unspeakable love.

the heavy tread of soldiers boots
horses snorting
fires flickering
tents pitched
tense waiting...waiting
a battle cry
a mother's sob
swords, clashing
children, wailing
families, broken
lives torn apart.
all of Israel crying,
where is our Messiah?
our Savior?
our Deliverer?
our Victorious One?

a silent night
except for the moans
of a woman in labor.
heavy breathing, quiet wailing,
and then a baby's cry
pierces the silent night
in a tiny stable
buried in the heart of Bethlehem
God's beloved
born to us.

more soldiers.
more wailing.
more crying.
more questioning.
more waiting.

while they waited
the baby grew
and grew and grew
into a man.
the infinite God, who had no beginning,
became man, and still God,
and had a beginning,
among His beloved,
among those He came to save.

although He was not the military victor people expected, this man still won victories.
except these victories were far more important than any war or battle fought with human hands.
these were victories won in the very essence of our beings,
in our souls,
in our deepest of places.
with each victory came the expansion of His kingdom and freedom to those who believed,
who had once been slaves to their own earthly natures.
He was a mighty victor.

His most glorious victory of all
came unlike any other.
without a big battle
or a giant overthrow of government.
instead, He died.
He died that we might live.
that those elected to be a part of His kingdom would truly be freed, once and for all.
but He didn't stay dead.

He was victorious over the grave.
it had no power over Him.
and the freedom that He died to give still remains
open to any and all
who accept the free citizenship in His kingdom.

John 3:16. what a Mighty Savior we serve.