Dear Christian friends:
Christmas, that most wonderful day is here again! Strange and
wonderful things happen each Christmas. According to a news article in
the Los Angeles Times a few days ago, someone dropped a $1,000.00 bill in
a Salvation Army Christmas kettle. During this season, many, many people
give large amounts of money to churches and charities. Love and deeds
of kindness and mercy increase during each Christmas season. Former
enemies become friends and relatives again renew their relations with
each other.
Why do all these strange and wonderful things happen each Christmas?
Someone will answer: "It is the Christmas spirit!" Perhaps that is true.
There seems to be a Christmas spirit of love, mercy and kindness. But
how did it all begin? It began with God. It began because of God's
Christmas message, the message from God in heaven to men on earth.
We all want the wonderful things of Christmas to happen to us and
among us and we want these wonderful things to happen always more
strongly. So let us attend to our text and consider:
The Christmas Message
On the First Christmas, the message was brought from God to shepherds
who were watching their sheep during the night near Bethlehem. The
angel told them, "Don't be afraid, I bring you good news which will
bring great joy to all people: Christ is born!" Our text says "The
Word (Christ) became a man." Paul says, "When the right time came,
God sent His Son, born of a woman." (Galatians 4:4)
The Christmas message is: God's Son, Christ is born! God has
become a man! Our text says, "Christ became a man and lived among us."
He, who with the Father and Holy Spirit made the world, has become
a man.
The message of Christmas is a mystery. We cannot understand how that
could happen. Mary could not understand it. When the angel told her that
she would be the mother of God's Son, she asked, “How can that happen.?
I am a virgin.” The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you
and God's power will rest upon you. Therefore that holy Child will be
called the Son of God." (Luke 1:34-35)
Joseph, too, could not understand the Christmas message. When he
learned that Mary was expecting a baby he thought that she had been
unfaithful to him. He then planned to break their engagement. While he
was thinking about that he fell asleep and dreamed. The Lord's angel
appeared to him and told him, "Joseph, son of David, don't be afraid to
accept Mary for your wife, because the baby, in her is from the
Holy Spirit."
Like Mary and Joseph, we cannot understand the Christmas message,
but we can believe it. Mary, although she did not understand, she believed.
She said to the angel, "I am the Lord's servant, may it happen to me as _
you have said." (Luke 1:38) And Joseph believed the message also. When
he awoke from his dream, he did what the angel of the Lord had told him
to do and accepted Mary for his wife." (Matthew 1:24)
We can only accept the message of Christmas with the eyes and ears of
faith. Our mind and reason will never understand it. Although many Jewish
people did not believe, some dis. If we accept it by faith we will have
the greatest blessings and joy, because the Christmas message brings good
news to men on earth.
The angel said to the shepherds, "Don't be afraid! I bring to you
good news, which will bring great joy to all people. This night in
David's town your Savior is born - Christ the Lord!" (Luke 2:10-11)
The angel told Joseph in the dream, "Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take Mary for your wife. For the baby in her is from the Holy
Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you will name Him Jesus for He
will save His People from their sins." (Matthew 1:20-21) St. Paul writes,
"When the right time finally came, God sent His own Son, born from a
woman, born under the Jewish Law to set free those who were under the
Law, so that we might become God's sons." (Galatians 4:4-5).
Therefore, the Christmas message brings us forgiveness of sins and
eternal life. It says "God loves you!" Although we are sinners and
unworthy, God nevertheless loves us and forgives us. He lets His dear
Son be born to live and die for us that we can believe in Him and receive
forgiveness of sins and become His dear children here on earth and
forever in heaven. We cannot hear a more wonderful message. It is the
most wonderful message ever announced. It is good news. It brings
GREAT JOY to all people as the Christmas song says "Joy to the World
The Lord is come." After the angel left them the shepherds hurried to
Bethlehem and found the baby Jesus lying in the manger exactly as the
angel had told them. Then they told everyone the Good News and then
returned home with joy and praising God for all they had heard and said.
The wise men when they found the baby Jesus and Mary and Joseph rejoiced
very greatly. They knelt down and worshipped Jesus, then opened their
bags and offered Him presents of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
Let us also rejoice because of God's Christmas message to us today.
Like Mary and Joseph, the shepherds and the wise men, let us worship,
praise and rejoice. The Christmas Message is for us!
Amen.