During the Holidays we like to have a lot of fun and get together with our families and friends. There is good food, gift giving, and the hope of a New Year. These are all good things, but Christmas is important (far more important) for other reasons. What is the true meaning of Christmas?
To start with, this is the time we remember the birth of Jesus. Especially important are the circumstances of His birth. In the first chapter of the gospel of Matthew we meet His earthly mother, Mary. She is getting married to Joseph; they were “betrothed”, engaged we would say today. But she was already pregnant. Here is what the bible says about this situation:
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife Matthew 1:18-24
This miraculous pregnancy is fully described in Luke 1:26-38. At that time adultery was a serious crime, which is what Mary was suspected of. After all, this kind of thing, a virgin birth, had never happened before (or since). What is important is how Joseph and Mary react.
Joseph and Mary were very ordinary, law-abiding citizens. They followed the religious law as well as the civil law of the day. They were ordinary in the most obvious sense. There was nothing to make them stand out from their peers. Except that God chose them to raise Jesus, the Son of God, God Himself in the flesh. Immanuel.
Joseph, as ordinary as he was, showed himself to be humble and obedient before God. He did what God told him to do, despite what appeared to be a wrong done to him. In doing so he played a part in a grand fulfillment of prophecy; he changed the world!
These ordinary people lived during a time of stress for the Jewish nation. They were a conquered people who could not fully follow the law and tradition of their heritage. But God intervened by providing them the same thing the birth of Jesus provides now: Hope! With the birth of Jesus there was hope for the future and hope for the present. This hope was greater than the power that ruled Israel at that time, and it is greater than the turmoil we are living through now.
This God-given hope is eternal, meaning that when we live with the Hope provided by the gospel we know that what happens to us here on earth is not final. We have a place in heaven provided for us by the life and actions of Jesus.
It also means that we have Hope for today. We don’t have to be subject to the despair we see around us. Our Hope is in God and provided by God. Our lives are lived at His direction.
We are all plain ordinary folks. Very few of us have anything that will make us famous or well known. But we are all chosen and spoken to like Joseph was. We all get the chance to respond to God and obey Him. By doing so, all of us can be the people that change the lives of those around us. And, just like Joseph, change the world. This is one of the most startling and amazing lessons we can learn from the bible.
When we celebrate Christmas and the birth of Jesus, let’s all remember that Jesus was born to a very ordinary couple in very trying times. That did not stop God from using them, and it will not stop God from using you! That is a great reason to celebrate!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Photo by Matthew Henry from Burst
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