Nativity of Jesus

Stacy Kudlicki
September 13, 2007
REL C 211: Section 35
Article Response: Nativity of Jesus
The article chosen for the topic of Jesus’ pre-mortal, nativity, and youth was “Jesus of Nazareth” by Spencer W. Kimball. One of the article’s purposes is to inspire a deeper level of thought and sacredness for the birth of Jesus Christ during the Christmas season by retelling the personal battles Christ endured. President Kimball also, through likening emotions, forces the reader to have an increase of love and respect for Christ through Kimball’s description and comparison of Christ’s thoughts and emotions to our own. Additionally, President Kimball attempts to remind the reader that although Christ’s birth is extremely momentous to each of us, it is how Christ handled the humiliation and rejection and painful suffering that made him such an influential and divine being.
This article was chosen to help others better understand the importance of Jesus’ nativity because it bundles up Christ’s life into one little night in Bethlehem. The article helps us realize that we must not focus too much on mere birth, but glory in the meaning of His life. Although he was small, he understood the big picture. It is a reminder for readers that although a tremendously significant event, his birth was not the difficult example to follow. His birth is not why we celebrate him. It was his selfless deeds, demeanor, and charity for everyone that he challenges us to emulate and to remember every day. As the Only Begotten, Jesus Christ had, even in the pre-mortal world, an adversary who, while in Jesus’ youth, attempted constantly “to destroy this budding Savior”. He faced challenges in all stages of his life, but always overcame them.
While reading the article, I was struck with several new insights that expanded my understanding of Christ’s birth, life, and sacrifice. Descriptive words and phrases used, such as “crude manger”, “star-lighted night”, and “looking out into the starry sky as did the shepherds”, juxtapose President Kimball’s experience visiting Bethlehem with that of the shepherds who would have seen the same view. This has the effect of recreating the nativity experience and giving it a real, living value for us today. Quoting President Kimball, I pondered, “Is birth the major event in any of our lives?” There have been billions, even trillions, of people born in this world; Cain, Adolf Hitler, and Martin Luther King Jr. are some examples. But we aren’t called to remember the birth of these people, so much as whether they “have fulfilled the measure of their mortal creation”. Just so, the story of Jesus’ birth is not simply a traditional story to tell at Christmastime, but it is the representation of the perfect life of the Savior of the world. The most thought-provoking points in the article was realizing the exquisite pain and suffering Christ endured as well as the unimaginable, nearly unattainable self-control and love he displayed for all, including those who caused him to be put through such agony. I feel like he is within reach. He is nearly tangible. He lives. His life was not unlike my own, as a human being with human emotions and human temptations. But in the unwavering control and limitless eternal perspective he so fluently utilized, I recognize the infancy of my preparation while I maintain a hope and reliance on the truth of his divinity.
Reference:
Spencer W. Kimball, “Jesus of Nazareth,” Ensign, Dec 1980, 3