Many of our Christmas carols call upon us to worship baby Jesus.

 O Holy Night: ‘The King of Kings lay thus in lowly manger… Behold your King: Before him lowly bend’. Angels We Have Heard On High: ‘Come adore on bended knee Christ the Lord, the newborn King’. Angels From the Realms of Glory: ‘Come and worship. Worship Christ the newborn King’. O Come All Ye Faithful: ‘Yea, Lord we greet thee, born this happy morning, Jesus, to thee be all glory giv’n’.

Is this right? Are we really meant to worship a baby?

Well, it’s not wrong. God is worthy of our worship and the infant Jesus was, in every respect, fully God. To quote again from our carols: Hark the Herald: ‘Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity! Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Immanuel’.

However, whilst we should worship on bended knee beside the manger, we must not remain there. The Son of God did not take on flesh just to demonstrate his humility. Rather, ‘The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost’ (Luke 19:10). Jesus mission was to save his people from their sins. He was crucified and then raised and now reigns on high, seated at the right hand of God the Father. This is the Christ we worship today.

Again, to quote from our carols: O Holy Night began with a call to worship at the lowly manger, but it ends with, ‘Christ is the Lord, O praise his name forever. His power and his glory, evermore proclaim’. Let’s worship King Jesus this Christmas.