Late in the morning smoke rises from the ger close to our house and an old woman, bound in scarfs and mitts, pushes her cart towards the river. Making a hole, she’s hoping to collect a trickle of water running beneath the thickening ice.  A young man passes her, bent almost double, dragging a fallen tree home for firewood.

Winter is here, bringing with it the bone-chilling Siberian wind that keeps our neighbour’s outside toilet tilting closer to the ground and whips snow hard against our door. A man in the street stops for a moment to gather a handful of snow and rub it into his face. He shakes his head and, leaving me smiling, walks on.

It’s typically winter. Christmas trees even stand outside shops, while baubles, lights and Santa Claus suits entice shoppers inside. The celebrations are in full swing with shows, lunches, and parties featuring among the growing list of activities. Which is interesting considering that, apart from within the Christian church, Christmas is not officially on the Mongolian calendar.

But, like a runaway horse, the desire to celebrate moves at a pace. Perhaps the growing popularity of the New Year celebrations are spreading into December, or perhaps it’s simply because the Mongolians want to join in the fun too.

The baubles and bangles, parties and family meals certainly promote Christmas. But they don’t always illuminate the real message that lies behind the glitter: the message that is as relevant today as it has ever been; the message that God spoke and His Word became the man, Jesus Christ.

Words are usually the means we use to get to know one another. Jesus is God’s Word. A man born on earth as a babe. A tangible, historical human being. The means by which we come to know that God is true.

Hearing the deep cries of our heart, God sent his son as a vulnerable child. Jesus became one of us because He understood us. We all know that those who understand us best are those who’ve faced and walked through the same problems we’ve experienced. Jesus experienced hunger, loneliness, injustice, and betrayal and so understands our brokenness. He even understands our rejection and abandonment and knows what it is to have prayers unanswered.

He lived with us. Or to use the Bible word, tabernacled with man, which immediately sends me back to the Old Testament and the Israelites who built a tabernacle, a dwelling place for God. God resided in that tent but not in plain sight. He was hidden beyond the curtain, in the holy of holies, unseen by man.

Moses asked to see God’s glory. But God denied Moses’ request. Why? Did a fixed chasm exist between him and God? Would the sight of God and His holiness have destroyed Moses? Questions helter-skelter around my mind. There’s truth here I can’t quite see clearly. Was there a need for atonement, for the presence of the tabernacle – the place of sacrifice?

When Jesus came to earth, he dwelt, tabernacled, with us so that we might see His glory. He came to bear our sin and remove the barrier that stood between us and His Father that we might freely embrace His love for us.

Moses stood in the gap between man and God but Jesus came to close that gap. That reality is beyond fairy lights and stars, even family Christmas lunch. That reality, on a December day, is life-changing.