Radiance is a good word to describe the Christmas season. Jesus is the light of the world, and we have lit the world for Christmas to remember that truth. The questions in the Christmas song “Mary, Did You Know?” are profound.

Did Mary know she was kissing the face of God? Did Mary know that her sleeping child was the Great I Am?

The author of Hebrews fully understood what Mary probably could not. He said Jesus was “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.” We look back to Christmas with knowledge Mary could only have “pondered in her heart.” The best way to know God is to know his Son.

When you study the life of Christ, you study the character of God. Jesus chose a cave, a stable, as his birthplace. Jesus chose to wash the feet of his disciples. Jesus chose to allow soldiers to mock and beat him. There is no sin that Jesus won’t forgive. 

Jesus showed compassion to the young, old, sick, and well. Even the lepers could come to him and be made whole again. When you see the compassion of Christ, you can know how you are loved by God. When Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem, you can understand what grieves the heart of God today.

Everything about the Christmas story points us to God the Father. “He upholds the universe by the word of his power.” Yet, God chose to send his Son to a world that would ignore and mistreat him. When we see the way Jesus was treated, we understand the depth of God’s grace.

Now, God the Father and God the Son are side by side in heaven. One day God will tell his Son, “This is the day.” When we see Jesus, the radiance and glory of God, we will see God, “the Majesty on high.” What if that happens this Christmas?

Wisdom is understanding that the gift of Jesus is our treasure. And wisdom is understanding that our treasure was and is the exact imprint of God.