THE REAL CHRISTMAS STORY - The Day After Christmas
John 3:1-21 December 25, 2022
Introduction:
i was sitting in a staff meeting one year and our worship minister Tony asked “What day is Christmas on this year?” And I laughed and said, “Tony, Christmas is always on December 25.” It became a joke we kidded with each other about as we planned for special Christmas services. I know Tony meant is Christmas on “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday this year, but giving each other a hard time is part of the fun of staff meetings…at least for me.
This year Christmas Day falls on a Sunday…It happens once every 7 years or so, but I love it, even if it makes it a little more difficult for scheduling, because it helps us as Christians remember what the world seems to forget…Christmas is about Christ.
A lady named Lynn Casagrande wrote this poem…
'Twas the day after Christmas and all through the town
The ones who weren't Christians were feeling let down
The stockings weren't hung by the chimney anymore,
And boxes and wrapping covered the floor.
The kitchen was covered from floor to ceiling
With enough dirty dishes to set Mother reeling
The children were whining over what they didn't get
And rather than sharing, they were throwing a fit!
The malls were bustling with post Christmas shoppers
Searching for bargains on racks and in hoppers.
The salesmen looked haggard, the shoppers looked worse
As credit cards flew out of wallet and purse.
There were no joyful sounds of carolers singing,
And the only bells heard, were registers ringing.
The scene was altogether too grim,
For all the people who didn't know Him.
If only this unhappy crowd could know
That the Spirit of Christmas isn't tied with a bow
And stacked in piles underneath the tree,
He lives forever in you and in me
He didn't start in presents piled up in a sleigh,
He started with Christ being born in the hay.
The perfect gift from our Father above
Sent to us sinners to show us His love.
He came without wrapping or boxes or strings,
No glitter or glamour or other vain things.
He came with a promise of hope for all men,
That even in death, we'd have life again.
The next face you encounter covered with strife,
Introduce them to Jesus and change their whole life.
Teach them that Christmas is a daily thing,
That comes from intimately knowing the King.
You see the real story of Christmas and Christ…is it’s not a once a year celebration or even once a week on Sundays…It’s a daily thing that comes from intimately knowing the King.
On that original Christmas Day over 2,000 years ago, most of the world had no idea God’s greatest present had been delivered, wrapped in swaddling clothes and had been laid in a manger. The shepherds knew…it was an experience they would never forget.
Dr. Luke says this about the shepherds:
LUKE 2:16-20
The Day after Christmas for Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds was a day to ponder, to wonder, to be amazed at what God was doing…and they glorified God with their testimony. I still believe this is an excellent way to spend the day after Christmas…and in fact, every day! It’s a lot more exciting than worrying about gift returns and taking down decorations.
What does Jesus’ birth mean for me and the whole world in the days that lay ahead? Mary’s little lamb was born so that we might have the opportunity to be born again.
MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB
Mary had a little Lamb,
He was born on Christmas day.
She laid him in a manger bed
To Sleep upon the hay.
Angels filled the night-time sky
And they began to sing.
Shepherds heard them all proclaim
The birthday of a King.
Wise men saw a blazing star
Up in the sky that night.
They followed it until they found
The King of love and light.
Mary had a little Lamb,
But He wasn't hers, you know,
He was the very Son of God,
The One who loves us so.
The Father of this little Lamb
Loved the world so much
That He sent his only Son to earth
So we could feel His touch.
He came to give us joy and peace
And take away our sin.
So when He knocks on your heart's door,
Be sure to let Him in.
Why do I love this precious Lamb?
What can the reason be?
The answer is quite plain to see,
It's because He first loved me!
When Mary, as a virgin asked the angel…“How can I be with child since I’m a virgin?” The response was amazing…“The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” (Lk. 1:35)
Jesus’ birth was miraculous…as God became flesh…but think of this:
I. THE SAME SPIRIT THAT BROUGHT ABOUT HIS PHYSICAL BIRTH BRINGS OUR SPIRITUAL REBIRTH
Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council. He knew the OT as well as anyone on earth. And He knew there was a promised Messiah to come. And now he’s heard about Jesus…His miracles, and His teachings. So, he comes to visit Jesus…at night. Why at night? Who knows? He cautions, He’s afraid, He has insomnia…we don’t know.
But he says “Rabbi, (teacher) you must have come from God, because no one can do the things you do unless they’re from God.”
It’s a commitment…but Jesus cuts to the chase. He gets to the core immediately.
