned.

He loved us so much, He was willing to leave His perfect Kingdom to come to the brokenness of this world and live for thirty some years. And He loved, and He loved well. 

And then the day came for His death and He was afraid. The man who'd once lived as Prince, now lived as a poor man, a man terrified of death. 

While He'd never sinned, He still knew emotions, He still knew pain, and He knew what was to come. 

He was so afraid his sweat came out like blood, which scientifically means that he was as afraid as a person can get. He cried and prayed, asking His Father to not allow this is happen, to make another way. 

But there was no other way. 

So the Prince, watched as one by one His friends betrayed Him. They literally left Him standing there facing the soldiers alone. The ran and hid, and He was alone. 

Then the soldiers came and stripped the Prince naked and beat Him until no one could recognize Him. They laughed at Him and mocked Him. And then they hung Him on a cross. 

As He lay hanging on the cross, His Father placed the sin of everyone on his shoulders, the sin of the world. Darkness and greed and lust and judgement and so much more touched His perfect shoulders. I can only imagine the overwhelming feeling. 

He was suffocating, bleeding, His heart literally giving out,  but He looked down at everyone who'd betrayed Him, everyone who'd put Him there, and said, "Father forgive them, they know not what they do."

And He died. 

But rose again on the third day in triumph. 

Because True Love conquers darkness. Because the Grave isn't the answer. 

It's Grace. 

♱

I wrote this as slightly different perspective on the typical Christmas story. It's such a pretty story, knowing Jesus came down as a baby, one that never cried, or so says the songs.  But the story doesn't end there...

 Jesus, the whole time He prepared to come down, knew what He was going to face. And the Christmas story, the reason we celebrate, while beautiful, is also all about Love and Grace and beauty in brokenness and Jesus knowing exactly how we feel. I cannot begin to imagine what it must have felt like to feel the weight of so much sin. 

Some days I feel I can barely go on knowing what I've done in my life and who I am.

But the incredible thing is, Jesus felt my sin that day. He felt the sin of the past and present and future, and yet He died willingly. 

Some people hate the symbol of the cross, because, well, it put Jesus there. But the cross isn't a symbol of a death He wasn't willing to die - it's a symbol of life, and love, and self-sacrifice. 

It's a symbol of Hope. 

Hope, because Jesus knows who you are. He felt your sin on the day He died. He felt it, saw your brokenness, but continued to call you worth dying for. Because while He sees our sin, He also sees our potential. He sees how our story can impact others, how there is mercy and triumph possible in our brokenness. 

Our sin is dead. We are alive. 

How can we not accept forgiveness? How can we not want to follow Jesus? He died for you. For YOU. 

Forget the world. 

His love for you, drove those nails in His hands. You took the hammer and pounded the spikes through his wrists. He beat Him and mocked Him. It was His love for you. 

And that love, that day on the cross, was greater then your sin - greater then anything you've ever done. 

And that's why you can have a Merry Christmas. 

There is no other way.