Domino Effect: The Greatest Story Ever Told

My son loves to set up dominoes in complicated patterns. He'll spend long stretches of time, carefully placing each piece, leaving gaps every ten dominoes or so in case he accidentally bumps one; he doesn't want to ruin the entire project with a single unintended tap. 

His creativity always amazes me: He designs twists, turns, ramps, jumps, and even tosses in the occasional projectile. Then, when all is in place and spread across the room(s) is this masterpiece of design, he touches one domino with the lightest possible contact, and we all watch as it hits the next domino which hits the next which hits the next, and the whole project collapses in a matter of seconds.

I thought of that this morning, Christmas morning, as I read once more the Christmas story from Matthew's and Luke's accounts. I've always known that Jesus' coming to earth as a baby is a fulfillment of prophecy, but the concept usually glances over my thoughts like sunlight on water; I haven't really stopped to take the full measure of the idea.

In Matthew 2, there are some Magi from the east who have arrived in Jerusalem, and naturally, being important personages on an important quest, they stop by the palace to hail Herod the Great, and to ask him about the new prince. "Where is the One Who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him" (Matthew 2:2).

Herod is shocked. More than that, he is "greatly disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him." Of course, the people will have noticed the rich procession of interesting individuals who have arrived in their city, dressed differently, speaking differently. When the reason for their visit gets out, the rumors run rampant. "They're here to see a king! They're here to worship a new prince. But Herod doesn't have any new children that we know of. What's going on? What does this mean for us? Are we to have a new king?" 

Herod calls in the experts: the chief priests and the teachers of the law. "So there's this thing that's happening. What can you tell me about where the Christ is to be born?"

The chief priests and the teachers of the law, the experts on prophecy in Scripture, the ones who have spent their lives dedicated to the study of the Old Testament writers, hardly need to search their scrolls. "He's to be born in Bethlehem in Judea," they reply, "for this is what the prophet (Micah) has written: 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a Ruler who will be the Shepherd of my people Israel.'"

I flipped back to Micah 5:2, where the prophecy is originally written, and the end of the second verse records this line: "... out of you will come for me One who will be Ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times."

Micah would already have been considered ancient to Herod and his crew, as he lived and wrote his prophecy seven hundred years before these events took place. Not to mention all the prophesies throughout the Old Testament that point to Jesus' birth, mentioned again and again and again.

Every single one of these prophesies line up over centuries and centuries like a row of dominoes, all headed in one direction, all resulting in glorious, ultimate fulfillment in a stable, in a manger, the perfect picture postcard of a family of three with an audience of shepherds and animals, of angels and magi, of prophets of old, of each one of us who have come to worship Jesus in our churches and from our couches and in our rocking chairs and next to our beds. 

This holy postcard moment looks beautiful, hung on our refrigerators, decorating our Christmas trees, doesn't it? 

Lest we forget, Jesus' birth is surrounded by political intrigue and danger. He and His parents become refugees in Egypt because of the very fact of His birth. He must to live in secret for a while until the apparent danger dissipates. His presence on earth locks into place a multitude of prophecies -- from ancient times -- and all of heaven rejoices at this step in the Father's ultimate plan.

Only a few notice this great culmination. Some shepherds. A few Magi. A jealous king. A busy inn-keeper. Most people continue on with their lives as though the greatest event in history hasn't happened, without having any idea that when the Creator hung the stars in the heavens or unrolled the earth or formed the mountains... He'd already decided that on this particular night, His Son would be wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in an animal's feeding trough. 

As He wove the world into existence, and as He breathed life into Adam's body, and as He took a rib from Adam's side and formed Eve... 

As He positioned every domino in its exact spot to bring about His ultimate, glorious, flawless plan...

He already knew.

Why?

Because of love. The greatest love in the world.

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!" (1 John 3:1).

I hope that can sink in a little bit today: we, the nothing, the no one, are children of God, Who was, and Who is, and Who is to come!

And it all started at the beginning of time.