Asher’s uncle had the strangest Nativity Set. He had all the regular people: wisemen, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus. He had all the regular animals. There were sheep, goats, donkeys, and camels. But surrounding all these animals, there was a very strange collection of animals. There were dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, saber-toothed cats and Dodo birds.

“Uncle Will, why is your Nativity set so different?” Asher asked.

“You see,” Uncle Will began. “The birth of Jesus happened in one place, Bethlehem, at a particular time in history. However, Jesus’ birth is important for all places on Earth and for all time—even the past.”

Uncle Will leaned in and whispered, “I have a time travel machine and I can take you the back to the time of the dinosaurs. Something amazing happened when baby Jesus was born. The amazing thing stretched all the way through time. Do you want to see it?”

“YES!” Asher cried. He was so excited. He absolutely loved dinosaurs.

On Christmas Eve, Asher and Uncle Will went into the Uncle’s garage and there it was. The time machine! It started to whir as Asher and his Uncle Will climbed in. Uncle Will set the big time dial back to when the dinosaurs lived.

A big flash of light occurred and then Asher peaked out to find the time machine sitting among gigantic ferns.

“We are just a few minutes before the Earth was in the exact position when baby Jesus was born. Only we are millions of years in the past,” Uncle Will said. “Follow me and stay quiet.”

The door swung open. Uncle Will led the way and Asher stayed right behind them. Suddenly, they saw the long neck of a brontosaurus rise up from grazing among the plants. A pterodactyl flew overhead. A large roar could be heard across the land.

“That sound is a tyrannosaurus rex,” Uncle Will commented. “I’ve heard it many times, but I have never seen it. I hope that I never get close enough to see it.”

Suddenly, there were many dinosaur sounds in the area.

“They sense that something is about to happen,” Uncle Will replied. “It is true that all of nature eagerly awaits the coming of the Son of God. Watch this!”

All of a sudden, a lighted ball of many colors began to show itself.

“That light ball is in the exact place that Jesus will be born millions of years from now,” Uncle Will said. “Keep an eye on it!”

Asher watched very carefully. The light ball began to grow in size. All of its colors spread in every direction. The dinosaurs started to make the most pleasant of sounds. It was as if they were singing together.

The light ball continued to grow and soon it surrounded all of the animals they could see. Asher and Uncle Will were now inside it. The feeling of peace and love was amazing. The dinosaurs continued to sing.

No dinosaur hurt another dinosaur when the light was spreading. Dinosaurs that were enemies got along as friends. No harm or destruction occurred just as the prophet Isaiah had talked about. But Isaiah talked about mammals: wolves and lambs, leopard and goats, calves and lions, and cows and bears. But Asher and Uncle Will were watching the same thing happen with the dinosaurs but millions of years before Isaiah lived.

Asher felt the stillness and specialness of this moment.

All of nature throughout all of time was quieted and made content by this one event that would happen so far in the future. Its meaning spread throughout all of time and all of space.

Asher looked at all the dinosaurs in this glow of peaceful light one more time before he and Uncle Will headed back to the time machine. They traveled back home and Asher knew like never before the deep meaning of Christmas. It was so deep that it even changed the ancient dinosaurs that he loved so much.