In our sin-sick world, many situations begin well but end badly. Many marriages begin in great joy but end in cold silence. Babies, once received with hope, become old alcoholics wandering in alleyways. A job we thought would finally use our gifts becomes merely a means of survival.

And yet, in God’s hands, situations that begin badly can end well. “Carcinoma” can become “remission.” Babies conceived in rape can grow to be men and women sharing the light and life of Jesus. Difficult first years of marriage can, through forgiveness, humility, and counting each other better than oneself, become enduring days of joy.

But what about Jesus? He began his human life in a cave near a donkey, though hailed by angels. His outcast first visitors added their unwashed smells to the ripeness of the donkey dung. His parents, though, were in the lineage of the shepherd-king David. The baby grew in favor with God and men, though suspicions around his birth must have also brought rejection. He gathered disciples, though his hard sayings drove others away.

Depending on who you believe, his life ended on a Roman cross outside Jerusalem or it’s not ended yet.

If you believe what he says about himself, he is the great “I Am” who has no beginning or end. He is the one who knows the end from the beginning and can make a beginning of any end.

If he is who he said he is, he is the one who knew before the cave that the cross would launch a beginning. He is the “word made flesh” who” dwelt among us.” He is the God-man who lives to make a joyous end of our hard beginnings.

Jesus, we end badly without you. We are desperate for your life made manifest in us. Come, Holy Spirit. Come.