Louie Giglio - We Be Held
I was recently reading an article by the creators of the Bible app, who monitor its usage throughout the year. By the way, how many of you have the Bible app on your phone or tablet? There was a Bible app, and a lot of folks do use it, while many others don’t, which is pretty exciting on both sides. Seven hundred million people have downloaded the Bible app, which is fantastic. It’s available in multiple languages and brings the scriptures right to your fingertips, day or night. They offer various reading plans and tools to help and encourage us as we read God’s Word. Obviously, they are monitoring all of that, and they are likely as knowledgeable about our spiritual journey with scripture as anyone else, because they know when you start a reading plan, if you finish it, how much of the Bible you read this year, and what parts you explored.
In the article I read, they mentioned that the most searched theme in 2023 was hope. With 700 million downloads of this app, people are searching for different things, looking for various scriptures for different circumstances and occasions. The most searched scripture this year was not John 3:16 or Psalm 23, but rather a word from the prophet Isaiah 41:10, which reads, «So do not fear, for I am with you.» People are looking for hope, and the most searched scriptures relate to individuals who are afraid or in troubled times and are seeking comfort and assurance. They found it in this verse: «So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.» What a promise that is!
What we mostly want from God is a plan, but what God offers us is even better than a plan; He offers us His hand. You see, God isn’t interested in us merely having a transactional relationship with Him; He actually wants a personal relationship with you and me. We see this in the manger. If God wanted a transactional relationship, He could have used cryptocurrency to pay for our ransom and made an exchange. Instead, He sent His own Son, Jesus Christ, from heaven into humanity to show that His priority is a relationship with you and me.
God has not promised to reveal the entire plan. I’m not sure if you’ve figured this out yet, and maybe it’s what’s frustrating you about God the most right now, but He has not promised to give you the whole plan. That doesn’t mean He doesn’t have one. You were born on purpose and for a purpose. God has a reason for you to be alive and has things He wants you to do for Him in this life. He sees the steps He has ordered for your life and knows every detail of every story in this room. Trust me, He has a plan, but He isn’t going to share the entire plan with you or me.
Someone said to me a few weeks ago at church, «I would have a lot more peace if God would just give me the plan.» I responded, «No, you would have a lot less peace if God gave you the plan.» Think about what you’ve gone through in 2023. If you had known everything you were going to face at the end of 2022, you would not have had peace. God knows that peace doesn’t come from giving us the plan; it comes from giving us His hand.
To put a different spin on that word, behold, God is inviting us to behold, like the bold. That is, to say «wow, I get it» or «wow, I see it.» That is what behold is all about—saying, «Wow, it’s finally making sense to me.» He is extending a hand of encouragement to us. This is hope. It is what you are looking for; it is what everyone is seeking. The hand He is extending to you and to me is His righteous right hand, and we will talk about that at the end today. He is saying, «Take hold of my hand.»
Not only can we take hold of Him, but I love Luke’s account of the Christmas story, and to get around the word behold, we should look to the King James Version of scripture. The King James is an incredibly amazing translation, though some of the language may be outdated. In this translation, we get the word behold, and we need it today because we will take some time with that word. It says, «Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, there’s our word.» You probably won’t find that in the NIV, ESV, or New Living Translation. It then continues, «An angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone all around them, and they were greatly afraid.»
Then the angel said to them, «Do not be afraid.» Isn’t that interesting? The most searched thing in the Bible this year was God saying, «Do not be afraid.» This message is God’s message to you today. It was the message to the shepherds on that day, and it is still the message to you and me today: «Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be for all people.» Everyone is getting in on this good news and great joy. «For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord, and this will be the sign to you: you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes.» Thank you, KJV, for giving us «swaddling clothes» lying in a manger.
Who is in a manger? Yes, a baby is in the manger, but there’s more to the story. The baby in the manger is a Savior who is Christ and who is Lord. Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, «Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.» Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy for all the people.
We see a little different version in John’s Gospel. John tells us that Jesus, the creator of the cosmos, has come to us in human form and refers to Him as the Word—capital W. Jesus is God. Jesus was with God. Jesus encompassed all of God—all the wisdom of God, all the knowledge of God, and all the vocabulary of God. Everything God wanted to say to you about everything that He is and was, this is the Word, Jesus. The Word who was with God was now made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld. The angel said, «Behold,» but now we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Eugene Peterson gave us this verse in contemporary language—John 1:14 reads, «The Word, Jesus, became flesh and blood and moved into the neighborhood. We saw the glory with our own eyes.» That’s behold. We beheld it; we got it; we saw the glory with our own eyes—the one-of-a-kind glory, like father like son, generous inside and out, true from start to finish. We beheld.
