There’s a joke pastors tell. It goes something like this: God is like the top of the mountain and all religions are the paths to the top. It is treacherous, the mountain, but each religion has its unique path. Christianity is different because you can’t go up the path no matter what. It is too difficult.

You’ve heard this, right? It’s funny because people who think all religions are the same don’t get the joke. People who think their religion is right don’t get the joke either. Christians get the joke, but don’t think it is funny. Rather it is a reminder of how unworthy they are.

To finish the joke, God knew the path He chose was too difficult. So He did a silly thing. I wonder why because we people are silly people. But this is what He did, the punch line, He walked down that path. People everywhere are trying to go up the mountain only to be thwarted by rocks, cliffs, weather, dangers unknown. And here God simply strolls down to where we are stumbling, cursing, and lost.

God laughed. Only after He cried. His creation began meandering in darkness and willfully left the mountain top to seek better views in the valley. Going down was easy. Sin always is easy. Separating from others is easy. So, God cried.

He cried, “Come.” A few listened.

One wonderer lived in a culture where the worshippers knew the way up the mountain involved sacrifice. You can’t sacrifice something you don’t care about. So, they sacrificed their children, their babies. A woman spends the better part of the year growing and caring for this child only to give it to the gods so she and others can make the path up the mountain. When Abraham was asked to sacrifice this son he worked so hard for and waiting so long to have, he obeyed. You can’t sacrifice something you don’t care for. And God cried, “Stop.”

One crazy deliverer leads a grumbling people away from slavery. You can’t be free until you leave shackles and masters. God gives the people instructions to go up the mountain, instructions on how to be free. And the faithless wanted to go back to slavery because chains are known and freedom is terrifying. Moses asked God, “Why me, why these people?” God simply laughed and said, “Go.”

One small girl/child listened and pondered. Her belly swollen with the hope of the nations, the way up the mountain. Her meditations lead her constantly to the fact that what she carries created this world. But then her mind and time became preoccupied with raising baby to a man. Her life became a meandering maze of motherhood; all us, who have been called that most endearing of terms, understand this intimately. When she finally caught her first breath, Jesus was in the Temple. At 12, He amazed those who understood and studied the paths more than most. Jesus spoke with authority and wisdom a child should not possess. But they didn’t know that He was the God that walked down the mountain to sit with them. And God cries, “Listen.”

At Christmastime, we think of this baby, this Saviour, lying in a manger breathing deep and sleeping peaceful. We forget, like Mary, that this baby had one purpose. To be the path. He left glory, immortality, and holy to enter a sinful world full of sinful people. We never had any hope of making that journey up the mountain. God knew that. So, He sent this baby to be a sacrifice. No one can sacrifice something you don’t care for, even Jesus knew that. And God cries, “Follow.”

Jesus taught and wrote only one word, which is ironic because He is referred to as the Word. What is even better, no one knows what word he wrote. Jesus performed miracles and ate with sinners. We’re all sinners. For Jesus to eat with anyone means he’s eating with sinners. But some self-righteous forgot that. So Jesus questioned the intellectuals of the day and made them mad. But you can’t sacrifice something you don’t care for. Jesus cares for relationships, but won’t force one with anybody. And God cried, “Now.” And Jesus cried, “Not my will, but Yours.”

Here is the interesting part. Jesus became the sacrifice. This baby between two beams of wood died while Romans laughed, the intellectuals mocked, followers cried, and those looking at the path simply wondered how. Those instructions for the path Moses was given were torn in two. The Temple destroyed. The Earth shook and rocks cried, “Open.”

So, the stone moved and a man walked forth from a sepulcher. And Christians cry because we are not worthy, but we are redeemed.

Mary held the Creator for a time.

The manger held the Saviour for a time.

The Temple held the High Priest for a time.

The people held the Messiah for a time.

The cross held the Sacrifice for a time.

The grave held the Holy One for a time.

The Bride holds her Redeemer for all time.

All so we can hold Emmanuel for eternity.

Perhaps I told the joke wrong because no one laughs. This God, Creator of the Universe, Lord of all that is, humbled Himself into the form of an unborn child to live with His fallen creation and walk the path no one could. And when He walked out of the grave, He cried, “Come.”

And God laughs.