John 19; John 20; John 21
The Whole Story About Christmas
Scripture
And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7 She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.
The Shepherds and Angels
8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”
13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
John 19 – His Death
So they took Jesus away. 17 Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha). 18 There they nailed him to the cross. Two others were crucified with him, one on either side, with Jesus between them.
32 So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the two men crucified with Jesus. 33 But when they came to Jesus, they saw that he was already dead, so they didn’t break his legs. 34 One of the soldiers, however, pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water flowed out.
He brought seventy-five pounds of perfumed ointment made from myrrh and aloes. 40 Following Jewish burial custom, they wrapped Jesus’ body with the spices in long sheets of linen cloth. 41 The place of crucifixion was near a garden, where there was a new tomb, never used before. 42 And so, because it was the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover and since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.
John 20 – His Resurrection
8 Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed—9 for until then they still hadn’t understood the Scriptures that said Jesus must rise from the dead. 10 Then they went home.
Observation
Tomorrow is Christmas! It is the day when millions will celebrate the birthday of the Christ Child. Sad but true, most of those who will celebrate tomorrow will not know and will not understand the whole story about Christmas. The birth of the Messiah is so much more than a quaint little story that most will think about on Christmas morning.
I agree that it is a beautiful story. The description of His birth that we find in Luke 2 is something that I never get tired of reading about or hearing songs about, but that is just the beginning of the story. Most people on this planet will get no further in the story than what we read in Luke 2 and for many the legend of Santa Claus and the birth of the Christ Child have about the same significance on Christmas morning.
If you and I only know about the birth of the Christ Child then we only know a small part of the Christmas story. Jesus did come to this earth from God. And yes He was born in a manger. But he came to this earth for a specific purpose and if you don’t understand why He came then you can’t understand the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus came to this earth to do something for us that we could not do for ourselves. He came to die for the penalty of our sins. He came to provide a way for us to have a relationship with His Heavenly Father. So Christ was born, He lived a sinless life, and then He allowed Himself to be put on a cross and He died a horrible death so that we might live forever with God in Heaven.
Jesus’ birth and Jesus death on the cross are still not the whole story of Christmas! In John 20 we discover that Jesus came back to life. The story of the Christ Child is not complete without his birth, his death, and his resurrection.
So as I stare at our Christmas tree this morning from my recliner across the room I can contemplate the true meaning of Christmas. I can think about the whole Christmas story. And I hope that you can too.
Application
I will take time today to thank Jesus for coming to this earth, for dying on the cross for my sins and for His coming back to life!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help people understand the true meaning of Christmas this year. Use our Christmas Eve services to help them understand that the Christmas story is more that just a babe in the manger. Help them to see and understand and accept the “Whole Christmas Story.”
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