Let’s dive a little deeper. Why do behold and beheld hold such a prominent place in this Christmas Eve message? Because God tells us who He is, all the way back to the burning bush with Moses. You might think we’re covering ground in this Christmas Eve message, but we are, and it’s beautiful. We are tying all of the threads together. In Exodus 3, Moses said to God, «Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you, ' and they ask me, 'What is his name? ' What shall I say to them?» God answers Moses, about to reveal His name. He says, «I am who I am.» Wow, that’s a mighty name. «This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I am has sent me to you.'» God also said to Moses, «Say to the Israelites: 'The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you. This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.' My name is I am.»
What’s powerful about it is this scripture was originally given in Hebrew, so we have five English words, «I am who I am,» but only one Hebrew word. Interestingly, the Hebrew word is a verb, and it’s the verb «to be"—the present tense, active form. God is saying, «I be.» You really don’t even need the «to be»; you just need «be.» So, it’s fair to say that if you run into God at some point, you will see Him with this introduction: «Hello, my name is Be.» Yes, I am the Father. Yes, I am Jesus. Yes, I am the Holy Spirit. Yes, I am Almighty. Yes, I am King of Kings. Yes, I am Lord. But you can also call me Be because I be. I be yesterday. I be today. I be tomorrow. I be. I always have been and I always will be. I be. Terrible grammar; amazing theology: I am that I am.
Therefore, at Christmas, when the angel said, «Behold,» he could have been saying to Mary, «And to you, young lady, behold: I am is now in the arms of a teenage girl in Bethlehem.» The miracle of the omnipotent One, the Almighty God, came in human form with flesh and blood. He moved into the neighborhood. Why? Because God knows we need a Savior, and He wants a relationship with you and me. When we say we beheld, I am praying that everyone here will be able to say this when we leave this gathering: when we say we beheld His glory, one-of-a-kind glory—no one like Him before and never will be another like Him—the only Son of God sent from heaven for the sins of the world, the only God in human flesh. We beheld Him. It’s true; we did behold. We beheld.
But you can flip it around the other way. I got this from my dad—all this linguistic gymnastics is something my sister and I inherited from him, who would say to us at bedtime, «Don’t bite the bedbugs.» Just think about it for a minute! So, we held Be; but the miracle and the hope is found in knowing that, yes, God came in a form we could behold, but the beauty now is that we behold. We held the baby, but now the baby is holding you. That is the miracle of Christmas! We held God in our arms, but now that same baby holds everyone who takes hold of His righteous right hand. This Christmas, God is offering you the chance to be upheld, no matter your situation, season of life, or struggle. He says, «I’ve got you.» You can be in a relationship with me, knowing that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—the Great I Am—has got you. He’s not going to let you go. He’s not going to let you fall. He will uphold you with His righteous right hand. He is offering that to you and me today.
The miracle of this day is for Him to give us all the gift of sight. All throughout this day, people have made the decision to put their faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. They made a decision at the end of the day to do more than just attend church; they made a decision to come to Christ, to say yes to Jesus, to accept what He has done for them. In every gathering today at every location of Passion City Church, people have said yes. Why? Because their eyes were opened on Christmas Eve to behold. When their eyes were opened, they reached out for the hand of Jesus and took hold of the hand He was extending to them.
Isaiah, the prophet, called it His righteous right hand. What does it mean if He’s extending that to you today—His righteous right hand? It means that God is right; it means that God is righteous; and it means that Jesus came to do more than just give us a sentimental story for the wintertime season. Jesus came to be the Savior of the world. Do you know what that means today? It means the world needed saving. Humanity had turned away from the righteous One and gone their own way. Yet God made a way by sending His only Son—righteous, true, full of grace, and full of truth. A baby born for a reason—what was the reason? To exchange an innocent life for one marred by sin, shame, and guilt. To exchange an innocent life for one marked by the effects of our own willful way.
On a cross, Jesus Christ stretched out His righteous right hand; a nail was driven through His wrist and foot as He gave His innocent life for the sins of the world. And that is how God today can offer a righteous right hand to people like me and you—who’ve messed up a thousand times—yet the righteous One can still say, «I will be your God. You don’t have to be afraid. I will uphold you and offer you my righteous right hand.»
I wonder if there’s anyone in this gathering today who is receiving sight right now, and somehow it’s all adding up. On this Christmas Eve, you might be saying, «How did I not see this before? I get it! I see it! I want it! Behold, I understand!» You want a relationship with the God who extended His righteous hand toward you, and you desire a relationship through Christ, who stretched out that hand to bring you life. Whoever puts their faith in the finished work of Jesus—in His death, burial, and resurrection—their sins are forgiven. Whoever puts their faith in the finished work of Jesus—guilt is taken away, the stain of sin is gone—they are given a brand new spiritual heart and a new relationship with Almighty God. They have the hand of God, and they have God forever and ever.