The illustration of Christmas

Luke 2:36-38 (NIV)

36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Those to whom Christ is made known have reason enough to give thanks to the Lord for so great a favour; and we should be excited to that duty by the praises and thanksgivings of others; why should not we give thanks likewise, as well as they? Anna concurred with Simeon, and helped to make up the harmony. She confessed unto the Lord (so it may be read); she made an open profession of her faith concerning this child. [Matthew Henry Commentary]

When the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci went to China in the sixteenth century, he brought along samples of religious art to illustrate the Christian story for people who had never heard it. The Chinese readily adopted portraits of the Virgin Mary holding her child, but when he produced paintings of the crucifixion and tried to explain that the God-child had grown up only to be executed, the audience reacted with revulsion and horror. They much preferred the Virgin and insisted on worshiping her rather than the crucified God.

As I thumb…through my stack of Christmas cards, I realize that we in Christian countries do much the same thing. We observe a mellow, domesticated holiday purged of any hint of scandal. Above all, we purge from it any reminder of how the story that began in Bethlehem turned out at Calvary.

[Philip Yancey, The Jesus I Never Knew (Zondervan, 2002), p. 25]

Let us all give thanks to The Lord for what He has done. Let us not remember Christmas as just the birth of Jesus, but also the coming of a savior who suffered for our sake that we might have eternal life with Him in heaven.

Merry Christmas to all my family and friends. May God bless each one of you! May pains and sorrows be wiped away! May joy fill your hearts are you celebrate with family and friends! May God’s love cover all the hardships of life and bring joy into your world.

The next few weeks I will be taking a break from writing while I reflect on the holidays and enjoy this time with family and friends in the celebration of The Lord Jesus Christ. I may not know each and every one of you personally, but my love is extended to you just a Jesus extended His love to all of us.