I was reading John 17:5 this morning and the request of Jesus overwhelmed me.  To think of what He had with the Father before He came to earth, as His Son, is mind boggling to me to say the least.  There are so many things involved in His birth that I take for granted. 

1. The first thing I thought of was His stepping out of timelessness into time.  From always being in the present with no past or future to a dimension of time with both.  The minute He was born He began to age and die.  Marking off seconds to an appointment on Calvary.

2. The second thing I thought of was His giving up a spiritual body that knew no pain, hunger, illness and taking on a physical body that would experience all that I do.  Completely identifying Himself with me in every way.

3. I thought of was His giving up His total authority over everything and accepting the vulnerability of a baby totally dependent on His mother for food, love, acceptance and all the things a baby needs.  Messy diapers.

4. I thought of was His total dependence on Joseph’s obedience when the angel told him to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt when Herod ordered all baby boys two years and under to be put to death in his jealousy of another King.

5. I thought of was His growing up in a family of brothers and sisters.  Learning manners and how to share.  Maybe even sharing a bed.  Going to school.  Attending the synagogue.  Reading and memorizing the Word that He Himself inspired.  Doing homework.  Having a cold or the flu.  Stomach cramps. Diarrhea.

6. I thought about was His learning the carpenter’s trade from Joseph.  Wearing blisters on his hands from sawing wood.  Getting splinters in his hands and sawdust in His eyes.  Having to wash the dirt from his body and putting on clean clothes.  Being tired and needing sleep.

7. I thought of was His experiencing all the emotions I have felt in my life.  Maybe being teased or ridiculed by school mates.  Being scolded or punished by his parents.  Experiencing the death of a friend or loved one.  Having a best friend.  Experiencing a pretty girl’s smile.  Blushing.

8. I thought of was a twelve year old boy being totally aware of His purpose when Mary and Joseph found Him after three days teaching the elders in the temple and He told them that He must be about His Father’s business.  Knowing He would be living a short life and dying a horrible death. 

9. I thought of was He declaring Himself as the expected Messiah in the synagogue at the age of thirty.  Being rejected by His brothers and sisters and the people of His home town so He could not do miracles there because of their lack of faith.  Being baptized.  Being led into the desert by The Holy Spirit to be tempted face to face by the devil after fasting for 40 days and nights.  The rejection of the religious leaders and teachers.  The attributing of His miracles to the devil.  The praise of the people on Psalm Sunday and then the railing and ridiculing from the same people as He hung on the cross the following Friday.  All the physical pain and suffering the days between.  Being under such pressure in the Garden of Eden that He sweat drops of blood (who can imagine that much pressure).  The emotional and spiritual struggle when He asked The Father three times to let all of this pass from Him, but then totally submitting and saying “Thy will be done” while those closest to Him slept.  Being betrayed by two of His inner circle.  Being beaten, slapped, spit upon, and laughed at while going through several trials in one night.  Witnesses lying about Him.  Having a murderer chosen for freedom over Him.  Having a crown of twisted thorny vines pressed deep into his head.  Being physically exhausted and having to carry a cross and falling three times under its weight.  Stripped naked in front of a crowd that included His mother and siblings.  Having His hands and feet nailed to a cross.  Being placed between two thieves of which one ridiculed Him.  Being offered vinegar to drink when He was thirsty.  In the midst of all of this asking His Father to forgive them.  Asking that His mother be taken care of.  Experiencing the weight of every sin that ever had been committed, was being committed that very minute, or ever would be committed.  Experiencing the emotional and spiritual pain of His Father turning His back on Him while he bore that weight.  Having a spear thrust in His side.  Dying a physical death.  Dying a spiritual death by going to Hell before presenting Himself as the Perfect Sacrifice to His Father as full and complete payment for our sins.

In total – being born again backwards – from a place of perfection and peace with The Father into a world of sin.

All of this for us.  Giving us the opportunity to accept Him as our Savior -- His payment for our sins -- by believing in our heart that God raised Him from the dead and confessing Him with our mouth that He is Savior.

What a Savior!