Christmas Day

When I was a young man, my brother John and I sometimes had the job of droving sheep from the property where we lived, to some additional country Dad owned. This job took a couple of days so we had the pleasure of sleeping out under the starts. On a clear night that was a wonderful experience. No town lights, no traffic noises, complete quiet, broken only by the noise of crickets and the occasional call of a Mopoke or Night Owl.

The Bible tells us that the shepherds were watching their flocks by night and I can picture them doing just what my brother and I did. Lying on their backs, looking up at the starts. One shepherd would point to an area in the sky and say "doesn't that group of starts look like a bear?" or "look at that frying pan over there" and "I wonder if those are the seven sisters." (or whatever constellations they have in the Northern Hemisphere). When suddenly the whole sky above them was filled with what the Bible describes as "the glory of the Lord" and an Angel appeared.

The Bible says they were very frightened, and that is probably a considerable understatement! However, the Angel said "Fear not, for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord".

The city of David was, of course, the town of Bethlehem. The Angel then went on to tell them where to find the baby and how he would be dressed. "Then suddenly", the Bible says "there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace and goodwill toward men." 

Then, as suddenly as they had appeared, they were gone, leaving the shepherds wide eyed, with their mouths open. When they regained their composure, they said, "Hey, let's go and check this out" (or words to that effect) because Bethlehem was near to where they were. 

Upon arrival, sure enough, they found things exactly as the Angel had said. There in the stable belonging to the Inn, they found Joseph and Mary with their donkey, and some other animals, and the baby Jesus wrapped in cloth and bedded down in a small feed trough. Now a feed trough is not really the place you would expect to find a King is it? bear in mind though that Mary came on a donkey and there really wasn't room for a bassinet on a donkey. The accommodation problem was caused by the sudden influx of visitors to the town, people like Joseph and Mary, who were complying with an order by the Emperor Caesar Augustus that all people must return to their place of birth and register, as he was taking a census so he could tax everybody.

Hundreds of years earlier a Prophet had foretold that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. God knows the future and arranges things His way. Some people would say, "Surely then, God could have arranged it so there was a bed for this special family". Well, no doubt He could. And He did, you see a stable was the place where He wanted Jesus, the saviour of the world, to be born. 

"Why?" you may well ask. Well, simply because God wanted Jesus to be born in a lowly situation, so none of us could say to Him, "it's alright for you, you had it better than me." This followed through His life on earth, He either walked, or rode on a borrowed donkey, and He died a death that no one would envy. He is the greatest King there ever was, but God arranged for Him to be brought up in a Carpenters cottage, instead of a palace, so he could empathise with ordinary people. However, God also knew that King Herod would want to kill baby Jesus, thinking that He would one day usurp his throne, so God sent three wise men from the east to confirm that Jesus was to be a King and brought Him presents. One of the presents was gold, that would be very useful for Joseph (Jesus' earthly dad, who was not a rich man), so he could then afford to take Mary and Jesus to live in Egypt until Herod died. 

Therefore, no matter what situation we find ourselves in, Jesus understands and can empathise with us, even if we are migrants, or persecuted, and can offer us comfort, reassurance, understanding and best of all, Eternal Life by forgiving any sin we have committed, that is, if we ask Him to, and request that He be the Lord of our life. 

Many years ago a Christian man, called Saint Nicoholas, recognised that Jesus was God's great gift to mankind and started the tradition of giving out gifts to remind us of God's wonderful love. His name has deteriorated over the years from Saint Nicholas to Sannicolas and Santa Claus and this tradition of giving is great and helps make Christmas a lot more joyful, as God wants it to be!

So have a wonderful, happy, love-filled Christmas! Best, Tom