Christmas Wouldn't be Christmas Without Easter
Everything is ready for tomorrow—presents are wrapped, cookies are decorated and packaged, ingredients are ready for my crockpot dish—and so I'm taking a few moments on this Christmas Eve to write what's been on my heart for the past week.
As I reflect on the birthday we celebrate, I realize we think about the Babe in a manger more than the reason for His coming. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Easter.
Remember what the angel Gabriel told Mary about the son she would conceive? "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 2:32-33). This would be the long-awaited Messiah, although He would not fulfill the prophecies as the Jews anticipated. He would establish a spiritual kingdom, but His earthly kingdom is yet to come.
And when Joseph thought he should divorce Mary quietly because of her pregnancy, "the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ...She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins'" (Matthew 1:20-21; emphasis mine).
Then there are the well-known words of the angel to the shepherds: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).
And we mustn't forget Simeon's prophecy to Mary: "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed" (Luke 2:34-35). I'm sure Mary was puzzled by his words, not knowing that one day she would stand at the foot of a cross where her soul would be pierced at the agony of her Son's death.
The birth of a baby is exciting. The birth of the Son of God is awe-inspiring. Jesus came to live among us, to experience life as we do, but that was only half the reason.
I love the way the Christmas carol, "Ring the Bells" expresses this thought:
As I reflect on the birthday we celebrate, I realize we think about the Babe in a manger more than the reason for His coming. Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without Easter.
Remember what the angel Gabriel told Mary about the son she would conceive? "He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 2:32-33). This would be the long-awaited Messiah, although He would not fulfill the prophecies as the Jews anticipated. He would establish a spiritual kingdom, but His earthly kingdom is yet to come.
And when Joseph thought he should divorce Mary quietly because of her pregnancy, "the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ...She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins'" (Matthew 1:20-21; emphasis mine).
Then there are the well-known words of the angel to the shepherds: "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11).
And we mustn't forget Simeon's prophecy to Mary: "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed" (Luke 2:34-35). I'm sure Mary was puzzled by his words, not knowing that one day she would stand at the foot of a cross where her soul would be pierced at the agony of her Son's death.
The birth of a baby is exciting. The birth of the Son of God is awe-inspiring. Jesus came to live among us, to experience life as we do, but that was only half the reason.
I love the way the Christmas carol, "Ring the Bells" expresses this thought:
Ring the bells, ring the bells,
Let the whole world know
Christ was born in Bethlehem
Many years ago.
Born to die that man might live,
Came to earth new life to give,
Born of Mary, born so low, Many years ago...
...Born to die on Calvary,
Born to set His people free,
God Himself in human form,
Tell it! Christ is born...
[©Copyright 1958 by Singspiration Music/ASCAP]
The third verse of "Go Tell It on the Mountain" says:
He came to die for sinners,
To take away our sin;
That we may know salvation,
And be complete in Him.
I'm amazed at how many times I have sung certain carols without realizing the depth of their words, how some anticipate Jesus' death and even resurrection. The last two verses of "We Three Kings of Orient Are" tell what is ahead for that special Baby:
Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes a life of gathering gloom—
Sorr'wing, sighing, bleeding, dying,
Sealed in a stone-cold tomb.
Glorious now behold Him arise;
King and God and Sacrifice;
Alleluia, Alleluia!
Earth to heav'n replies.
So this Christmas, as I contemplate the "Reason for the Season", I don't want to forget that the Reason is not all about Jesus' birth, but includes the shadow of death and the victory of resurrection. Christmas isn't Christmas if we forget about Good Friday and Easter.
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