The Hope of Christmas
The birth of Christ was a turning point in human history, the unveiling of the long-awaited Messiah who would pay the penalty for the sin of all mankind. And yet, when Jesus was born, and even during His years of ministry leading up to His crucifixion, relatively few actually recognized Him. Why was that?
From what I have read in the New Testament accounts, as well as what I have read about the history of the early New Testament era, I think part of the reason was because God’s plan for the Messiah didn’t match man’s earthly ideas of who He would be and what He would do.
Born in a stable, born into poverty, Jesus arrived in circumstances which must have seemed questionable, the miracle of His birth not being understood or believed by many. His parents were still only espoused (Luke 2:5) There was no grand royal birth announcement, only a special star in the sky and some shepherds telling tales of an angels appearing in the night.
The nation of Israel at the time longed for an earthly savior, someone to rid them of the Romans and restore them to their rightful place as rulers of the land God had given them. There were exceptions like Simeon and Anna, but on a whole, the bulk of God’s people longed only for freedom from oppression, for a return to the “golden age” of past kings like David and Solomon.
Yet, focused on everyday life and its problems, they seem to have forgotten the source of the peace and prosperity for which they longed. They waited with hope, but that hope was rooted solely in this life.
But God had a different plan, one that He knew would be better than anything His earthly-minded people could even imagine.
Instead of an earthly king, Jesus would be the King of Kings. (1 Timothy 6:15-16) Instead of freedom from Roman oppression, His blood would purchase our freedom from sin and its penalty of eternal death. (Romans 6) And instead of being a fallible, human leader who would soon enough be dead and gone, Jesus was God Himself, and would live a perfect, sinless life, then rise from the dead, alive for evermore! (Revelation 1:17-18)
The hope of Christmas is not an earthly hope. Though this hope blesses the saved in Christ in every area of our existence, it goes far beyond the daily circumstances of life. As 1 Corinthians 15:19 says,
“If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.”
That is why the hope of Christmas isn’t just something we trot out for a month or so each year. It is to be an underlying theme of our lives as we rejoice in Christ’s first coming, and look forward to His next.
As we celebrate the coming of our Savior, let us lift up our eyes and allow our hearts to look with longing and anticipation toward His second coming, rejoicing in the everlasting hope of Christmas.
“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11