Christmas And The Cross

Dr. Samuel Upham, a theological professor and a man of great learning, was dying. The

family was gathered around his bed and someone said I believe he is already dead. Someone

else said his feet are still warm and nobody ever dies with warm feet. Dr. Upham opened one

eye and said, "Joan of Arc did." These were his last words and he died with a smile on his

face.

Some may feel it is not appropriate to crack a joke on your death bed, but there are

others who consider it a great virtue to be merry in the midst of misery. When the Israeli

bombs were landing in Arab territory, a man and his wife were fleeing their home. The wife

said in frustration, "I can't find my dentures." The husband replied, "What do you think

they are dropping-sandwiches?"

It is possible to have a sense of humor and a glad spirit even in the worst of times. Those

who do, tend to be healthier than those who do not. Being Merry is a potent medicine that

drives off diseases of both body and mind. Proverbs 17:22 says, "A cheerful heart is a good

medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones."

Since medicine is something you only take when you have a problem, being joyful and

merry goes hand in hand with the fact that life is filled with trials and troubles. In other

words, being joyful is not the same as being blind to the reality of evil and sorrow. It is

possible to look forward to a merry Christmas in full awareness that we live in a world of

misery. Just as there is nothing inconsistent with taking medicine to feel better in a world of

sickness, so there is nothing inconsistent with a merry spirit in a world of misery.

Laughter is a good lubrication that keeps the body, mind, and spirit going for many more

miles. In laughter there is life. The Jews had a saying, "The gladness of the heart is the life

of man, and the joyfulness of a man prolongeth his life." It is this philosophy that has caused

the suffering Jews to produce the greatest comedians. No race can match the Jews for great

comics and producers of laughter. For the Jews, it is a religious duty to be cheerful.

In spite of the severity of the Old Testament law, and the punishments it demanded, the

fact is, Judaism is a religion of joy. The Jewish year was full of great feasts and festivals, and

times of national rejoicing. God wanted His people to be joyful people. God's idea of a good

time is not a group of people who sit with sour faces dwelling on the sin, folly, and tragic evils

of life. We sometimes get the idea that God delights in the sober, somber, and solemn fast

more than in the festivities, food, and fun of the feasts. There is a time for both, but when it

is time for the joy of feasting, God wants no wet blankets on the flame. In Neh. 8:9-10,

Nehemiah says to the people of Israel, "This day is holy to the Lord your God: do not mourn

or weep....Go your way, eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to him to whom

nothing is prepared: for this day is holy to the Lord, and do not be grieved, for the joy of the

Lord is your strength." If God wanted His people to be joyful under the law, how much

more is this the case for those under the new covenant, who have received His best, the gift

of His Son?

The Christmas message is a message about light in darkness. In Christ's coming the light

invades the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it, even though it tried. The

Christmas story is one of joyful angels with a message of joyful news to the shepherds, who

joyfully responded by going to Bethlehem to see the Christ-child, and to go away rejoicing.

But we cannot forget, it is also the story of the hatred of Herod, the lying, the deception, and

finally the slaying of babies of Bethlehem that left many in tears. The first Christmas

represents all Christmases-it was merry and it was misery combined.

Jesus experienced this paradox of the merry and the misery in all the major phases of His

life from the crib to the cross. We have seen the merry and the misery in His birth. In Heb.

12:2 we see them both again in His death. "Who for the joy that was set before Him endured

the cross, scorning the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." Joy was

motivating Jesus even as He died on the cross. You would think the paradox would be over