The Shocking Truth About Christmas
by David Luke, Pastor, 12 Dec 2006
We are all familiar with Christmas. We are familiar with the cards, the presents the lights and Santa. And of course there is also the birth of Jesus. Yes, it rolls of the tongue as easily as that—the birth of Jesus. The birth of Jesus sits comfortably with the trees and the tinsel. The fact that the Son of God entered this world as a baby (Galatians 4:4) has lost its power to shock us.
Even with the passage of 2,000 years the fact of the birth of Jesus should be no less shocking. For
‘God all-bounteous, all-creative
Who no ills from good dissuade,
Is incarnate, and a native
Of the very world He made.’
Christopher Smart, The Nativity of Our Lord
The birth of Jesus certainly shocked those involved with the events of that time. Mary, His mother, was ‘deeply troubled’ and asked, ‘how can this be, since I am a virgin?’ (Luke 1:29,34) When Jesus birth on this night of nights was announced to the shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem we read that they were ‘filled with fear.’ (Luke 2:9) The wise men were so amazed by what they saw in the sky that they travelled a great distance to worship this new King. (Matthew 2:1-2) Even King Herod was ‘troubled’ as were the people of Jerusalem. (Matthew 2:4) One songwriter even contemplates the feelings of Joseph,
‘How could it be?
This baby in my arms
Sleeping so peacefully
The Son of God the angel said
How could it be?’Michael Card, The Promise
For all who came to realise the significance of what they were witnessing in the birth of Jesus their response was one of worship. For they recognised that Jesus was no ordinary child but the one whom God had promised centuries before—‘Immanuel, God with us.’ (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23) Here was no ordinary baby but ‘the Son of the Most High.’ (Luke 1:32) He was the Christ (Matthew 1:14), the promised Messiah. And He was given the name Jesus for He would save His people from their sins (Matthew 1:21).
We hope that at this Christmas time you too come to see the shocking truth about Christmas—that God has sent His Son into the world to save us from the guilt, the shame and the power of sin. We hope that you too will come to worship the King.
‘Sinners wrung by true repentance,
Doom’d for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence,
Mercy calls you, break your chains;
Come and worship
Worship Christ the new-born King.’James Montgomery, Angels from the Realms of Glory
David Luke, “The Shocking Truth About Christmas”, 12 Dec 2006, Gilnahirk Baptist Church Web site. http://www.gilnahirkbaptist.org.uk/resources/christianity/shock.php (accessed 6 Jan 2009).
