THE MEN WHO SAW HOPE

So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger.  (Luke 2:15-16)

You have never seen God.  You cannot see God.  He is invisible—and you cannot see the invisible. 

Or can you? 

The Apostle John said, “No one has seen God at any time.  The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.” (1:18)  Later, another disciple, Philip, entreated Jesus, “show us the Father” and Jesus replied, “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:8-9) 

When Mary looked at the infant she cradled in her arms, she saw the Infinite who held the universe in His hands.  Shepherds came to the manger to see Him, and saw something else—they saw hope! 

Hope is not readily apparent in our world.  It is often obscured by the despair all around us.  It is invisible and we are tempted to hopelessness.  What we must do is look to Jesus who makes the invisible visible.  Heb.11:27 says that Moses “endured as seeing Him who is invisible.”  We will explore this further this week as we see the men who saw hope!