Christmas conjures up the romantic and mystical in many of us. It does in me. I have many pleasant and nostalgic memories of Christmas past. From the fireplace roaring and crackling on Christmas morning, to eggnog laced with rum, the smell of a freshly cut Christmas tree, and all the presents under the tree. As a youngster I was infatuated with the Christmas season.
But as I’ve grown older, what captures my imagination at Christmas, is less about the outward festivities and more about the actual story. It’s the biblical story that challenges my imagination. The Christmas story is less about the mystical and more about the miraculous.
The Greatest Miracle Story of all Time
Christmas is about miracles. It’s the greatest miracle story of all time. No historical event even compares. Christmas is about God choosing a young 14 to 15-year-old girl to bear the Ruler of the world. It’s a story of Mary being told by an angel that she would become pregnant, not through a man, but through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Christmas story is the miracle of a dream to Joseph, shepherds seeing angels, and wise men traveling hundreds of miles to worship the newborn child. It’s the miracle of the Christmas couple and child narrowly escaping to Egypt when a mad king exterminates all the children under two. Without the miracles you don’t have a story.
Theme of Christmas
If I were to pick the theme of Christmas it would be the angel speaking to Mary, “For with God nothing will be impossible” (Luke 1:37). Mary believing it and said in response, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (verse 38). The Christmas story hinges on these two verses—God’s power and Mary’s faith.
That is the point. Christmas is a narrative of a miracle working God. And the greatest miracle of all time is that you and I can have a right relationship with God. As we enter the Christmas season, may the miracle of Christmas fill your heart with joy.
Pastor Steve
