If your schedule is anything like mine, you may feel as though you’re so busy with end-of-year activities that it’s a challenge to find time to read another email. May I be so bold as to ask you to pour yourself a hot cup of tea or coffee, and pause with me for a few minutes to behold the Savior?

     Even as I invite you to behold Jesus, I realize you may be wondering why I’ve chosen to use the archaic word, “behold”. It’s not a word we frequently use in our modern vocabulary – and when we read it, we often understand it to simply mean “look,” “view,” or “see.”

     But in the Bible, when the inspired authors who wrote under Divine inspiration used the word “behold”, they weren’t saying, “take a casual glance”. They were calling on their readers to watch intensely, look deeply, and observe carefully the person or subject being discussed. In fact, oftentimes when biblical writers used the word “behold”, they were about to reveal something of great importance.

     For instance, in the Old Testament, when the prophet Isaiah foretold the birth of the coming Messiah, he wrote: “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel (God with us)” (Isaiah 7:14).

     In essence, Isaiah was saying: “Behold [watch intensely for the unique and miraculous sign God will give to authenticate the future birth of His Son], a virgin shall conceive …”

      More than 700 years later, when the angel announced to Mary that she would give birth to the Son of God, he said: “Behold [look deeply with anticipation and wonder at what God is going to do through you, Mary], thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest” (Luke 1:31-32a).

     And when the Shepherds were in their fields keeping watch over their flocks by night, the angel said unto them, “Fear not, for behold, [observe carefully, and consider the magnitude of this wondrous news that will impact the entire world], I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).

     Beloved friend, are you taking time to behold Jesus in the midst of all the busyness and flurry of the season? Are you watching Him intensely? Are you looking deeply at the beauty and wonder of His miraculous virgin birth? Have you observed carefully His humble incarnation and pondered the purpose for which He came to Earth? Are you keeping your eyes fixed on Him as your source of hope and strength for the New Year?

     A glorious day is coming when Jesus Christ will return triumphantly as the Lion of Judah. And in that day we shall behold Him, face to face! He is worthy of our time, our resources, our adoration, and our worship this season, throughout 2023, and for eternity.

 

Dan Price is from Louisville, KY, and is a missionary to the Druze people in Israel.