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Rejoicing at Advent

Peter F. Whyte, 21 Dec 2008

There must have been joy the first Christmas. Mary's baby boy was healthy and well. It had been an anxious journey from Nazareth, no doubt; and the thought of giving birth to her first child in an animal outhouse couldn't have been thrilling. But now it was over, and the child had been laid in the manger. It was just the three of them together — strange to talk of three when it had just been two. Time to relax after an exhausting few days and an eventful nine months.

No! It can't be visitors. Who knows we're here? Who cares, since we're in this place? And they're asking about a baby in a manger. How could they possibly know? A Saviour? Christ the Lord? An angel! Ah, that's how they know. Yes it was good news of great joy. And those shepherds certainly rejoiced with Mary and Joseph at the birth of Jesus. He was the Saviour. He was Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:8-20)

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But it didn't take long for a note of sorrow to impinge on the joy. Just 40 days, to be precise. When Mary went to the Temple to redeem her firstborn son, as the Jewish Law said she should, Simeon was there to greet her. And he, too, was full of the joy of seeing the Saviour. (Luke 2:22-33) But those words he said afterwards, that a sword would pierce through Mary's own soul were deeply disturbing. (Luke 2:34-35)

But as time went by, she could see that they were true. As soon as Jesus began his public ministry there was often great opposition. After a sermon in their own synagogue he was literally driven out of town by an angry mob of worshippers (Luke 4:16-30).

Even the jubilation of Palm Sunday had soon turned to angry scenes around his cross as the Calvary crown chanted, "Crucify! Crucify! . . .Crucify! Crucify!" Oh, Mary felt that sword pierce time and time again, but never more deeply than then.

But is Christmas joy just like that? Here today, gone tomorrow. Is it an illusion? No more than a hopeful dream that is ultimately hopeless. Christmas doesn't give us the real pattern for life. It is not joy followed by sorrow, but sorrow and suffering followed by joy. Jesus Christ, "for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 12:2)

Christ came to live a perfect life of obedience and die a shameful death in perfect obedience to God so that he might have joy. His suffering and death for our sin was absolutely essential. There is joy in heaven when sinners repent of their sin (Luke 15:7,10). Jesus experiences the joy his death has made possible. And sinners who repent can rejoice in the assurance of forgiven sin and eternal life.

You can rejoice this Christmas if you repent of your sins. If you believe with all your heart that Jesus' death has turned away God's wrath from you. If you trust him as your Saviour, and receive his forgiveness for your sins. You can know the joyful peace of Christmas — peace with God, the peace on earth the angel announced. Those with whom God is pleased can know this joy with absolute certainty, here on earth. (Luke 2:14) But God is pleased only with those who believe (Heb 10:6).

Will you take the angel's announcement of great joy to heart this Christmas, and become one of the Saviour's joyful people? Know the real joy of Christmas by believing in the Saviour — Christ the Lord.

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standard citation for this article:
Peter F. Whyte, ‘Rejoicing at Advent’, 21 Dec 2008,
Gilnahirk Baptist Church Web site. http://www.gilnahirkbaptist.org.uk/resources/welcome/advent08-rejoice.php (accessed 31 Jul 2010).