Fix Our Eyes on Jesus

I love Christmas. I don’t love all the hustle and hurry and angst over the last minute shopping, shopping, shopping, hustle and perfectionism in decorating and baking, and the relentless scheduling of all the parties and plays and perfectionism and whatnot that can sap the joy and meaning from Christmas, however. I don’t love the lines and crowds and cranky shoppers. I don’t love my tendencies toward materialism that make it so hard to tone down the gift buying and giving. I love to give gifts to my children that I know they will really enjoy getting, but I do not want them to think it’s all about the presents.

In the midst of all the “stuff” of the Christmas season, it is far too easy to get all caught up in the secular, materialistic side and lose sight of what we are really celebrating. I struggle with that every year.

Not long after I was married, when we still lived in Gainesville, FL, I used to work with a lady who was a Jehovah’s Witness, and, for some reason, she seemed to have taken me on as a witnessing opportunity. For one thing, she was an amateur photographer who had been asked to photograph some weddings, and, knowing that I had just gotten married a few months before coming to work there, she asked me if she could see my wedding pictures. Of course I was happy to bring them to share with her. Well, in our wedding, we had placed around the sanctuary some beautiful banners that the church had made that had some of the names of God on them, with the “Jesus” banner at the front. Those banners were the catalyst for some interesting conversations with this coworker about how we talk to God and what we call Him and why.

Several months later she handed me a copy of the “Watchtower” with an article tagged and told me she’d like to talk to me about it. Well, I prayed and asked for wisdom for about a week and studied my Bible, looking up everything I could find about Heaven and Hell because that seemed to be what she was going to be focusing on before we met for lunch one day. During the course of that conversation, we got to talking about Christmas. She made a comment that has stuck with me all these years. She said, “Well, why celebrate Christmas? He hadn’t even done anything yet at that point. He was just a baby.” And I answered, “Oh, but, you see, He had already done a great deal at that point!” Think about how God had caused the virgin to conceive and that Jesus is God in human flesh. Of course, she does not believe this, and really this is the crux of our differences, is it not?

We talked about many other things that day, and I’m very thankful for the way the Holy Spirit brought things to my remembrance and enabled me to give a defense for the hope that is within me, but every Christmas I still think about that comment that He hadn’t even done anything yet, and I pray for that woman, though it has been years since I have seen her. The most mysterious, incredible, awe-inspiring thing about Christmas, to me, is that God would come to earth and take on human flesh as a baby and live among us, Immanuel, God With Us. That never ceases to bring tears to my eyes and a sense of wonder and awe. That He would love us when we were so unlovable, and make a way for us to be reconciled to God and cleansed of our sin by fulfilling the Law and prophecy, enduring the cross and rising again on the third day is something I never want to be flippant about. How amazing that He would do such a thing. So, the fact that He was born of a virgin, born to die, while the angels singing at His birth to a group of lowly shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem guarding the Passover lambs pointed their attention to the One who would be the true Passover Lamb and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” is a glorious thing to celebrate. We celebrate, not only because He was born and placed in the manger, but because we know the rest of the story. We celebrate because He is the Savior who came to take away the sins of His people. And this is something infinitely worth celebrating every day of the year, not just on December 25.

I have been listening this week to John MacArthur preaching about Christmas, and if you haven’t been hearing this series, I would encourage you to look at the Grace to You website and listen, you can hear the quote below in the context he said it, but I really wanted to share this from today’s broadcast:

“His name is not Jesus, Immanuel, King, Christ because He’s our example. His name is not Jesus, Immanuel, King, Christ because He’s our teacher. His name is not Jesus, Immanuel, King, Christ because He’s our guide. His name is not Jesus, Immanuel, King, Christ because He’s our friend. He is all that. But His name is Jesus because He saves us from our sins. His name is Immanuel because He is our sympathizing strengthener, He is God With Us. His name is King because He’s our sovereign and the sovereign of the universe. And His name is Christ because He is the source of our life. And when you know all that, and when you believe all that, and when you confess all that, then you have seen through the trappings to the simplicity of the birth of Christ. That’ll make your Christmas significant, really significant. If you’ll do what Hebrews 12:2 says: fix your eyes on Jesus, King Jesus, Christ Jesus, Immanuel, it ought to make it the greatest Christmas for you, too.”

Merry Christmas.