We all celebrate Christmas – if not the Christian holiday, the season it brings. Most of us look forward to it every year, even if it’s just from a secular perspective of gift-giving or for the aesthetics that accompany the season: lights, music, snow, eggnog, etc.
But why? Is it about the one time of year that people “spread good cheer,” get a breather from work and have celebrations? Is it about some baby being born in a manger? Or is it just a function of tradition, something that Christians mark as one of their several holidays?
Why is it such a big deal? Or is it even a big deal?
It’s a very big deal. The point is exactly what Emmanuel means: “God with us.”
Promise
For thousands of years, Yahweh had been telling His people of the coming Messiah… the one who would save His people from oppression and redeem them from their transgressions (Genesis 3:16, Deuteronomy 18:15, Daniel 2:44, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 25:9, 28:16, 32:1, 35:4, Micah 5:2, Jeremiah 23:5, 33:16, among others)… and by Jesus’ time, the prophets in Israel had been silent for half a millenium.
So for the Jewish people, and by extension, future followers of Christ, the Messiah, Jesus’ coming was the fulfillment of a promise and the breaking of silence.
Commencement
With the birth of Jesus, a new kingdom was ushered in. This was the beginning of Jesus’ ministry to many, His life in fulfillment of the law, and eventually His death, burial, and resurrection. It was the commencement of all things that needed to take place to fulfill God’s redemptive plans. Because without the Incarnation (Christ coming in the flesh), Christ would not have lived… and without life, He would not have died… and without death, He would not have resurrected… and without the resurrection, our faith would be in vain (1 Corinthians 15:13-15).
Christmas marks the answer that God gives to many questions in the birth of Jesus.
“Return, O Lord! How long (Psalm 90)?”
Christ’s coming answered the silence of the Old Testament prophets. Christ’s coming answered the problem of sin that decayed and was to destroy all of mankind.
And that is why we mark the Christmas season with Advent, which means “coming,” in Latin… because we mark the coming Christmas holiday in celebration, which marks the first coming of Jesus as the Commencement of what He did to redeem us… and we also mark His future coming that will consummate the kingdom of God.
As the song says, “Rejoice! Emmanuel has come!” God was and truly is with us. That is why Christmas is such a big deal.
