Here it is nearly Christmas again! Less than a week from today!
Perhaps for some people last Christmas seems long, long ago. For me, however, it seems that it was only last month. Didn't we just finish packing away last year's decorations? Now we're putting them up again!
I'm afraid that as we get caught up in all the Christmas activities--the programs, the decorating, the gift-buying, the present-opening, etc.--we often fail to notice the small details in the Christmas account and lose sight of the real meaning of Christmas.
We play the traditional Christmas carols, but we have become so used to hearing them (after all, stores and radio stations and TV ads have been playing them since Halloween) that we've become immune to their message. We hear, but we aren't really listening. We might even sing or hum along with them without really understanding what we're singing. And it's so easy to overlook the little details that give them their full meaning.
It's the same with the biblical accounts of that first Christmas. We've heard them over and over until we "hear," but we aren't really listening any more, so we miss a lot of the meaning of the event.
Important parts of God's message in the Christmas accounts are in the details, the seemingly "little" things that we miss or take for granted and don't really consider. We are distracted by other things that seem more important. We lose sight of the little details.
First, for example, in Luke's account of Jesus' birth are a lot of "little" things:
A little, insignificant town, Bethlehem, a suburb of Jerusalem;
A little baby--no big deal, babies were being born somewhere every day;
A little stable--there was no room in the inn;
A little manger--nothing unusual, something common in every stable or barn where animals were kept;
A little group of shepherds, lowly farm laborers doing menial work, nobodies in the social hierarchy; and
Later, we see little gifts brought by a little group of men from the East.
But all these "little" things played massive roles in the history of mankind. As the saying goes, "Big things come in small packages."
Second, notice how many people mentioned in the various accounts were listening.
Mary listened. She submitted to God's will and rejoiced. She sang a song of praise later called the Magnificat. Perhaps more importantly, she pondered about what the angel had told her about the baby to which she would give birth.
Joseph listened. He submitted to God's plan and took Mary to be his wife. He could have divorced her, ending their engagement then and there, but he didn't. He obeyed the angel.
The shepherds listened. As soon as the angels stopped singing and left them, they said, "Let us now go ... and see this thing...." They didn't waste any time but obeyed immediately. And they told everyone what they had seen and heard.
And what had they seen and heard? They found
A baby. They had seen babies before; this wasn't the first one. But this one was different, and they recognized that right away.
And that baby was in a manger. They had seen mangers before, too. After all, they were shepherds. But this manger was different in that it held the Son of God. They recognized that fact.
They had listened to what the angels said, and they had seen with their own eyes exactly what the angels had said they would see. And the eyes of their understanding were opened so that they knew that these seemingly little and common things were a big deal.
Later, after Jesus had grown into an adult and was in His ministry, He taught His disciples many important "little" truths, but they often couldn't see or understand their importance. He asked them, "... perceive ye not yet, neither understand? Have ye your hearts yet hardened? Having eyes, see ye not? And having ears, hear ye not? And do ye not remember?" (Mark 8:17-18).
Only slowly did they begin to understand. The light came on for Peter when he realized hat Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah. Other disciples understood that truth after the Resurrection. But it wasn't until after Jesus had ascended back into heaven and they were empowered by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that they fully understood the truths He had been teaching them.
In the study of history, teachers often use what is called counterfactual history to help students understand certain events and their importance. They ask students to answer the question "What if...?"
Consider for a moment some "what ifs" concerning Christmas.
What if Joseph had not listened to the angel and had divorced Mary?
What if Mary had refused to submit to God's plan for her?
What if the shepherds had ignored the angels, saying, "So what?" and hadn't gone to the manger in Bethlehem?
What if the wise men had not bothered to study the star and travel all the way from the East to Israel to find the promised Messiah?
What if Jesus had not been born, if He had not submitted to His Father's will and condescended to take upon Himself the form of a mere mean and come to earth as a baby?
But they did!
Jesus was born. He "made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men" (Phil. 2:7-8).
And what was the result of all those little details?
God became man and Messiah. "And being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:8). And in doing so, He brought salvation to the world--if people would only listen and believe.
What was in it for Jesus?
"Wherefore God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth" (Phil. 2:9-10).
The question for each of us today is, "What will we do with Jesus?" We have the whole story, all the details on which to base our answer. Having the whole record, we have no excuse for not acting on His offer of salvation. But the choice is ours.
Are you listening to the details of the Christmas record today? Are you acting on the truths of those details? Will you accept His gift or reject it?
If you accept it, you will be receiving eternal life with Him. And you will be able to celebrate Christmas this year from a totally different perspective.
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