The REAL Miracle of Christmas

Eleven men gather together, their hearts bursting with excitement. Before them, sits the man they’ve known for three years. The man, that just recently hung from a cross and lay dead in a tomb. Yet here he is, alive. After centuries of waiting, it is finally time. Their King is risen. It’s time to act. Can you feel the anticipation in the room? Can you hear the beating of their hearts as he looks into their eyes? One word is all it would take. All he needs to say is “Now” and they will move. Their dreams will come true. Their prayers will be answered. Freedom will come to an imprisoned nation.

Can you picture them leaning forward, nudging each other to ask the burning question?

Finally, they can’t hold it in any longer. They have to know. Now.

“So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?” Acts 1:6

It’s taken them awhile, but they believe now. They know who sits before them. This is truly the One they’ve been waiting for. He’s proven himself, and now it’s time to act. The promises of God, passed down through the ages, are about to unfold. Deliverance. Hope. Victory. That’s God’s plan, right? That’s why Jesus came, right? To make everything better? To put the rightful heir back on the throne?

“He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:7-8

What?????

“I thought he was coming to save us,” they ask. “Aren’t you going to DO something?”

Centuries of waiting—desperate for answers to their prayers—Jesus tells them now he’s not going to do what they are expecting. What they don’t realize, is that he’s going to do something BETTER! Their broken dream is replaced with a bigger dream. Because God’s dreams for his people and his kingdom are bigger than anything we can imagine. No, he didn’t free Israel from the Romans. He did something way bigger. He deposited his power within them! Deliverance. Hope. Victory. All within them. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead would soon be living in them!

God’s dreams are always bigger than our dreams. The greatest miracle God will perform, is the miracle of his Presence living and breathing within us. That is the miracle of Christmas. Not deliverance from our circumstances, but deliverance from the chains around our hearts. He came to see us free. And that is still what he’s doing today.