I love Christmas. I love the pageantry of Christmas with cantatas, plays, hanging of the green, candle light services, Advent pilgrimages, etc. I also love Christmas for the memories I have from when I was a child and the celebrations, gift giving and family time with those who now celebrate the holidays in heaven.
When I was a child, nothing was more exciting than to see what surprises awaited me under the tree on Christmas morning and the gifts I received at both sets of my grandparents when we had our “family trees.” As I have grown older, I find the joy not so much as in the receiving as in the giving. There is nothing greater in my life than when I witness my wife, children and grandchildren opening their presents and to see the joy in their faces. I truly love Christmas.
However, my love for Christmas is based on the first gift of the first Christmas. That gift was from God whose son, Jesus, was born. God fulfilled his Old Testament promises by sending his son to be the Messiah-King.
God acted in wonderful and miraculous ways to bring about this most unnatural birth. Before Mary and Joseph were married, the angel Gabriel appeared to her and told her she would give birth to a son and name him Jesus. Mary questioned how this could be since she was a virgin.
Gabriel answered: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be called the Son of God … . For there is nothing impossible with God” (Luke 1:35, 37). In her humble and obedient response to the Holy Spirit, Mary became pregnant with Jesus even though she was a virgin.
Sometime after this, Joseph, knowing Mary’s child was not his, decided to break their engagement quietly. One night as Joseph slept, the Lord appeared to him in a dream and confirmed that Mary’s child “was conceived by the Holy Spirit … and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20, 21).
This birth, Joseph is told, is the fulfillment of Isaiah 7:14, “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they shall call him Immanuel—which means, ‘God with us.’” This first gift of the first Christmas was given to us by God to save us from our sins. We can receive this salvation, including the forgiveness of our sins, by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.
Not only was Jesus born to save, he also was born to rule (Matthew 2:1-6). We find he was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea instead of Nazareth, the home town of Mary and Joseph. In Luke, we are told they were in Bethlehem due to the government’s requirement for them to be counted in the national census. Because they were descendants of King David, they had to travel to Bethlehem to be counted.
This is also the fulfillment of the prophecy of Micah 5:2 which stated the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. Not only was Jesus born in the city of King David, we read magi came to Jerusalem searching for “the one who has been born King of the Jews” (2:2). Although he did not ever ascend to the earthly Jewish throne, these men recognized Jesus had been “born King of the Jews.”
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These magi were Gentiles and Matthew wants to show that people of all nations acknowledged Jesus as the king of the Jews and came to worship him as Lord.
How did they know where to come? They followed a star God had placed before them so they could testify of the one born king of the Jews and to worship him. These men traveled thousands of miles to see the Messiah. When they finally found him, they responded with joy, worship and gifts.
This is so different from the approach many take today. We expect God to come looking for us, to explain himself, prove who he is and give us gifts. But those of us who are wise will seek and worship Jesus today, not for what we can get, but for who he is. Because Jesus is God’s Messiah, we are to submit to his rule and follow his leadership throughout our lives.
In 2:7-11, Matthew records how Herod, in his fear that Jesus could someday challenge his royal reign of Judah, began plans to try to kill him. In his deception, Herod asked the magi to return and tell him where Jesus was. However, the magi listened to the urging of the Holy Spirit and returned to their homes by another route. Their only desire was to worship this child born King of Jews. They did so in their overjoyed state by bowing before Jesus, worshipping him, and giving the gifts they had brought. They found him worthy to be praised and worthy to be worshipped.
As we approach Christmas 2010, we realize the holidays can be the best of times or the worst of times. Most of the individuals to whom I relate believe Jesus is “the reason for the season.” However, there are many people who believe “$anta is king of the mall.” For some, Christmas used to be time for family joy and togetherness; but now, as a result of deaths or broken relationships, it is more of a painful memory.
Yet Christmas is a time when many folks are open to hear the gospel and respond in faith to Jesus. I pray we all take advantage of the opportunities we might have to share our faith about the Savior and to invite those who do not know him to join us in worshipping him as the King of King as the magi did those many years ago.
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