In 1964, the murder of Kitty Genovese rocked Manhattan.

The story is told that a mugger came up to the young woman in a dark alley and stabbed her twice in the back. She screamed, “Oh my God, he stabbed me.” The lights from the surrounding apartments came on. People looked out their windows and some even shouted. The mugger, seeing the stir, ran off. Kitty stumbled in the alley bleeding from her wounds, crying for help. But nobody came to her help. A little later, when the assailant saw that no one was coming to help her, he walked back to where she lay, raped her, killed her, and took $49 from her purse.

Later, the detectives who investigated the crime documented that 37 people saw the attack, but no one helped. When the detectives asked the witnesses why they didn’t help, they responded, “I didn’t want to get involved.”

And herein lies the beauty of Christmas: God is no bystander. He did not simply sit in heaven, look down at us, and shout. He saw our plight. He knew our inability to save ourselves. He knew the suffering involved in stepping in. And He came. Christmas is God come to the rescue. Christmas is God getting involved.

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

HT: Paul Levy