(Continued from yesterday)
There were others that missed that first Christmas. They were two groups of people that should have known Christ — but still chose to ignore Christ.
There were the religious leaders. They knew where Christ was to be born (Micah 5:2), but showed no interest in Him when the wise men showed up. Doesn’t it strike you as more than a little ironic that these men couldn’t (or better, wouldn’t) walk the six or seven miles from Jerusalem to Bethlehem to check out the incredulous story of the wise men, while these astronomers traveled hundreds of miles over several months?!! They had no time for Christ because they had no need for Christ. Their pride prevented them from being bothered by a baby. Don’t miss the irony of the story: the created wore (and wears) the cloak of pride, while the Creator put on the mantle of humility!
The battle for God’s people is (and always has been to keep a heart and admit a need for God). The lesson of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day is that it is easy to be busy for God and yet become apathetic about Him (unfortunately, not much about that changed in the early church, or today either; remember the letter to the Ephesian church in Rev. 2:1-7). They were no different from the innkeeper that Joseph and Mary encountered in Bethlehem. He was preoccupied with the affairs of the world and business; the religious leaders were too preoccupied with the affairs of religion. And both missed Christ.
And finally, there were the citizens of Nazareth. No, they weren’t present at Christ’s birth, but they were present for His growing up. They saw Him more than anyone else, yet when Christ presented Himself to them as Messiah (Lk. 4:16-21), they not only rejected Him, but also desired to kill Him (vv. 28-29). That’s missing Christmas! They saw Christ so regularly they couldn’t believe He was anything but ordinary.
The corollary today for those who “grow up in the church” and become complacent about Christ is the same — thinking what is extraordinary is ordinary. The problem with Christmas today isn’t that people believe the story of Santa Claus; everyone recognizes it is a fable. The problem is that we don’t believe in the wonder of Christ’s advent anymore than the people of Nazareth did.
The fundamental difference between those who saw and those who missed Christmas is that those who saw it (Him) had a simple, deep faith that believed what they saw.
If we miss Christmas, it is not so much because of activities, but the faulty heart attitude that accompanies those activities.
Words of Grace 