The Whole Surprising Story of Christmas.
How well do we really know the whole story of Christmas? Let’s start with this quiz… answer t or f.
1. There are no records of Joseph speaking in the Gospels. T.
2. Mary rode a donkey from Nazareth to Bethlehem. F. It very likely she walked, no mention of donkey.
3. Jesus’ ancestors included a prostitute, unfaithful husband, and an incestuous relationship. T Rahab was a prostitute, David was an adulterer and Tamar & Judah committed incest.
4. The star did not appear above the manger. T
It appeared above the house where Joseph’s family was living (Matthew 2:9-11).
5. The wise men followed the star as it moved from their eastern land to Israel. F.
Apparently not. The wise men saw the star in the east (Matthew 2:2). But it did not take them to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem they asked for directions. Once leaving Jerusalem the star appeared again and led them to the house in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:9).
6. The wise men found Jesus lying in a manger in the town of Bethlehem. F
Jesus was in a house by this time (Matthew 2:11).
7. Joseph married Mary immediately after the angel appeared to him. T
Yes. His obedience was quick, cheerful and complete. Matthew 1:24.
8. When Herod heard about Jesus he was the only one concerned about this new king. F
All Jerusalem was disturbed by this news of a new king (Matthew 2:3).
9. The angel Gabriel appeared to Mary first and later to Joseph. F we don’t know the name of the angel who appeared to Joe.
10. God sent a choir of chubby angels to announce Jesus’ birth to the shepherds. F
Actually God sent an army of warrior angels. See Luke 2:13. "Company" and "host" are military terms.
How did you do? 10 out of ten? How many of you got 9, 8??
Actually, did you know that there was no interest in the early Christian church regarding Christmas day celebrations? It was not until the time of Hippolytus, the Bishop of Rome, circa first half of the 3rd century that someone thought of celebrating Christmas. Wikipedia.org article on Christmas says this “In 245, the theologian Origen denounced the idea of celebrating Jesus’ birthday "as if he were a king pharaoh." He contended that only sinners, not saints, celebrated their birthdays.”
There is quite a bit of uncertainty why Dec. 25th was chosen. But it seems that the consensus view is the date was chosen to replace the pagan festivals Saturnalia (dec.17-24) and Brumalia (dec.25). According to the Encyclopedia of Religion (1964,p.165) the historical record shows church festivals began around the first half of the 4th century. That is quite late in church history. In fact this same source stated that the church did not impose that date to be the date for Christmas, rather it was born out of “elemental human qualities.” That is, this was a reaction of humans to the changing of the seasons, to celebrate the shortest day of the year, and it was continued by Christians with a new significance attached. It was done to Christianized pagan attitudes to reach an audience that was primed for something to celebrate in the shortest day of the year.
Do you get the sense that it was pretty much a tradition in the early church to NOT celebrate Christmas? The Bible gives a clue as to why. Isn’t it interesting that the Gospel of Mark which is the earliest Gospel did not start with the birth story of the Christ? Mark 1:1 begins with this “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God” but then it goes and tells the story of the ministry of John the Baptist who prepares the way of the Lord, the forerunner of Jesus. V.4 tells of the content of the message of John “preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” John’s message reflects God’s heart – God always is open to people who’d repent and God accepts that and will forgive all sin! What a God! Is this is the not REAL story behind Christmas? The story of forgiveness, a story that demonstrates the most improbable incredible unbelievable thing that God will not throw us away like yesterday’s used paper plate. He is way more interested in rescuing His fallen creature whom He, for some crazy reason, enjoys and loves. This is the Good News, the Gospel, God’s not ready to simply give up on us.
It wasn’t until v.9 that we hear about the Jesus coming from Nazareth and it was about His baptism as an adult by John and not about His birth. Mark was clearly more interested in telling the story of Jesus as an adult which culminated in the Passion and the resurrection story of the Christ. Even the Gospel of John did the same thing with hardly a mention of birth story… except for the reference that John 1:14 “The Word became flesh…” He too was interested in the story of Jesus as an adult rather than a babe in the manger.
