Jesus' Birth From the Perspective of Heaven
And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth. Rev. 12:1-4, RSV.
Here we have a birth narrative of a different type. In it we find no mention of adoring shepherds or glorifying angels. Revelation presents a picture radically different from the birth stories in the Gospels. It is a vision of the significance of Jesus' birth that pulls back the curtain to provide us with a glimpse of the Incarnation from the perspective of God's heavenly throne.
That point of view pictures a savage struggle that spreads to the earth as an enormous red dragon enters the picture, sweeping a third of the stars out of the sky and casting them to the earth. Subsequently the dragon (identified as "the Devil and Satan" in verse 9 [RSV]) crouches before the woman "that he might devour her child when she brought it forth."
What we find in Revelation 12:1-4 is the beginning of a cosmic conflict that commences in heaven and then moves to the earth. The ongoing battle will echo through the corridors of history until the end of time (verse 17). The rest of the book of Revelation indicates that the struggle pictured so graphically in chapter 12 will not reach its climax until the victorious Christ finally puts an end to the dragon and the forces of evil (Rev. 19; 20:11-15).
Some have viewed the Revelation perspective on the significance of Jesus as a "great controversy between Christ and Satan." Philip Yancey graphically captures the same picture when he writes: "On earth a baby was born, a king got wind of it, a chase ensued. In heaven the Great Invasion had begun, a daring raid by the ruler of the forces of good into the universe's seat of evil." The king, of course, was Herod and the initial chase took Jesus to Egypt, topics that we will view through the eyes of Matthew in the next couple days.
Lord, help us to see the larger issues as we read Your Word. Help us to be able to recognize more clearly the context in which our daily struggles take place.
And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars; she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish for delivery. And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems upon his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth. Rev. 12:1-4, RSV.
Here we have a birth narrative of a different type. In it we find no mention of adoring shepherds or glorifying angels. Revelation presents a picture radically different from the birth stories in the Gospels. It is a vision of the significance of Jesus' birth that pulls back the curtain to provide us with a glimpse of the Incarnation from the perspective of God's heavenly throne.
That point of view pictures a savage struggle that spreads to the earth as an enormous red dragon enters the picture, sweeping a third of the stars out of the sky and casting them to the earth. Subsequently the dragon (identified as "the Devil and Satan" in verse 9 [RSV]) crouches before the woman "that he might devour her child when she brought it forth."
What we find in Revelation 12:1-4 is the beginning of a cosmic conflict that commences in heaven and then moves to the earth. The ongoing battle will echo through the corridors of history until the end of time (verse 17). The rest of the book of Revelation indicates that the struggle pictured so graphically in chapter 12 will not reach its climax until the victorious Christ finally puts an end to the dragon and the forces of evil (Rev. 19; 20:11-15).
Some have viewed the Revelation perspective on the significance of Jesus as a "great controversy between Christ and Satan." Philip Yancey graphically captures the same picture when he writes: "On earth a baby was born, a king got wind of it, a chase ensued. In heaven the Great Invasion had begun, a daring raid by the ruler of the forces of good into the universe's seat of evil." The king, of course, was Herod and the initial chase took Jesus to Egypt, topics that we will view through the eyes of Matthew in the next couple days.
Lord, help us to see the larger issues as we read Your Word. Help us to be able to recognize more clearly the context in which our daily struggles take place.
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