Small Wonder: A Christmas Devotional JourneySample

Beyond compare

The small wonder of Jesus coming to Earth isn’t the first way God speaks to His people, but it is clearer than anything that’s gone before. The letter to the Hebrews has a clear agenda – to set out the uniqueness of Christ, especially for a Jewish audience. The writer wastes no time, jumping in with a comparison of God’s communication before and after Jesus’ arrival.

Make no mistake, the previous revelations of God in the Old Testament were authentic, but the personal revelation in Jesus is even more authentic and superior. As St Augustine put it when comparing the Old and New Testaments, ‘The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed.'

The word superior in verse 4 is a deliberate and repeated theme throughout the letter, as the writer celebrates Jesus as God, Creator, Sustainer, Priest, and King. Many Jews had a particularly high view of angels, hence the writer specifically pointing out Jesus’ superiority to all angels in every way.

This is the wonder in the smallness of the Christ-child – that in Him, we get a richer, deeper, fuller, closer picture of who God is, and how He loves us. Today, whatever we’re facing, we know that the One who brought that superior clarity also purifies us from our sins and sustains us.

Prayer

Lord, wherever I find myself today and this Christmas season, may I carry a fresh sense of wonder for Jesus, the Maker and Sustainer of all things, the bright light of Your glory, the only one who can offer purification for my sins. May others notice this spark of thankfulness and wonder in me.