I love Christmas. The decorations, the Christmas carols, the family gatherings, the Christmas tree — yes, pretty much everything about Christmas brings happiness to me.
But I must confess, our Christ in Christmas has been lost. In some countries, this time of the year is just considered a holiday, “Happy Holidays” is what we find people saying. Consumerism is rampant with loads of Christmas shopping deals, telling us to “hurry up and buy, buy, buy”, and we don’t even hear “Boney M’s” Drummer boy in the shops anymore! So, not even a vague hint that Christmas is about Christ.
One of my fondest and most dreaded times was hearing my mother playing the Boney M Christmas tape over and over again on the tape player! However, when we look at some of the Christmas carols like “Hark the Herald Angel sing, Glory to the New Born King” (Charles Wesley), we hear a song of celebration because of who Jesus is. “Joy to the World, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King” (Isaac Watts) acknowledges the Joy we can experience because the Lord is come, and has come and will come again.
Hebrews 9:28 says, “So, Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him” (NIV).
It is so easy to forget that Christmas is about Christ. The previous blogs in our Christmas series have all shown how meticulous God was about preparing for the birth of Jesus, from Jesus being our prophet, priest and King, our redeemer, being born in Bethlehem, having angels, shepherds and wise men all acknowledging Jesus with awe, reverence, and worship.
Jesus is the one to worship and celebrate at this time. There are now so many voices saying, “well Jesus was not actually born at this time of the year – it was much earlier”, as well as many other controversies that I am not going to mention here. The bottom line to me, though, is not about the time of year, but that Jesus was born. What an amazing privilege to celebrate this event so many centuries later, and something that changes our lives so radically.
We also often also hear that Jesus was born to die, and while that is true enough, He was also born to live a life that brings us a richness that we can embrace and celebrate. Jesus must have been a remarkable person to have so impacted those around Him that they continued to believe and serve Him even after His death.
See this interesting quote by Charles Colson, “Take it from one who was involved in conspiracy, who saw the frailty of man first-hand,” he declared, “there is no way the 11 apostles, who were with Jesus at the time of the resurrection, could ever have gone around for 40 years proclaiming Jesus’ resurrection unless it were true.”
It is so easy, sometimes, to dismiss the impact Jesus made on the lives of ordinary people like you and me during His lifetime. Read the story of the woman at the well in John 4:28-30, “then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?’ They came out of the town and made their way toward him.” See how the woman could not wait to go and call others to come and speak to Jesus? That is the impact He had on her.
When John the Baptist asked, “are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” Jesus replied, “go back and report to John what you hear and see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor” (Matthew 11:2-5, NIV).
Matthew8:26-27, “he replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm. The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!’”
Can you imagine living in those times, travelling with Jesus, learning from Him, seeing the miracles, hearing His wisdom, seeing Him showing who He was from the Old Testament? This crew of unlikely people—the disciples and more—must have been amazed and even frightened at times at the power of Jesus.
This quote by Fyodor Dostoyevsky touched me deeply.
‘While in prison, Fyodor Dostoyevsky the great Russian novelist, read the New Testament from cover to cover and learnt much of it by heart. He wrote, “I believe that there is no one lovelier, deeper, more sympathetic, and more perfect than Jesus. I say to myself with jealous love not only is there no one else like him, but there never could be anyone like him.
Who is Jesus to you? Is He just the person who was born, died, and rose again and now, because you have accepted Him, you get eternal life? Is He just a historical figure who may, or may not have lived, and yes, there are some great stories about Him, but you just cannot believe everything about Him?
Or are Christmas and Easter just great times of long weekends, loads of chocolates and some downtime? Or do you realise the importance of His birth and His death and how this should impact your life? Jesus was more than just a baby and more than just the sacrificial lamb, come to take away our sin. Jesus was a man who walked on this earth, and who changed the lives of those who encountered Him.
Are you willing to encounter Jesus during this time and have your life changed?
“It is either all of Christ or none of Christ! I believe we need to preach again a whole Christ to the world – a Christ who does not need our apologies, a Christ who will not be divided, a Christ who will either be Lord of all or will not be Lord at all!” (AW Tozer)
Folks, let’s celebrate the birth of Jesus, remembering that Christmas is about Jesus Christ who can be everything to you.
– Nadine Judge