In a few days from this year’s Christmas, I will be sporting an oversized, sparkling, red and gold robe, as I’ll be transformed, from being the mid-thirty year old youth leader that I am into "Wiseman #2" - a cranky old wise-guy whose sense of humor has a lot to be desired. One of my highly organized and equally intelligent youth will be directing a humorous rendition of that famous wonderful story; the story that has been annually repeated in churches around the world since that great day; the day where the angels came and scared the living jeebies out of the lowly shepherds with the the 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.” - Luke 2:10-11 You guessed it - I’ll be playing the part of one of the wisemen in the Christmas story, or known in other circles as ‘the nativity story.’
What is this story? Its a simple story of a young, first-century newlywed couple who is desperately trying to find a place to rest, as they are expecting their first child; a child who by the way came into the situation under very unusual circumstances: by being miraculously and divinely conceived via the Holy Spirit; however the method of conception is not the centre of this story as much as is the conceived baby: the savior of the world (cf. Matthew 1:21), Jesus Christ, the Lord. This story is a story of not only a budding love between a husband and a wife, but also supernatural creatures, known as angels, lowly and humble shepherds who experienced a night at work that they will never forget, and about 1500+ years of prophetic utterances being fulfilled. However it is also a story of great violence as a jealous Roman governor commands that all boys under 2 years old be slaughtered because of a rumor of a new king who is coming to town; a king who is now only a toddler, but who will, in the Roman governor's mind, grow up and cause him more trouble than what he would like to deal with.
Usually when a Christian clergyman preaches on a Sunday morning service at or near Christmas time, this story, or at least parts of it gets honed in on; and for good reason as like the rest of Scripture the Christmas story is multi-dimensional in its education and application. It is more than a story of angels scaring shepherds, Mary and Joseph and their miracle child, and wisemen with expensive gifts. Its a story of great humility, wonder and joy - and sadness!
Sadness? Well, what is the reason for Christmas? Jesus explains that “...the reason [He] was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.” - John 18:37 What truth? That he is the king (cf. John 18:36). That he is the light of the world. (cf. John 8:12) That he is God (cf. John 8:58). That he is the redeemer from sins and that we sinners have to accept that he is God or we will die in our sins (cf. John 8:24). That he is the only way to salvation (cf. John 14:6); and that his death, burial and resurrection is the only way to save us from our sins (cf. John 8:28, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Where does the ‘sadness’ come in? To put it simply - the need for Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection: we disobeyed God, corrupting the entire creation and severing our communion with him. However this story has a happy ending; an ending where there is eternal happiness due to being reunited with his creation. The story of Jesus ministry is a five part story of which his birth is only part 1. However what is the support beam for this story; what part, if taken out the story the entire collection of narratives and dialogues will be rendered nonsensical and useless? Is it, part 3 - his pre-crucifixion suffering and death on the cross? How about, part 2 - the social and moral education that he gave throughout the three years of his ministry? Or how about part 5 - his triumphant second return? Although all of these facets of is ministry are vital to his service here on earth, with the exception of part 5, there is only one other facet of Jesus' ministry that is a ‘make or break’ aspect. In addition to his triumphant return there is only one other aspect of his ministry that if it was taken out or was never implemented would render the rest of His ministry, educationally and functionally useless, in fact the doctrine of his second return would also be affected; that part is part 4 - his resurrection. The Apostle Paul writes:
But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. - 1 Corinthians 15:12-18
Without Jesus resurrection Christians, both on and off the pulpit are liars; their preaching is useless and they are, like the rest of the world, condemned. So Jesus could have born; he could have taught all the good things he taught, did all the miracles he is recorded in doing and died a gruesome death on the cross; but if he is still dead or to put it another way if he did not rise, then you and I are eternally condemned to death.
What does this mean for Christianity? This means that out of all the ligaments that all play a part in making Christianity what it is as a belief system, the entire veracity of Christianity hinges on Jesus rising from the dead. In sum if Jesus’ resurrection can be proven to be just a tale, then Christianity is proven to be nothing more than a complicated story of culture, miraculous events, action, love, and thought provoking wisdom. In fact without the resurrection of Christ then realities like justice, mercy, good and evil can be called into question or at least they would have to be reassessed in a different light; perhaps all these facets are best explained under the guise of Islam or Sikhism; or perhaps they are really misnomers as the entire spectrum of ‘theism’ is phony and atheism is correct; but more importantly and a more crucial fact to accept is that no matter what, if there is no resurrected Lord Jesus then there is no second return. If there is no resurrection of Jesus, the son of the living God, then there is no Christianity; and if there is no Christianity there is no Christmas.
So this year, when you go door to door caroling, perhaps you might want to integrate into your collection of songs and even consider it as an honorary ‘Christmas Carol’ the song: Lord, We Lift Your Name on High. As him coming from heaven to the earth, then to the cross and grave and then to the sky has given all of us good reason to be grateful this Christmas season.
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