The Gospel of Matthew was written to a Jewish audience. Knowing his Jewish audience appreciates the fulfillment of OT Scripture, he traces the roots of Jesus’ family through the ages as we read Matthew 1;1-17 about who was born to who, with the heroes of Jewish history mentioned, especially, Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation and the great King David. His purpose is to show Jesus to be the predicted long awaited arrival of the Messiah. It is clear that Jesus’ birth was no accident. It was the plan of God all along. It was a plan of deliverance, much like the Exodus story of old. For the name Jesus meant “the Lord saves”. It was a plan to say God did not abandon people. It was a plan to say this son is God’s incredible commitment to be with people for He is named “Immanuel” which means “God with us” (Matt.1:23). Again, most of the 28 chapters of Matthew is dedicated to the adult Jesus, with just under 2 chapters covering the birth story.
The Gospel of Luke which has 24 chapters also did not dedicate many pages to the birth story. Chapter 1 tells a bit and Chapter 2 told the rest of the story. Again the adult story of Jesus proved to be way more interesting.
Now we turn to the Apostle Paul, the most prominent NT writer. If Barbara Walters, the famous TV interviewer, were to ask him this question “what’s the important story you’ve got our TV viewers” It is very likely he too would not mention the Christmas story. He would say what he wrote in 1 Cor.15…
1Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.
3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
9For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.
Note what Paul says is of most crucial importance – the story of Christmas? No, it is the Passion story and the Resurrection story– Jesus died for our sins!!! Jesus was so dead, he was buried. No one buries a living person. So it an awesome mindblowing thing that Jesus rose from the dead. The miracle of resurrection seals the deal, raised on the third day. Twice he mentioned these events are a fulfillment of ancient Scripture, not a made up story of a half-crazed religious nut high on some mind-altering drug. Three times he mentioned the word “grace” highlighting the fact that he of all people due to his past chasing down Christians, making life miserable for Christians, do not deserve God’s favor, yet he was forgiven and became a Christian. Paul’s life changed and so can yours because of Jesus!
Isn’t it interesting that wikipedia.org says this of Christmas
“From a religious point of view, Easter was the most significant feast in the church calendar. Christmas was considered less significant, and the early church opposed the celebration of birthdays of church members. The prominence of Christmas in modern times may reflect the continuing influence of the winter festival tradition…”
Now I don’t want to come across as the Grinch who stole Christmas. Ya know the story of the Grinch right, how he conspired in his evil little heart to steal Christmas from the Whos in Whoville. He thought he would take away Christmas by stealing all their yummy food, like the roast beast and all their presents. He was totally shocked when the Whos celebrated Christmas and starting singing. And he puzzled over it until he was sore and finally he concluded “It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes, or bags." Yes, the Grinch realizes that Christmas is about more than presents, or decorations, or a feast. He has a thought he’s never thought before: "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn’t come from a store; Maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more."
Yes, Christmas does not come from a store, it means a bit more, way more than we could ever imagine it to be. That God loves us! It is not just all about a baby in a manger in some silent night, it is about JOY to the world, let earth receive this king! It means more when you know He was born to die. He died for you to set you free from your sins. It means more when you know Jesus did it to love you. The Bible says…
…God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:5-8)
Finally I just want to quote I Cor 15:17…
“if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”
We’ve got to tell the whole story, right? It is just not right to dwell in the manger, we got a bigger story, a story of our faith, a faith that’s not futile! A faith that’s hopeful, a faith beyond the cradle, and beyond the grave, a faith graced by God, who makes Christmas to mean way more!
The whole surprising story of Christmas is all about C P R. In our deadness, hopelessness, when we are given up for dead, when we no hope, no lasting peace, God gave us the kiss of life, He chose CPR. The Gospels give us this whole story…
Christmas Story – telling us God is with us – we are not alone in this universe!
Passion Story – Jesus died for our sins – we are forgiven!
Resurrection story – Jesus rose from the dead – we will rise from the dead with Him!
Make it a real joy this Christmas, by refocusing on the true meaning of Christmas. Know that we are NOT ALONE, our SINS FORGIVEN, we will RISE AGAIN IN JESUS’NAME. So Christmas is not about the store, even if you don’t get that PS3 or that IPOD or that Nintendo WII under the tree, Christmas really means more… As you receive, simply by faith in prayerful dependence, you will once again know you are not just leftovers, but a treasured people of God. With grateful hearts, receive the King! Bow before Him in awe and adoration and worship Him again, will you? May you sense the reality of joy of this season deep in your heart, God is with you!
