As I go through this Christmas season and reflect on what all it is supposed to mean I am disturbed by a question that is always prickling me in the back of my mind. This morning I was reading in John 19 about the death of Jesus. The parts that mention the fulfillment of Scripture and the prophecies from the Old Testament always stick out to me. The question that comes to mind, strangely enough, is about the importance of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ. Which one is more important?
Yes, they are all vital and one cannot be without the others. The Christmas season is all about celebrating the birth of Jesus the Messiah. But is it really? This season has very little to do with the birth of a child that later becomes the Savior of Creation. It has a whole lot to do with presents and family and friendship and celebration. I am starting to ramble a bit but my point is coming up. What if this season wasn't about the birth of the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior? What is this season is about the beginning of a story, a narrative, an unfolding of God's plan?
Luke begins his gospel with his desire to unfold a narrative. I am about to break out some Greek, briefly, so be prepared. The word Luke uses is, transliterated, diegesis (dee-ay-gay-sis) and basically means"an account." However, it stems from two words that mean "through" and "to lead" with the idea behind the combination of words meaning something along the lines of "to lead through to the end." It is fascinating that Luke would use this word that can seem so analytical and logical yet has the implication of something so enticing and wonderful. Luke was simply stating the case of giving a full account of the life and work of Jesus, known as the Jewish Messiah, but maybe the Spirit was giving the author the inspiration of meaning something much more. What if this season is not celebrating so much the birth of Jesus as the beginning of a narrative of redemption that began at the birth of creation but is now fully being told through the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Christ? Another note of interest is that it is widely accepted by many biblical scholars that Luke and Acts are part of a collection written by the same author, but that it seems that the collection was not finished or the latter books were lost. Obviously I am no biblical scholar but I just find it interesting that Luke begins with the notion of telling a story to the end and the story is never given a conclusion. Possible? Maybe.
Back to my point: what if we stopped treating the Christmas season about gifts (duh) or about even the birth of Jesus but started recognizing it as the beginning of being led through the story of salvation? That might be a weird way of wording it but I hope it makes sense. It isn't something that could be drastically different but I think it makes a slight difference in how we interpret things. These are just some thoughts and musings as Christmas time approaches and I process through Scripture and study. I pray that I haven't said anything heretical in these brief thoughts ;)
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