God and Jesus
What is Christmas really about?
Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. Christians believe that in him God himself became a human being and came to live among us, in order to rescue us.
The story
The accounts are in the opening chapters of Matthew and Luke. A young woman called Mary, engaged to a carpenter named Joseph, is told by an angel that she will have a son by the power of God’s Spirit. A Roman census takes the couple to Bethlehem, where the baby is born and laid in an animals’ feeding trough because there is no room for them elsewhere. Shepherds hear the news from angels and come to see him. Later, wise men from the east follow a star and bring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people. For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
God with us
The heart of Christmas is not the stable or the star. It is the claim that the baby was God. Christians call this the incarnation, which means God taking on human flesh.
The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel”; which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”
God did not send a message or a messenger. He came himself, and he came as a baby in a poor family, which says a great deal about what he is like.
Why he came
The name Jesus means “the Lord saves”, and the angel gave the reason for it:
She shall give birth to a son. You shall call his name Jesus, for it is he who shall save his people from their sins.
Christmas only makes sense in the light of Easter. The child in the manger grew up to die on a cross and rise again. He was born in order to do that.
Promised long before
Around seven hundred years earlier the prophet Isaiah had spoken of a child who would be born to rule for ever. His words are read in carol services every year.
For to us a child is born. To us a son is given; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Was Jesus born on 25 December?
The Bible does not give a date, and nobody knows. Christians were keeping 25 December as the festival of his birth by the fourth century. The date is a matter of custom. What Christians celebrate is the event.
Advent and carol services
Advent is the four weeks leading up to Christmas, a time of looking forward. In the UK it is when churches hold carol services, Christingle services, nativity plays and a midnight communion on Christmas Eve. These are among the best-attended services of the year and an easy time to visit a church for the first time.
What to expect when you visit a church