Christmas Story

Dear Victorious,

Christmas is coming and every time I hear the Christmas story, I wonder how much of it could be true. Frankly, some of it seems rather irrelevant. I mean, is the fact that Jesus laid in a manger really a pertinent point? Are manger scenes, the shepherds watching the star or the wise men bearing gifts really the point? I hate to sound cynical, but it just seems to be a bunch of hype. In your opinion, what is about the Christmas story that really matters most?

Franklin S. - Albuquerque, NM

Dear Franklin,

I'm not sure if I understand your point. What question are you asking here? My sense is that you don't really even have a question - but rather you have somewhat of a beef with all the data points involved. To be clear, the most important elements of the Christmas story can probably be defined in two ways. First, it's the story of God coming to earth in a human form, amidst the humblest of circumstances. Second, it's the fulfillment of generations of prophecy. Finally, it's the massive paradigm shift that mankind needed to resolve our problem with sin.

The manger, the shepherds, the donkey, the star, the wise men, and other data points are just the circumstances. Consider, for example, how the story might look if God had waited until 2010 to come. Joseph and Mary might have been traveling on a budget airline, in the coach section. They'd be begging the hotel for a room - in a city that was sold out. Or maybe they'd have ridden into town on a motorcycle. The wise men would have brought diapers and baby clothes or toys. The shepherds might be replaced with call center representatives ... who saw the news of Christ's birth on Facebook.

I'm not trying to be cute here. But if all these absurd sounding circumstances were what we had to deal with --- the story would be exactly the same. We would still have God coming to earth in a human form, amidst the humblest of circumstances. We would still have the fulfillment of generations of prophecy. And we would still have the massive paradigm shift that mankind so desperately needed to resolve our problem with sin.

The real point of Christmas starts with the fact that we are hopeless sinners who are in dire need of a Savior. And it ends with the fact that God loved us so much that He provided that perfect Savior. Everything else is really just the circumstances. And truth always transcends the circumstances.