Who is Christmas? – Part 1

Ah, Christmas is here. Well, the actual day is not but the season sure is. Ever since Black Friday it seems that traffic has been worse and stores have been incredibly crowded. ‘Tis the season, right? So why all of this shopping, why all the lights and obnoxious blow up things in your neighbor’s front yard, why are we singing Christmas songs in church, why is everything red and green? Who started all of this?

This time of year is wonderful. For me it brings memories of reading Christmas stories while sitting on the couch in my parents family room. I can remember hearing the cold wind blowing outside and have fond memories of playing in the snow. Those were the days. Since then I have become smarter and stay inside when it snows outside. Nonetheless, this is a happy time of year filled with warm memories.

But why?

Well, the short answer, Jesus. Such a sunday school answer but it is so true. The reason for all of this hub-bub is Jesus. More accurately it is God coming to earth in human form (don’t just glaze over that…think about it). So who was Jesus that he has this day designated to himself thousands of years after he walked on our dusty planet?

Jesus was Human.

Flesh and bones. He had an actual stomach, heart, two kidneys, a brain, eyes, ears, etc. He had what we have, a human body. He had a family, just like you and I. His siblings mocked him (John 7:1-5), and at one point in his time on earth his family even thought he was going a little crazy in the head (Mark 3:20). Sound familiar? He also had a great sense of humor (look at Mark 6:45-51 and John 8:1-11), which is refreshing to see, and became frustrated one time or another (John 9:17-19). I have a sense of humor, become frustrated, have a family, my brother mocks me every once in a while (and I him), and I’m sure my family has scratched their heads while thinking of me a few times. What is great about all of this, Jesus had this too! He was human through and through. (More examples you can relate to: he became hungry (Matt. 4:2), slept (Luke 8:23), cried (John 11:35), and sweat (Luke 22:44)).

Jesus was God.

There is so much to that statement that your head just might implode if you think about it too long. So don’t. We can read it in the Bible and believe it, but to wrap out heads around it will take more than a simple reading of scripture. But, even though it is hard for our minds to comprehend how a human could also be God, it is true (take a look at John 1:1 and John 1:14). And what is great about Jesus is that he said so. One of my favorite statements Jesus made about his deity is found in John 8:58: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM” (italics and bold text added, ESV). Abraham is past tense, Jesus is present tense. I love that.

Again, there is so much to unpack with the humanity of Christ and his deity, but this introduction should be enough to remind you of why we celebrate Christmas and who is behind it. And his time on earth is just the middle of the story, just scratches the surface at how complex He is and was. Part 2 – “The Beginning and the End and the Beginning” will show you exactly HOW human he was and HOW God he was and is today.

Thoughts? Questions? Comments? Converse below in the comments.

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