Christmas Has It's Cradle

Christmas has it's cradle, where a Baby cried;
Did the lantern's shadow show Him crucified?
Did He foresee darkly His life's willing loss?
Christmas has it's cradle and Easter has it's cross.

Christmas has it's cradle, shepherds came to see,
Little Son of Mary, Lamb of God to be;
Had His Father warned Him none would grant Him room
Save in the Christmas cradle and in the Easter tomb?

Christmas has it's cradle, wise men came to see,
Myrrh and gold and incense, offerings for a King;
Myrrh alone stayed with Him, death's balm for this Boy,
From the Christmas cradle and to His Easter joy.

Christmas has it's cradle, where that Baby cried;
In the Easter garden, Christ lay, crucified;
When death's power was conquered, God's life through Him poured,
Christmas has it's cradle and Easter has it's Lord!

Just as the cradle is nothing without the cross, the cross is nothing without the cradle. God had to come and be man in order to complete the ultimate sacrifice for me. As we reflect on His death on the cross, let's not forget the cradle. He was someone's baby boy. He took first steps and lost His first tooth. He had friends as a child and went to church with His parents. He was all that we are, and more.

I often wonder what that last week was like for Mary and Joseph? As a parent, I can't even begin to fathom what that must have been like. Could you watch your son be tortured and crucified? Could you bear to watch Him hang on a cross and take the sins of the world on His shoulders for all time?

Jesus, keep me near the cross,
There a precious fountain
Free to all, a healing stream
Flows from Calvary’s mountain.

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.