SPECIAL DELIVERY

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.  ^{– Isaiah 7:14}

The word SPECIAL has been overused in the past few decades.  For example, Dana Carvey’s church lady character on SNL said, “Well, isn’t that SPECIAL???”  It was sarcasm to the hilt.

Our USPS does have a delivery service called Special Delivery, but the most special delivery of them all was when Christ was born in Bethlehem.

When I looked SPECIAL up in the dictionary, here’s what I found:

adjective

adjective: special

1. 1.

   better, greater, or otherwise different from what is usual.

   “they always made a special effort at Christmas”

   synonyms:

   exceptional, unusual, singular, uncommon, notable, noteworthy, remarkable, outstanding, unique More “a very special person” momentous, significant, memorable, signal, important, historic, festive, gala, red-letter “a special occasion”

   antonyms:

   ordinary

   • exceptionally good or precious.

     “she’s a very special person”

     synonyms:

     exceptional, unusual, singular, uncommon, notable, noteworthy, remarkable, outstanding, unique “a very special person”

     antonyms:

     ordinary

   • belonging specifically to a particular person or place.

     “we want to preserve our town’s special character”

     synonyms:

     distinctive, distinct, individual, particular, characteristic, specific, peculiar, idiosyncratic “our town’s special character”

     antonyms:

     general

   • designed or organized for a particular person, purpose, or occasion.

     “we will return by special coaches”

     synonyms:

     specific, particular, purpose-built, tailor-made, custom-built, custom-made “a special tool for cutting tiles”

   • (of a subject) studied in particular depth.
   • used to denote education for children with particular needs, especially those with learning difficulties.
   • Mathematics

     denoting a group consisting of matrices of unit determinant.

noun

noun: special; plural noun: specials

1. 1.

   a thing, such as an event, product, or broadcast, that is designed or organized for a particular occasion or purpose.

   “television’s election night specials”

   Isn’t it interesting that SPECIAL in reference to Christ and His birth can be used as both an adjective and a noun?  Both apply!  Christ Himself is special – and His birth (the event) is for sure – special.
   

   There’s no doubt whatsoever that this was a SPECIAL DELIVERY of a very SPECIAL KING.  I had to chuckle when I saw the term CUSTOM-MADE.  Well, yes – He definitely was that too, wouldn’t you agree?