Advent (Christmas Eve)

Advent | The Christ Candle

What story is this?

Screams slash through the night. Emotions totter.

The sight of blood and water

Mingled with fodder on this stable floor.

Strips of cloth for His body

Our God He lay there exposed.

Clothed in deaths rags

His head sags to rest on a bed of wood and nails.

Here beneath these curious skies

He closes His eyes, the Son of God

Motionless on a bed not made for sleeping.

What story is this?

This weak and frail Son.

Incarnate One. Great I Am.

Lamb of God without blemish or spot.

No thought that He should hide from this horror

His lifeblood spills to the floor

Where the sign of the covenant is marked in red.

Razer pierces His flesh. Pain explodes in His eyes.

His father turns his face. And His mother cries. 

What story is this?

Here in this advent of glory.

This salvation story full of promise.

The psalmist calls us to worship the King

To bring our hearts for His pleasure

To treasure God with our gold and our costly perfume

And with this room carved in stone for His body entombed

Until death’s throes are vanquished

And His throne assumed.