Rants

Christmas feelings and significance

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style…in the air there is a feeling of Christmas. So go two lines from a famous song that you are hearing everywhere. What is this “feeling” of Christmas? Christmas does seem to always stir up some feelings…but are they really Christmas feelings?

Like most others, Christmas feelings might make you recall your youth and the fun you had around this time every year. You probably remember the fresh baked goodies…and fruit cakes. (If you are older you would remember fruitcakes that weren’t bought in the supermarket.) You probably remember going to Santa Claus, and listening to carolers coming by the house on Christmas Eve. And who could forget the stockings and the presents…and the trip down to the Christmas tree early on Christmas morning, and tearing open those presents.

You might even remember going to church on Christmas Eve or early on Christmas day – that’s what most people did. Those memories are etched on your mind and no one can take them away.

No wonder there are feelings of Christmas.

And this trend is not exclusive to North America. In South American we had Christmas trees and tried may Christmas customs too. And we had genuine feelings of Christmas. People just seemed to be happy. I learned from my Chinese friends that Christmas is even catching on in China. There it is known as a holiday for youth. Many of them can’t wait long enough for Christmas.

As warm and wonderful as those traditions are, somewhere along the line, the true significance of Christmas is missed. Why?

1. Christmas reminds us of the humiliation of Jesus. What do I mean by the “humiliation of Jesus?” I mean that Jesus had to submit to the weak people and human systems of this world that have been corrupted by sin. He did this so that he would be able to save those who are trapped by their corrupt and sinful hearts. Specifically, Christ was humiliated by taking on human form. Though he was from heaven, he had to take on a human body.

But there is more. He was born in a manger…a place for feeding cows. It was most likely a cold night, in a dark smelly place, in a cave somewhere. He was not handsome. He was born into a poor family and had a carpenter father. This is in contrast to what you often see in the painting and pictures. There was no warn cozy fire going, or a cute little stable in the middle of a pleasant pasture. Mary was no doubt exhausted. Joseph was tired, and no doubt felt alone as no one took them in their home.

There was still more. Jesus and his family had to run away to Egypt. They lived on the poor side of the country. He had to go without sleep and food. He was betrayed by one of his friend, denied by another one, and abandoned by all. He had to die a painful and most shameful death on the cross. The Jews and the Romans laughed at him, spat on him, mocked him, put a crown of thorns on his head, and finally they buried him. The Son of God had to be humiliated in a most extraordinary way.

This is the feeling to which Christmas ought to lead.

2. Christmas must also be a time of rejoicing in the work of God. This is what the angels who announced Jesus birth to the shepherds were doing and what they wanted the shepherds to do. More, the shepherds, when they found out that Jesus was indeed born as the angels had said, went around telling everyone. (You can read this story in Luke Chapter 2.) This is how they celebrated the very first Christmas. They were not contented with the joy they had in knowing that peace and come to themselves, but they wanted the world to know and to share that peace.

Christmas is significant because it leads to the full account of the work of Jesus. Jesus came to live for you. By his living and perfectly obeying the Father, God counts Jesus’ living as your living. Jesus came to die for your sins. His humiliating death was done as a substitute for you who would have had to die for your own sins. He did what you could not do. The full truth is that if he were not humiliated in his birth, life, and death, then you would have had to face worse humiliation in the end and die for your self in hell.

Now, I don’t want to spoil your celebration this coming Christmas, but I have to ask you this question: What kind of feeling would you have this Christmas now that you have been reminded of the proper significance of Christmas? Would it move beyond the Christmas lights, Christmas sights, Christmas smells, and Christmas sounds? I hope that it will. I hope you will be like the shepherds who believed the words the angels told them…and then went about telling others the Good News of Jesus. This is what gives Christmas real meaning.