Why We'll Always Celebrate Christmas!
The Heart of Christmas
Saturday, December 13, 2003
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, as our week of studying Luke 2:8-20 comes to a close, I thank You for the angels you sent to announce Jesus’ birth, for the shepherds who heard the Good News and shared it with everyone who would listen; for Mary and Joseph who were faithful, each in their own way to fulfilling Your plan for their lives. I pray that I, too, may be faithful, and that I may live each moment to Your glory and honor. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit that I may truly share the Good News of great joy with everyone I come into contact with during this Christmas season. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Bible Verses
Luke 2:8-20
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”
15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
The Heart of Christmas
Without a doubt the heart of Christmas is God’s heart—it was His heart for us that caused Him to come in the form of Jesus to serve us and save us! In addition to God’s heart that brought us Christmas, the one human being whose heart reflects Christmas most vividly is Mary. Mary was probably in her early teens when God asked her to take on the great privilege and responsibility of becoming the mother of the one who would become the Savior of the world, Jesus. Without hesitation (other than a question about how she could become pregnant since she was a virgin,) Mary’s response was, “I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me even as you have said.” Mary’s faithful obedience came from a heart that was fully devoted to God. She knew that her “yes” to God would involve a great deal of personal pain and turmoil. The first and perhaps biggest obstacle, was Joseph’s response to the “news” that she was pregnant and that the Holy Spirit was the father. Even the holiest of men would have found such news quite difficult to believe or accept. We know the story of how Joseph at first rejected the story and decided to “put Mary away privately,” but God interceded sending an angel to Joseph in a dream, so that he would take Mary as His wife and care for her until Jesus was born.
Throughout Mary’s life, she faced difficulties because of her decision to become the mother of Jesus. When Jesus was dedicated at the Temple in Jerusalem when He was eight days old, the prophet Simeon told Mary that because of Jesus her very soul would be pierced. As Jesus grew and Mary and Joseph cared for, nurtured and disciplined Him, they undoubtedly lived with the constant reality that Jesus, their Son, was the Son of God. How would a parent treat such a child? When additional children came along, how would they be treated in comparison to Jesus? These are questions most of us probably never consider, but Mary had to consider each one, and not only consider them but live them out in her daily life!
Mary’s heart was devoted to God. Her heart was willing to be broken for God. Her heart was filled with “ponderings.” When the shepherds came to visit with their amazing news of angels visiting earth and telling them about Jesus’ birth, Mary “treasured up all these things and PONDERED them in her heart.” Mary must have reflected continuously on the implications of having Jesus as a son. One day she would come to worship Him as her Lord and Savior, but for the formational years of Jesus’ life she would nurture and provide for Him. We’re told of another occasion when Jesus’ actions caused Mary to ponder—when He was twelve years old and on the family was on the way home from Jerusalem after the Passover festival. Mary, Joseph and the other family members started back to Nazareth, but Jesus didn’t go along. He stayed back in Jerusalem at the Temple. Mary and Joseph didn’t notice it at first. In those days it was common for folks to travel in large family groups, and for children to travel with a cousin, or uncle, so Mary and Joseph must have assumed that Jesus was with the group. He wasn’t. When they discovered it, they retraced their steps back to Jerusalem and it took three days to find Jesus. Imagine the thoughts that Mary’s hearts must have pondered in that time! What could have happened? Where is He? Is He okay? When they found Jesus He was in the Temple, and was surprised that Mary and Joseph didn’t realize that he would have been “in His Father’s house.” When the experience was over Mary pondered all these things in her heart.
To ponder something in our hearts is to roll the event, or idea over and over again, to consider all the implications, to seek to discern the truth and to grow from it. Mary did this consistently and constantly in her life. We would do well to learn this habit from her. Pondering matter in our hearts goes beyond thinking about it on the one hand, or just experiencing emotions on the other. The Bible makes it clear that the heart is the “wellspring of life,” and therefore the heart is the seat of all true growth and transformation. As we ponder Jesus in our hearts, as we receive Him into our hearts as Savior and Lord, our hearts change and are made new. That’s what Christmas is all about in the end—God’s heart could not allow ours to be separated from Him by sin and death, so He came here and lived among us that our hearts may be joined to His.
As we live through this Christmas season may we allow our hearts to be touched by God’s amazing love. May we ponder God’s goodness and faithfulness in our lives and seek day by day to let our hearts become more like His. As we do that, and as we share the Good News of Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection with others, our hearts come fully alive and not only are we transformed, but others are spurred to transformation as well! Love came down at Christmas, as the old saying goes, and because of it, the human heart need never be the same again!
To view other studies from the Why We Celebrate Christmas series, click here.