Joe BrownChristmas Eve is one of the most exciting days of the year for me. What makes it so thrilling is the hope that Christmas Day brings for tomorrow.
When I was a child, the hope of Christmas existed in the anticipation of presents culminating from a visit from Santa Claus. Sleep was impossible for many of those Christmas Eves. I would lie in bed, tossing and turning and wondering how much longer before Mom or Dad would knock at the door and say it was OK to get up.
That hope sustained me for many years. However, as an adult, my heart started yearning for much more than presents. And that’s where the real hope of Christmas took over.
I’m sure Joseph and Mary had hopeful hearts as they entered Bethlehem. I love the way how Mary is described as obviously pregnant in Luke 2:5. At that point, the baby could come at any moment. Mary and Joseph’s hearts must have been filled with excitement. They couldn’t know that the baby would come the next day.
When Jesus was born, Mary probably hoped for different circumstances such as a warm house surrounded by family. Instead, he was born in a stable and “she wrapped Him snugly in strips of cloth and laid Him in a manger” (Luke 2:7). Why? “Because there was no room in the inn.”
No mother has ever looked into the face of her newborn child and not wondered what kind of child she has been blessed with. As Mary and Joseph stared into the face of Jesus, pondering those questions, an angel of the Lord was announcing the answer to a group of shepherds.
“Don’t be afraid!” the angel said. “I bring you good news that will bring joy to all people. The Savior – yes, the Messiah, the Lord – has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:10-12).
Tomorrow we will celebrate Christmas with family and friends by giving and receiving of gifts and probably the sharing of a meal. Yet the real hope of Christmas is the truth announced to those shepherds we have a Savior. He is the Messiah. He is our King. He is our Lord. He is the gift of God for a lost and dying world.
Tomorrow, I hope you will find some time to look into the face of that little baby born so long ago. I hope you will see and know through him that God truly loves you. As you share a meal with family and friends, be reminded of that child who was placed in a manger (a feeding trough) and feed upon this truth: He is the Bread of Life. He is all you will ever need.
My prayer for you this Christmas is found in Romans 15:13: “I pray that God, the source of hope will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
To me, this is the real hope of Christmas.
Joe Brown is pastor at Battlefield Parkway Church of the Nazarene in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.