The sun went down the evening before baby Jesus was born just as it had done every night in the history of mankind. But when it came up the next day, a baby had been born whose life and death would forever change the world. Christmas is the story of a baby.
There is something about the Christmas season that makes it special. It began when we were young children and our parents got us excited about gifts on Christmas morning. From the first Christmas we could understand our parents, they conveyed excitement about Christmas to us. They programmed us to get excited about Christmas time and everything that goes along with it.
I can remember year after year as a young child seeing colorfully wrapped gifts under the Christmas tree with my name on them and knowing that it wouldn’t be long before I could open them and play with them. In the days and weeks before Christmas, the excitement built and Christmas morning could not come quick enough.
Then Christmas eve would arrive and the excitement would peak as I tried to go to sleep knowing tomorrow was the big day that I had been anxiously awaiting. When Christmas morning arrived, I would bound out of bed and downstairs to see what new gifts were under the tree with my name on them.
Each of you have your own memories of the Christmas season. You have traditions that you grew up with. Some of these traditions you have passed on to your own children.
From music to gifts to family time to a fire in the fireplace, Christmas is a special season. It is a reason to gather together and enjoy fellowship, hence the many Christmas parties. Because of the strong family emphasis, Christmas can also be a difficult time as families celebrate without the presence of loved ones who have passed or are serving our country in a foreign land. And this year Covid will change how Christmas is celebrated.
Because of how we have been programmed over our lives, just saying the word Christmas elicits emotion in each of us.
There is also a level of stress that comes with Christmas. With the decorations, the socials, the giving of gifts, and the family gatherings comes expectations in us and others that cause pressure in planning for and “implementing” the Christmas holiday season.
Christmas is shopping, Santa Claus, Christmas trees, stockings, Christmas cards, large meals, and the list goes on and on. In this column I am not speaking negative about our programming or about what Christmas has evolved into. I am just observing. I like the Christmas season myself.
But if Christmas is truly about a baby, I am confident that Mary and Joseph never envisioned that the birth of their baby would someday be celebrated by long shopping lines on a Black Friday or people cutting down evergreen trees to decorate in their homes. I don’t recall either of these or most of what we do at Christmas being connected to the virgin birth.
The story of the baby is told in the Bible. It was foretold by a prophet named Isaiah in the Old Testament almost 700 years before the baby was born in Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
The story of the baby is told after his birth in the New Testament including an account written by Luke in Chapter 2 of his book at verse 16. He wrote about the shepherds in the field, “So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in a manger.” I would encourage you to read the entire account of the birth of the baby.
We are the first generation to live in the world as it exists today. With regular headlines of Covid, riots, death, and individuals who make poor decisions, it is easy to ask, “Is there any hope for the future?”
The short answer is that hope was born into this world with the birth of this baby born about 2000 years ago in a small town named Bethlehem on the other side of our planet. His life, death, and resurrection provides hope to every man, woman, and child on this earth.
As Martin Luther once wrote “Everything that is done in this world is done by hope.” When the world says “give up,” hope whispers “keep trying.” Because of the birth of this baby, hope will triumph in the end.
Christmas is a special day in the Christian faith around the world. And it is all about a baby. After Mary was with child, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph and in Matthew 1:21 said, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”
My challenge to you today is to focus on what Christmas is really about. Because it is all about a baby who was born in a manger.
It is about a baby who would grow up to be a man. A baby who would live a life of perfection. A baby who would not live to see his 34th birthday, but who would be hung on a cross until he died. A baby who, after dying from his human life would conquer death by rising from the dead three days later.
Christmas is about a baby who, through his death and resurrection, offers the gift of eternal life to anyone who will accept it. A baby who can make an eternal difference in your life and in mine.
Christmas is the story of a baby. A baby whose very life is used for us to measure time by.
Just an eternal thought...
Rick Kraft wishes each of you a meaningful Christmas holiday and a blessed 2021 ahead. To submit comments, contributions, or ideas, e-mail to rkraft@kraftlawfirm.org or write to P.O. Box 850, Roswell, NM, 88202-0850.
