On Christmastide

The secular celebration of the Christmas season seems to start early and end fast. The Church Calendar though offers a different approach to this time of year. Advent, which is in many ways clearly distinct from Christmas, is a quieter and slower waiting period leading up to Christmas, and then the joyous Christmas hubbub can take place for a full twelve days (December 25 through January 5).

This short season of Christmas is all about celebrating Jesus Christ coming into the world in human flesh 2,000+ years ago. The varying texts from the different gospel accounts should be read during this time and we should consider what these varying texts tell us about God’s plan in sending Jesus to us, through the Virgin Mary and her husband Joseph the Carpenter.

These stories bring us to the intersection of godliness and humanness. We see a God that loves all humans and humans that love God, along with some that view God as a threat to their earthly power. We celebrate an Almighty God that pushes through dark times to make a way for a brighter tomorrow. We find that this God is at work in humanity, for the good of all humanity, through the power of a Holy Spirit working through other humans like us. We discover that this very God has also given us a holy name to hold on to, one that is fully god and fully human—Jesus the Christ. Indeed, the theological birth of the understanding of the Triune God is also part of the the celebration of Christmas.

Each gospel writing gives us different viewpoints and understandings of who God is in Christ Jesus. The Gospel of Matthew strives to establish without any doubt that Jesus is of a kingly origin, the long-awaited, prophesied Messiah and King (Matthew 1-2). The Gospel of Luke wants us to know that the birth of Jesus took place in the toughest of times by the power of the Holy Spirit working through and our humanity (Luke 1-2). Meanwhile, the Gospel of John uses analogy between light and dark to paint a more abstract, yet equally clear picture that Jesus is fully god and fully man, and always has been and always will be (John 1: 1-18).

Notably, while the oldest and quickest of the gospel narratives, the Gospel of Mark does not discuss the details of Jesus’ birth. Mark is all about getting to the cross and spends no time at the nativity. In this gospel the message could not be clearer, the cross needs to be central for any Christ follower. Even here, a Christmas point could also be made— if your celebrations during Christmastide do not involve acknowledgement and meditation on the crucifixion of Jesus, then you are likely missing out on the crux of the good news that has been proclaimed for the past two millennium.

It is also worth mentioning the placement of Christmas on the calendar, since the specific date of Jesus’ birth is not clarified in the gospel texts. The Church Calendar decisively places Christmas after the longest night for the Northern Hemisphere. It also places Christmas conveniently close to the beginning of the New Year on the Western (Gregorian) calendar. And, we are given twelve days to celebrate, ensuring that there is always at least one Sunday (the traditional weekly day of Christian worship) during this festive season. There are three lessons that stick out here: First, is that Jesus is the Light of the World and the hope he gives is alive and well. Second, that this is a season of new birth and new beginnings, and that we need to ask ourselves what new work God is ready to do with and through us. And third, that we cannot have Christmas without seeking Jesus Christ fully, from birth, to death, to resurrection.

May our Christmases be ones that bring about new beginnings in our world, while we seek to know Jesus Christ fully and celebrate the glory of our Triune God.