Advent 4: Love

Horsham: 23rd December 2025

The theme of this fourth week of Advent is love.

Love

I wonder whether you have ever encountered a tiny baby, just a few days or weeks old, in the street or a coffee bar with Mum or Dad. You probably couldn’t help smiling. Even if you don’t know the family, there is something so extraordinarily special about a new born child. Every new born child is indescribably special. Their beauty is matched only by their vulnerability.

If that child is in some way related to you, or to someone special to you, it’s probable that you will have experienced a pang of, well, what do we call it? Protectiveness? Affection? Love? It’s a feeling which is difficult to describe. The emotions somehow defy description. Love is in there somewhere, and I’ve come to notice that there are different levels of love.

I have recently been blessed by the arrival of a Grandson. Of course, his arrival was not a complete surprise. It was a bit like Advent  – we spent months looking forwards to his arrival. He is the first child for my son and his partner. He is indescribably special.  I cannot put into words how I feel about this little one. He is indescribably beautiful. When I first met the little guy and held him, the emotions were almost overpowering. Ok, anyone who knows me is aware that I’m a pretty emotional person, but the moment was beyond special. I truly love that child. But I have to acknowledge, however, powerful my ‘Grandad’ love is, it is sort of dwarfed by that of my Grandson’s Mum and Dad. 

There is a photograph of my Grandson, taken within seconds of his birth, in the arms of a theatre nurse. It’s an extraordinary, powerful, moving picture, but there was something even more extraordinary going on at the moment that picture was taken. You can’t see it, but it was in the same room, and it was taking place at the moment that picture was taken. In plain sight. In that instant, something extraordinary happened to the mother and father of my Grandson. This is their child. They discovered a depth of love which they had never experienced before. An depth of love which they never knew existed. It engulfed them at that moment of meeting their child. Their love for this little one is so.. indescribable. 

I suppose that you need to experience that level of love to even begin to understand it.  If you are privileged to experience it, your mind will be blown, and you will not be able to conceive of any kind of love which is bigger or deeper that what you are feeling in that moment.

You see the problem with trying to describe real, profound love, is that it defies description. Somehow, in the English language at least, the word ‘love’ is inadequate. We use the word so freely, to describe things we ‘like’ or ‘enjoy’, that when it comes to the special – the really special moments, it almost doesn’t work. When it comes to true love, the feeling, the passion, is simply beyond words. You can only recognise it when you experience it.

Advent Love
For thousands of years, followers of Jesus have had a particular day when they met together to the celebration of Christmas. In my culture, that will take place on 25th December, as it has done for hundreds of years. During Advent, in the weeks before Christmas, we have been reminded of the hope, the peace, and the joy which the birth of that particular child brought, not only to his parents, but to the world. This week we are reminded of ‘love’, but it’s more than you might think.

The baby, at the moment when he was born, was every bit as beautiful and vulnerable as my Grandson. At the moment of his birth, the parents of this child, like every other loving parent throughout human history, would have discovered new depths of love for their child.

But in that instant, the moment of the birth of that child, something extraordinary happened. In plain sight. Every child is special. Every child is an individual. This one was unique. Angels. Shepherds. Wise Men. You probably know the story. People who were there at the time could not miss that this birth was unique. This bay was, and is, the Son of God. This child was, and is God. Emmanuel – God With Us. 

With the arrival of this child, God, the very nature of God, the very love of God, burst into the world. A love which is massively deeper, wider and more powerful that you could ever imagine. A love which is unique. There are no words, no superlatives, which adequately describe it. It is a love which is indescribable.  This is less about your love for the baby, but more about His love for you. Until you experience it, you cannot have any real idea that this depth of love exists, but you will know it when you feel it.

The Bible says that this special, indescribable, eternal love, God’s love, is for you. The fact is, you need to experience that level of love in order to begin to understand it.

This week, try to look at that baby – who was so much more than a baby – differently. My prayer for you this Advent is that you too might look for, find and connect with the love of Jesus.

The theme of this fourth week of Advent is love. God’s Love.

Mind blown!

Richard Jackson, West Sussex: LifePictureUK