When did Christmas become Christmas to you?
When did it become more than Santa and stockings and presents?
When did it morph into more than choirs and candles and carolers?
When did Christmas become more than family?
When Christmas becomes Christmas, it changes everything! Consider several main characters in the Christmas story. . .
Christmas made Mary the mother of our Savior. She was just a young devout Jewish girl, engaged but still a virgin, when the invitation from God through Gabriel changed her present and future. Mary responded to that invitation with a yes, with trust, with agreement and submission and became the mother of the Son of God. The identity of Christmas birthing in Mary changed her—and changed our world.
Christmas made Joseph the stepfather of Jesus. One day he was a carpenter, engaged to Mary. Then he found that she was pregnant, though they had not consummated their marriage. In an attempt to help Mary save face, Joseph graciously decided to divorce her quietly. Before the next day dawned, a dream and an angel rearranged Joseph’s entire world. Christmas changed Joseph from a devastated, grieving, groom-to-be to a committed, trusting husband of the mother of our Savior, who accepted her Son as his own.
Christmas changed the shepherds. After an angel appeared, they moved from a field to a manger. Christmas changed the shepherds from watching over lambs near Jerusalem to worshiping the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. They went from talking to themselves and the sheep in their care to spreading the message of Jesus’ birth throughout the town.
Christmas changed the Magi. They followed a star to honor a newborn king and along the way were instructed by Herod to report back their findings. After finding the Christ child, they refused to betray Him. Christmas changed their loyalties from honoring an earthly authority to recognizing a heavenly presence.
Christmas changed Herod. Knowing his false royal identity—he was neither of the line of David nor even a true king—Herod fought to rid the world of his rival king, the tiny baby and promised Messiah. Unsure of the child’s location, he ordered the slaying of all baby boys two years and under to make sure his throne would remain intact. But Joseph and Mary escaped to Egypt with their Son; Herod missed Jesus. Christmas changed Herod from a man who might discover faith to one who rejected learning about Christ and instead, followed after fear.
And what about the others? Zechariah, Elizabeth, Anna and Simeon? In the telling of the first Christmases, Scripture reveals how many people were changed by its arrival.
When Christmas becomes Christmas, it changes people. It changed me. It can change you.
From the moment we first thrill to the magic of twinkly lights and long-awaited promises, through our discovery of the hollow of the holy night, we embrace Christmas’ salvation and its sacrifice and we are changed.
Christmas changes everything. It gives meaning to meanderings, wonder to our wanderings, and joy to our journeys.
Might this Christmas be one where you re-experience—or perhaps it’s the first time—the miraculous birth of Christmas?
–Written by Elisa Morgan. Used by permission from the author.
To order Elisa’s new book, Christmas Changes Everything, click here.
