The Lady Who Saved Christmas Series

I hope your family and you had a wonderful and merry Christmas!

Today I want to speak to you about “The Lady That Saved Christmas.” I think you would agree that for Christmas to be saved, Christmas must be threatened.

The Grinch

Dr. Suess’ famous book, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! First appeared in the later 1950s. Suess wrote in rhymed verse, and he writes about a solitary, grouchy creature who tries to cancel Christmas.

Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas a lot.

But the Grinch...

...who lived just north of Who-ville, did not.

The Grinch hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season.

Now, please, don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

It could be perhaps that his shoes were too tight.

It could be his head wasn’t screwed on just right.

But I think that the most likely reason of all...

...may have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

You know the story of how the Grinch steals all the Christmas gifts and all decorations from all the homes in nearby Whoville.

Again, to save Christmas, Christmas would have to be threatened. Despite the best efforts of policemen, firemen, Toys for Tots, and churches everywhere, no doubt there were some children who missed Christmas. There were some who had no tree, no presents, and for that matter, no wrapping. It saddens our hearts to know of even one child who might miss out on the wonder and awe of a Christmas morning. But the truth is this happens far more than we realize.

Yet, for Christmas to be saved, Christmas must be threatened. But you wouldn’t miss Christmas if you took the presents or the trees. You wouldn’t miss Christmas if you took the music or the tinsel. You won’t miss Christmas if you miss Cyber Monday or even Black Friday. You’ll only cancel Christmas if you take away a promise. Yes, Christmas rests on a promise. And if you can threaten that promise, you threaten the bedrock of Christmas itself.

Now, God placed this promise in the turbulent upheaval of human history. “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:16). This promise is the foundation of Christmas. Christmas rests on this promise made to King David. King David lived 1,000 years before Jesus. Yet, you cannot leave David out of the story of Christmas.

Now, Jewish people keep with their family tree better than we Americans. They didn’t need 23 and Me or to spit into some tube – they knew their ancestry. And they especially knew their ancestry if their family included King David. Get this: Roman Emperors persecuted Jews in David’s family tree even after the close of the New Testament. David’s ancestry was still keeping their family trees 1,100 years after David! Yes, David is a really big deal, and the promise made to David is the foundation of Christmas.

Again, for Christmas to be saved, Christmas must be threatened.

The Promise Exposed

God exposed His promise to the turbulence of human history for 1,000 years. As if you’d place your wife’s diamond wedding ring in the schoolyard of the nearby elementary school. God put His promise out in the middle of the world like you’d place an infant on a racetrack during a Nascar race! Again, Christmas depends on a single, solitary promise God made to a Hebrew king. And God placed His promise in the safekeeping of one family in just one nation.

In the next few minutes, I want to tell you the story of how Christmas was threatened by a lady and Christmas was saved by a lady. In our story, we find three main characters: the evil queen, Athaliah, the good woman, Jehosheba, and the child-king, Joash.

1. The Lady that Threatened Christmas

“Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family” (2 Kings 11:1).

God’s promise was teetering on the brink of destruction just 150 years after God vowed David’s family would always rule and reign. Now, David’s lineage or David’s family reigned over the postage-stamp-sized kingdom called Judah with only one interruption. That’s significant. There was only one person to reign over Judah, who wasn’t a descendent of David.

1.1 Who’s Athaliah?

In a day when men ruled the nations, Athaliah was the only queen who served to rule over Judah. Athaliah is the Grinch that nearly stole Christmas. Again, Judah has only one queen in her history, and her name was Athaliah. I’m not here to make you an expert on ancient Judean Kings, but you’ll need to know a little bit more about the villain of our story. She ruled the small nation of Judah only for a short period of time – six years.