The True Meaning of Christmas

As Christmas nears, it's again time to reflect on what the true meaning of Christmas is. This Christmas has such a special meaning to me; so many things have happened since last Christmas, and the feeling is just so different. Everybody is celebrating Christmas... why? Is it just a tradition? Is it just a chance for people to have a break from work? Why is Christmas celebrated throughout the earth, what's so special about it? I guess, Christmas has been so commercialized these days that sometimes we celebrate without even knowing what we are celebrating.

I know what Christmas is about. We are celebrating Jesus' birth 2000 years ago, simple, right? We all know the story, baby Jesus in a manger in a barn, Joseph and Mary sitting beside, shepherds with sheep and cows and chickens, and the three wise men with the gifts, having followed the star to find the place where Jesus was born. It's such a simple story that I've taken for granted, but for the first time in my life, from Pastor Judah Smith's talk this year God made me realize the immense poetic beauty of the story, so rich in metaphor and in meaning...

First, some stuff that I didn't know about the story... In fact nobody really knows the exact date Jesus was born, nor why the church has chosen Dec 25th. All we know is that he was born some time between Aug and Dec. Another thing I didn't know was that nobody really knows how many "wise men" there were. The reason why people chose to depict 3 wise men was because of the 3 presents, but chances are there were many more.

The journey of the wise men is itself amazing. It was a long, arduous journey by camel across deserts and changing weather that lasted for more than a year... All they had was a bright star, and the incredible faith that just by following it, they will find a God-appointed king that would eventually rescue them from the oppression of the Roman empire, because that's what they read from the ancient scriptures. This was a journey of faith, and the decision to start the journey itself required an immense initial step of faith. How many of us would have such a courage?

But the story also illustrates that once we have the courage to step out in faith, we will find what we were looking for. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). Christmas is all about the start of a journey and a search, and we are the ones who must take the initiative. From the beginning God intended for us to search Him out, and He promises we will find the answer if we do.

What the wise men find at the end of the journey is even more amazing. God had promised to send a king to free the people. Using just common sense, I believe everybody would have expected to arrive at a majestic palace covered with gold, with red carpet laid out on a large hall, leading to a marble throne, where everybody would bow down before this powerful king. After all, this is what a "king" should be like in human eyes. For a king who is sent by God, this cannot be an exaggeration. But God chose the completely opposite: not a palace, but a dirty and old barn where animals were kept; not surrounded by armies, but by shepherds and animals; not raised by a wealthy family, but by an unheard of teenage peasant and a carpenter; not a powerful ruler, but instead a baby, so vulnerable yet so serene. As Bono from U2 had famously put it, "the idea that the same love and logic (that created the universe) would choose to describe itself as a baby born in sh*t and straw and poverty is genius. And it brings me to my knees, literally." Yes... God does not bring people to their knees by fear, but by the serenity of a baby. I believe many people's glasses have fallen.

Christmas is about faith. Ridiculous faith, as the pastor put it. Watching a baby born in such a miserable condition, and somehow still believing that this baby is going to do great things in the future, seems just ridiculous to me. They were wise men, intelligent men, but they were still willing to humble themselves and kneel before this baby.

I never really paid attention to the gifts that the wise men gave to Jesus, nor that they had any special meaning. They gave him three kinds of gifts: Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Gold was usually offered to a king, comparing Jesus as the king of the universe. A king that would not rule from a throne, but from a wooden cross; Frankincense was an incense that high priests burned in ancient times as an offering to God on the behalf of the people. This was a beautiful metaphor that Jesus would one day be the ultimate high priest, offering himself as the incense to God on behalf of us; finally, Myrrh was used to embalm dead bodies. Why would people give a baby such a present? It was, of course, a prophetic metaphor that this baby would one day die for mankind.

Christmas is about the birthday of Jesus. We might think of Christmas as the time of giving and receiving presents from friends and family, but if it's a birthday we are celebrating, shouldn't we be giving presents to the one whose having the birthday? Jesus, what do you want for your birthday? I wonder what He would answer. A photo album, a watch, a teddy bear? What can I give that you don't have already? I mean, you are God, you control everything, know everything, have eternity in your hands, what more can you want? I think, I sort of figured what He would answer. He wants our heart, He wants us to search Him out. That's all He wants. That's the true meaning of Christmas.

When the wise men meet Jesus, they went home by another route. Ask any Christian, and they will say, when you meet Jesus, you can never be the same, and you can never go back home the same way you came. For me, Christmas will never be the same.