Merry... errrr....Boxing day?

Merry Christmas! I hope this finds you all healthy and in good spirits during this holiday season. Please share a thought or two with me about the message the angels gave the shepherds during the season of Christ’s birth…

And the angel said to them, Do not fear. For behold, I give to you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For to you is born today, in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this is a sign to you. You will find the babe wrapped, lying in a manger (Luke 2:10-12).

I find this interesting. The angels, in bringing news of the birth of mankind’s only savior, declared the proof of their message. The Christ was to be found wrapped in strips of material and laying in a hollowed out stone feeding trough. He was found exactly as foretold.

Fast forward approximately thirty years later. The angels had a very similar message.

And the angel answered and said to the women, Do not fear, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay (Matthew 28:5-6).

The sign that Christ was exactly who He said He was, was an empty tomb which contained the remains of some white linen which had been used as burial cloth. His life ended almost as it began, in a hollowed out stone, with angels declaring “go see where He lay”.

Jesus was born and found in a stone feeding trough, in a place called Bethlehem which means the house of bread in the Hebrew language. In His life He taught He was the bread of life, and anyone who fed from Him would never hunger and never die. In His death, He died to make a way so we would not have to, paying the price of our individual sin which alienates us from God both in this life and in the life to come. To show He accomplished the task He was born to fulfill, we can still see the empty stone tomb, empty because He has the power of life.

At Christmas we focus on the arrival of Jesus. From before the time He was born there were hints as to why he came. At the time of His birth, we see a circular story begin. In Hollywood we watch circular movies, movies which end where they began. It is only a shadow of the original circular story. This is the complete Christmas story I pray no one forgets.

God bless you all during these holidays.
Arron.