“I tell you the truth, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again…Nicodemus is perplexed so Jesus pushes the issue “I tell you the truth no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
Have you ever had a conversation about spiritual things with someone who is thinking in worldly ways? We’ve all been there…the blank stare…the “I have no idea what you’re talking about” expression. Nicodemus wore both of these…He says:
“Surely a man can’t be born again when he is old!”
Nicodemus is thinking in terms of biology, Jesus is speaking about theology.
Jesus explains why He’s not talking about entering a second time into our mother’s womb.
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit.”
The Holy Spirit was the catalyst for the virgin birth…and He is the same catalyst for us to be born again…to open our eyes to see God’s Kingdom and He points us to the door to enter it…The same Spirit that brought about Jesus’ birth brings our new birth.
Nicodemus was familiar with the prophet Ezekiel who promised us from God, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ez. 36:26)
But Nicodemus didn’t understand spiritually what that meant. Being born again means an inner awakening. Jesus is literally saying…“God from above will make you new.” He’s going to heal your heart.
On February 24, 1948, one of the most unusual operations in medical history took place in Ohio State University’s department of research surgery. A stony sheath was removed from around the heart of Harry Besharra, a man thirty years of age. When only a boy he had been shot accidentally by a playmate with a .22-caliber rifle. The bullet had lodged in his heart but had not caused his death. However, a lime deposit had begun to form over the protective covering of the heart and gradually was strangling it. The operation was a delicate one separating the ribs and moving the left lung to one side. Then the stony coating was lifted form the heart as an orange is peeled. Immediately the pressure of the heart was reduced, and it responded by expanding and pumping normally. "I feel a thousand per cent better already," said the patient soon after the operation.
"There is a parable of life here. Our hearts develop a hard protective coating because of accidents and incidents in life. They are coated by the deposits of a thousand deceits and rebuffs. They are hardened by the pressure of circumstance. Inevitably they become smothered and insensitive to the divine. Ever so easily we find it easier to sneer than to pray. It becomes simpler to work than to worship. Self-satisfied, proud, often cynical, our hearts need a spiritual operation that only Christmas can perform.”
Here’s the most important truth I can share with you on Christmas Day, the day after and every day I breathe.
II. JESUS CAME TO SAVE US, NOT CONDEMN US
Jesus tells Nicodemus an Old Testament story about the Israelites sin and the punishment of being bitten by snakes. As the people are bitten by these venomous little “suckers” Moses is instructed to make a serpent, put it on a stick and hold it up…and all those who look upon it, are healed.
Jesus then tells “Nick” in the same way the Son of Man must be lifted up so that those who believe may have eternal life.”
God has always had a plan to deal with man’s sin…in the Old Testament it was temporarily with animal sacrifices and serpents on sticks…but all those things pointed to Christmas…all the temporary remedies only postpones the punishment of sin until Jesus was lifted up on the cross.
“For God so loved the world He gave His one and only son…For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him.”
Satan would turn our eyes from the lifted up Son of God…He would have us forget the real reason for Christmas…not just, on December 25, but the days after as well.
Tonight (Today) I stare with hope and amazement at the One who was lifted up on a cross…in my place, He bore my sins in His body, was condemned so I might be redeemed…all the preparation was over, broken lives and confusion scattered around the foot of the cross like old ribbons and cast off boxes. The baby named Jesus…because He would save His people from their sins is doing just that…as this present is ripped open to bring this truth about Mary’s heart is pierced as Simeon prophesied.
Light has come into the world but we loved darkness instead of light…so we tried to snuff it out. But darkness would not win Jesus’ Spirit has departed as He finishes His father’s work…but His body is still there…Look what John says:
JOHN 19:38-42
I love that Nicodemus is there, don’t you? He and Joseph of Arimathea are the pallbearers. They lay Jesus in a tomb near the cross. There could not be a time when it was more risky to declare that you were Jesus’ friend, even his closest disciples were in hiding. These men publicly declared they were Jesus’ friends! Their last act of love for Him is recorded in the Gospels. They both risked their reputations and more to give their friend a proper burial.
Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus could not have known at the time that they were participating in the fulfillment of an ancient prophecy from the book of Isaiah. Here is the scripture telling about the Messiah written over 600 years before Jesus’ crucifixion: Isaiah 53:8b-9, NLT: “But he was struck down for the rebellion of my people. He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man’s grave.”
He wouldn’t stay there. He rose from the dead and the Great Physician has conquered the enemy of the physicians: death. The light now shines with a glory that can never be extinguished. “And whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”
Tomorrow, on the day after Christmas. He is still Savior and Lord?
Let’s pray.
