THE REASON WE CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS

THE REASON WE CELEBRATE:
The Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-20 - NIV)

 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Lest we not forget, He is still the reason for the season. Always will be.

 

Singing about a man who was a baby, who became a boy, who became a man.

 

Born in an obscure village. A Child of a peasant woman, He actually grew up in another village where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. And for three years He was an itinerant preacher.

• He never owned a home,
• never wrote a book.
• He never held an office.
• He never really had a family of his own.
• Never went to college,
• Never set foot in a big city.
• He never traveled 200 miles from the place He was born.
• He never did one of the things that usually accompanies greatness.
• He had no credentials but Himself.

While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. Even one of His best friends denied him.

• He was turned over to His enemies.
• He went through the mockery of a trial.
• He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves.

While He was dying, His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on this earth and that was His coat. And when He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.

 

Nineteen long centuries have come and gone.

 

Today, He is still the centerpiece of the human race, and leader of the column of progress. I’m far within the mark when I say that:

• all of the armies that were ever marched,
• all of the navies that were ever built,
• all of the parliaments that ever sat, and
• all of the kings that ever reigned,

all put together, have not affected the lives on this earth as powerfully as has that ONE SOLITARY LIFE.

Good news is, He’s alive and all is well.

The above is adapted from an essay written by Dr. James Allan Francis