“Christmas is a birthday party,” says 11-year-old Ashley. “It is Jesus’ birthday. At my church, we received a big birthday cake for Jesus.”
Ashley, you did well. Christmas is party time. It is time to celebrate God’s successful invasion of planet Earth. Yes, “invasion” because the Son of God entered hostile territory. In fact, after the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph took their baby and fled to Egypt.
King Herod did not like the idea of someone else being called King of the Jews. He ordered that all the male children of Bethlehem who were 2 years old or younger be killed, but Jesus had already escaped.
“I like to wake up on Christmas morning and pray because I know that today represents the birth of Jesus,” says 9-year-old Bethany. “I thank God for Jesus and my family.”
How many children (or even adults) wake up praying on Christmas morning? I’m impressed.
Kendall, 9, takes a more typical course of action: “One thing Mom and Dad still haven’t gotten used to is that we kids wake them up at 4 am or 3 am to open presents.”
Who needs to sleep when there are presents to open? “Christmas means getting clothes and stuff and trying to wear it all the first day back to school,” says 11-year-old Grace.
But that’s not all for Grace. Christmas also “annoys your siblings when there is nothing else to do on snowy days. It means asking your mother over and over how many days until Christmas.”
It’s easy to get so caught up in all the fun of Christmas traditions that we forget the reason for the season. Jesus is the Messiah that God promised. The wise men of the East knew this when they brought him the gifts of the child Jesus that symbolized his identity and mission.
In the ancient East, a person of a lower position always brought a gift when approaching a superior. Gold has long been the precious metal of royalty. Frankincense was one of the spices in the incense that was burned daily in the temple of Israel. And myrrh was used to anoint the body of Jesus for burial. Many have seen the royalty, deity, and death of Jesus in the gifts of the sages.
“When I look at the stars, I see a big star, and then it reminds me of Jesus,” says Jed, 7. The wizards followed a star. At the time of Jesus’ birth, spectacular heavenly displays were commonly associated with the birth of someone great.
An Old Testament Messianic prophecy predicted: “A star will rise from Jacob, a scepter will rise from Israel” (Numbers 24:17). Jesus called himself “the bright morning star” and “the line of David” (Revelation 22:16).
The apostle Peter calls the prophetic testimony about Jesus “a light that shines in a dark place, until the dawn breaks and the morning star rises in your hearts” (II Peter 1:19). We grope in the dark until the light of the bright morning star pierces our hearts. “In him (Jesus) was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1: 4).
“Christmas means a time to give love and be thankful that Jesus was born to die for our sins,” says Ryan (age unknown). “It is a time when we come together and thank the Lord. It is also a time to show love to our families and exchange gifts.”
As Ryan said, “Jesus was born to die for our sins.” This is the essence of the Christmas story. Don’t miss out on God’s greatest gift to us.
Point to ponder: Jesus is God’s greatest gift to the world.
Scripture to Remember: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and not from yourselves; it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2: 8-9).
Question to consider: Have you received the greatest gift from God?
