Alrighty then. I reckon you've had enough time to reflect on what a downer I am.
My point in the last post was not that we shouldn't be 'merry', but that we should be merry for the right reason.
What I mean is this...Why do we get all warm and fuzzy when we read Luke 2? Why do we read the story of Christ's birth with such happy overtones, especially when it is not a particularly happy story just on the face of it? And the story doesn't get any happier as we continue to read. Jesus goes through Judea healing everyone who comes to Him, does good, treats people nicely and fairly, and yet the Pharisees keep trying to find ways to kill Him.
Finally, they get Judas, one of His closest friends, to betray Him. After a mock trial He is crucified and Judas hangs himself. Still not a happy story, is it?
The answer that I am going to give you now is really very simple. But first, let me tell you what it is not. Here are three reasons not to be merry at Christmas.
1. The story of Christmas is not the story of human love overcoming all obstacles.O. K. You ready for this? The story of Christmas is meaningless and most certainly not 'merry' until we read about what happens three days after Jesus is crucified. This is what is so 'merry' about Christmas. Jesus rose from the dead! Easter is the reason for the season!
2. The story of Christmas is not the story of do good unto your neighbor and your neighbor will be good unto you.
3. The story of Christmas is not the story of doing right against all odds.
To be continued...
4 comments:
Okay, hurry up! Gimme the rest of it.
I don't think many families of Jesus' time were very happy either - considering that many families had their male babies killed by Herod.
Tell Magaly that photo of her on this post is her best one since she was in grammer school.
precisely. :)
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