Christmas is about so much.
take a minute to think about all the things that go into making Christmas what it is. Just this week I’ve blogged about tradition, miracles, transformation, giving, and the story. but then there’s the travel, the shopping, the decorating, the music, the weather, the food, the drinks, the lights, the movies, the tree, the parties, all the family and friends, and the millions of tiny details that make the production of Christmas what it is.
sometimes, with all of this stuff swirling around you, it can be difficult to remember how it all got started. we put so much time and effort into making this year’s Christmas memorable that we forget to remember the reality of that first Christmas.
it’s not just a story.
it actually happened. A baby named Jesus really was born in a tiny town called Bethlehem around 2000 years ago. have you ever thought about what that first Christmas was really like? Have you tried to put yourself in Mary’s shoes? It’s one (crazy, inexplicable) thing to have an angel tell you that you’re going to give birth to the son of God. I imagine the sobering realization that you’re actually about to physically birth the son of God is an entirely new level of nervous anxiety.
What about Joseph? How hard was it to believe Mary? While I’m excited about the opportunity to one day be a father, I’m also scared. How scared was the young Joseph, finally seeing the culmination of God’s promise, and then feeling the ensuing weight of the responsibility of raising the messiah?
Even the supporting cast. The magi and the shepherds…what were they thinking? Were they all excited about the long journey? Was there that skeptical guy grumbling in the back mixing heavy sighs with short remarks of barely-veiled disapproval like, “Seriously?! A star?”, “My sandal is giving me a blister…”, and the classic, “Are we there yet?!” Maybe some guys stayed home. What were they thinking?
We may never know what these people were thinking or what it was like to be there that night in Bethlehem 2000 years ago. And while it’s interesting to speculate and consider, tonight I challenge you to think about how you’re reacting to the signs in your life that point to the reality of Jesus. He is here, how are you responding?
