THE accounts of Jesus’ birth as told by the gospels and to the Christmas that the world knows and celebrates now are hardly alike.
The latter hardly measures up in meaning and purpose of the former. While the accounts of Jesus’ birth in the four gospels is a divine revelation, Christmas today is only an expression of humanity’s shallow and bare understanding of that divine truth. However true our celebrations may be, they hardly mimic to that cold and silent night when the tidings of Jesus’ birth were first announced.
To be rather blunt, I dare say that even our elaborate but sincere gift giving and display of kindness to one another, which by any measure is inarguably good and necessary, not anywhere close to the real meaning of Jesus’ birth. I’m afraid that with time, Christmas would become nothing but an empty holiday no different from other secular celebrations. At least by now, sans the bare presence of the dimension of the divine, we still see the sparking light of that truth amidst the pompous and superficiality that now shrouds it. For Christmas, if it is truly a celebration of Jesus’ birth – the Savior of the world, then it should be and supposedly a remembrance most holy and reverent.
Amidst the chaos and unrelenting crisis, one after another, the world is facing, the remembrance of His birth should bring not only hope but healing to people. If there should be divine outworking in the announcement of this truth, Christmas, if it indeed is a remembrance of Jesus’ birth, should fix broken homes and mending ruined relationships and heal deeply wounded lives. But no. The world has misunderstood Christmas. They missed seeing the powerful truth of the occasion.
Except for the fading familiarity of the words love, peace, hope and joy with Christmas, the celebrations is more and more synonymous to bonus, gifts, toys, lights ,and parties. Even among Christian churches – Evangelicals and Catholics alike who are ardent advocates of Christmas rarely mention the truth of the occasion. When Jesus’ birth is supposedly the good tiding of God’s salvation of the lost humanity, Christmas has replaced it with the mistaken tidings of misguided merry making and partying. Christian pulpits, I am afraid, have been harping this significantly affecting misconception.
Allow me to quote the truth of the occasion of Jesus’ birth as told by Luke in his gospel: “But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news, of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you: he is Christ the Lord.”