Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Philippians 2:9-11 NIVUK
I don’t know if you’ve ever spent time around people who struggle to have children. My own sister had a ten year wait before she have birth to twins. Giving birth is a tremendous experience for anyone. Giving birth when you have started to believe that it won't happen for you is even more special.
For many people in poorer situations, each child that is born is not just a child. No, they represent hope – the wish that someone from your family will finally ‘make it’ and pull their relatives out of poverty. I believe it’s one of the reasons for the demographic that poorer families tend to have more children than their richer counterparts.
Christmas is not just about the birth of a child. No, Christmas is about the birth of hope.
As Zechariah sang when his son, John the Baptist was born:
‘Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come to his people and redeemed them. He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us – to show mercy to our ancestors and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
Luke 1:68-75 NIVUK
What Zechariah didn’t realise is how this hope would be realised. We see traits in his song of victory over enemies and rescue from those who hate the Jews – clear references to the pagan Romans.
However, God had a greater enemy in mind.
You see, Christmas and Easter are inseparable. Just as it’s not possible to have Easter without Christmas (because you can’t crucify someone who hasn’t been born), so you cannot truly understand Christmas without Easter.
Christmas is the time we celebrate the birth of the Man who was born to die, and then rise from the dead.
Christmas is the time when we recognise that Jesus came as a man, as a human being, who experienced human life in all its fullness, but took that humanity to the cross, and then into heaven.
Christmas is the day when we celebrate the beginning of the end of all the evils that beset us. We remember how Jesus bore all our pain, all our suffering, all our ailments, all our inadequacies, and He nailed them to the cross, before defeating even our greatest enemy – death itself.
The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: “He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.” Now I have told you.’
Matthew 28:5-7
‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?’
1 Corinthians 15:55 NIVUK
Christmas is when we see a Man like us born; Good Friday is when we see Him die; Easter is when we see Him rise.
What makes Christmas so special is not the presents or the food or the music or the TV specials or the parties.
What makes Christmas special is that it is Christ coming to earth to die our death for our sins, rise from the dead into glory and take us to be with Him forever.
If you celebrate this Christmas, then it will never fail to be a joyous time, no matter your situation.
Happy Christmas!
Questions
What does Christmas mean to you? Why is it so special?
Why is it not possible to separate Christmas from Easter?
Who do you know needs to here this perspective of the Christmas story?
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