Don’t Miss Christmas
It seems very strange that the world would hold such an elaborate and enormous birthday party and then totally miss the very Person it is being held in honor of, yet this is what happens every year. However, missing Christmas is not a modern-day phenomenon as you could trace it back to the very first Christmas.
The Innkeeper missed Christmas since he was busy running a small hotel in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. Luke 2:7 records, "And she (Mary) gave birth to her first-born son and she wrapped him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." The inn was full because of the census that Caesar Augustus had decreed to be taken (Luke 2:1–3), so the innkeeper was busy caring for his guests. He wasn’t being indifferent or hostile or unloving or unsympathetic, he was just preoccupied with the busyness of the moment. You could say he missed Christmas because he had a crowded heart.
Herod (Matt. 2:1–3), the king of the Jews missed Christmas because the news of another king being born threatened the legitimacy of his throne (He wasn’t a Jew, but ruled by appointment of the Roman Senate). He was a political madman who sought glory and the grandeur of a kingly palace. He was paranoid of losing his position, so he had anyone killed who he suspected was a threat (his brother-in-law, one of his 10 wives, his mother-in-law, 3 of his 12 children). This paranoia led him to order all children under age 2 in Bethlehem to be killed. You could say Herod missed Christmas because he had a calloused heart.
The chief priests and scribes missed Christmas. They were the theological minds of their day and were in Jerusalem when the wise men inquired about where Jesus was going to be born (Matt. 2:4). They knew Christ was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), only 5 miles from Jerusalem, yet they didn’t bother to travel there to see if it were true. They demonstrated a self-righteous indifference and missed Christmas with a closed heart.
The general population of Jews and Romans missed Christmas. The Jews missed the reality of their religious rituals. The Romans had their idols of worship that blinded them from seeing the truth of the coming Savior. John 1:10 said, "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him." They missed Christmas because they had confused and clueless hearts.
What about you and me today? Are we missing the heart of Christmas with all the clutter of the season knowing that it is the celebration of the birth, the incarnation of Emmanuel, God with us? Someone defined Christmas as a magic time when the year runs out, neighbors run in, batteries run down, and the bills run up. What a big miss!
An old legend tells of the time Satan and his demons were having a Christmas party. As the demons were preparing to leave, one grinned and said, "Merry Christmas, your majesty!" to which Satan replied with a growl, "Keep it merry, my friend. If they ever get serious about it, we'll all be in trouble."
Pastor Jeff
“Oh, my brethren, Christ is King! You are His subjects if you are saved. He is King in Zion, and He shall reign forever and ever. No adversary shall overthrow His kingdom; no revolution shall ever shake His throne.”