I am dismayed by how many people do not know the story of the birth of Christ. Sure, there are cartoons and videos and picture books that depict the sequence of events, all with high production values to capture the attention of young and old in a world of instant gratification, shiny objects (.sic) and eye-popping visuals, but even I had to stop and think about the main points as I prepared to recount the story to my grandkids this Christmas. They’re still too young and squirmy for me to read it to them from the Bible but I take a few minutes, have their parents hold them down, and remind them of what the Christ is Christmas is all about.
We can lament how commercialism has overtaken the significance of what happened over two thousand years ago, but unless we pause at some point during the next few days and think about it, another year will rush by.
So for those of us with short attention spans or those who wish to recount the story to others without a PowerPoint presentation… here goes:
- Joseph and Mary are living in Nazareth when one day an angel, Gabriel, appears to Mary and tells her she is going to have a baby boy who is the Son of God and that she is to name him Jesus.
- Mary travels to visit her cousin Elizabeth who is also going to have a baby (John) and when Mary enters Elizabeth’s house, Elizabeth’s baby jumps in her womb and Elizabeth immediately knows that Mary is carrying the Holy Child. Mary spends three months with Elizabeth, then returns to Nazareth.
- Caesar demands a census be taken so he can tax everyone, and everyone is to head to their traditional home city which for Joseph and Mary was Bethlehem, about 70 miles south of Nazareth.
- When they arrive in Bethlehem, there is no room available for them in the “inn”.
- They are told to spend the night where the sheep were kept. Mary gives birth to Jesus, wraps him in swaddling clothes, and places him in a manger.
- Shepherds living out in the fields nearby keeping watch over their flocks at night are terrified by an angel that appears to them.
- The angel says to them, “Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.”
- Suddenly a great company of additional angels appear praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
- When the angels retreat to heaven, the shepherds decide to go find the baby the angel spoke of.
- The shepherds head to Bethlehem where they find Joseph and Mary and the baby lying in a manger. They tell everyone about what the angels had told them about the baby, and they go back to their flocks praising God for all they had seen and heard.
- Mary had been told by the angel Gabriel that she was to name her son Jesus, but when he was eight days old, according to Hebrew tradition, the baby was officially given the name Jesus.
So what does this have to do with the price of eggs or gas, or the open border, or the election shenanigans, or the crises in our cities, or government corruption? In truth, it has to do with ALL of it. The Lord’s prescriptions really aren’t complicated or ambiguous. They’re straightforward and virtually all of our current problems can be traced to either violations of the Ten Commandments or Gospel Law.
As for me and my house, this year and every year I will insist that we pause to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas.
Hope yours is merry and that 2023 will be better for all of us. Hang in there and may God bless us all!
