'Soon comes the cross...' - Advent Day 9

Sing lullaby!
Hush, do not wake the infant King.
Soon comes the cross, the nails, the piercing,
then in the grave at last reposing;
Sing lullaby!

Could there be a more shocking contrast? The hopeful birth of the long awaited Saviour-King, and the brutal execution of a condemned man through crucifixion. They don’t cohere, and it feels almost offensive considering them together, for we do not ponder the birth of criminals nor the death of newborns. Yet this traditional Basque lullaby makes us confront this most sobering of fact: the baby Jesus of our Christmas carols died a horrendous death at Calvary just 33 years later.

But the most shocking thing about Jesus’ death wasn’t that the hope of Emmanuel appeared over (for we all know the reality of disappointment). Rather, it was that this death was the means of fulfilling that very hope. For God’s plan of redeeming humankind and reversing the tyranny of curse rested on Jesus receiving, in our place, the wrath of God that was justly set upon all humans. In Jesus’ death, God’s perfect love and perfect justice toward humankind were reconciled. Jesus’ death unlocked God’s good countenance and so fulfilled, rather than ruined, the promise of the Saviour-King.

While we focus on the incarnation of Jesus at Christmas time, we should never forget that His birth was only the beginning of Jesus’ mission. It was not the end of the story of God’s grace, but the start. Easter follows Christmas, and their hope cannot be separated.

Sing Lullaby (The Infant King) - Basque traditional, arr. David Wilcocks