Glad Tidings And Great Joy!

And the angel said to them, “Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:10-11

Christmas is the celebration of the birth into the world of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth by which all men are redeemed and restored to God.

Christmas is the celebration of the birth by which God’s Eternal Kingdom is made manifest in this world.

First and foremost, Christmas is the celebration of a birth.

Surely every birth is a cause for celebration. In every new life brought into this world there is potential and promise, a chance to bend the world that much closer to goodness and righteousness.

How much greater a cause for celebration, then, when the birth is that of the Son of God?

How much potential, how much promise, were in that new life that was (and is) Jesus of Nazareth?

When Jesus was born, God took on human form. Fully divine, in Jesus God became fully human as well.

He grew as men grow, from infant to child to man.

He felt hunger. We can assume He felt pain as well.

We know from His chasing of the money changers out of the Temple that Jesus as a man was capable of great anger.

We know from his frequent beratings of the Pharisees that Jesus as a man was not one to suffer fools gladly.

We know from his prayers in Gethsemane that Jesus as a man could feel fear and dread.

In all these things, Jesus showed Himself to be as every man is: emotional, even vulnerable.

In all these things, Jesus showed Himself to be a man.

Yet in all these things, Jesus remained the Son of God, that He might fulfill the greatest part of His ministry on Earth—the redemption of all men on the Cross at Calvary.

We know from Luke that Jesus was born into abject poverty—literally homeless.

Having been commanded by the Roman overlords of Judea to return to his ancestral home in Bethlehem, Joseph had been obligated to travel with an exceedingly pregnant Mary in order to be “enrolled”. With no place to stay in Bethlehem, forced to make do when no one stepped forward to offer the young mother-to-be shelter, Mary was compelled to give birth to Jesus in the corner of a barn, and then to place Jesus in a manger rather than a crib—a most humble beginning for the one destined to become the King of Kings.

We know from Matthew that the young Jesus endured persecution, hunted by King Herod who feared Jesus would take his throne. To protect the infant Jesus Joseph fled with Mary and Jesus into Egypt, remaining there as refugees until Herod had died.

Jesus’ birth was thus well attended by all that is evil in this world—callous indifference, petty jealousy and the lust for power—and but for the faith of a few simple shepherds humanity would have made a poor showing at Jesus’ emergence into the world.

Yet Jesus even as a man would rise far above such lowly beginnings. Even before achieving the ultimate victory over death itself on the Cross, Jesus would know considerable fame as well as controversy as a teacher and rabbi throughout Judea.

Even without the miracle of the Crucifixion and Resurrection, the life of Jesus the man surely is one worthy of celebration.

To such a life, however, we do add the miracle of the Crucifixion and Resurrection. As remarkable as the life of Jesus the man was, Jesus was and is the only begotten Son of God, and it is as the only begotten Son of God that Jesus can stand as the perfect guilt offering for all the sins of mankind, for all time, fulfilling the law in a way no one else can.

Small wonder, then, that even the angels were overcome with joy at the birth of Jesus. Small wonder that the shepherds in the fields were witness to the host of Heaven singing endless praises for Jesus.

Those glad tidings heard by the shepherds in that field some two millennia ago echo across time, that we still hear them today.

We still hear glad tidings of comfort and great joy—of the greatest joy. We still hear glad tidings that in Bethlehem, in the city of King David, the Savior of all Mankind was born, who is Christ the Lord.

Unto all Mankind a Son has been given. And the Government sits upon His shoulders. For He is the Wonderful Counselor. He is the Mighty God. He is the Everlasting Father. He is the Prince of Peace.

Merry Christmas, and God bless us all!