Christmas remains a continuous ‘Mystery’ for all time

Francis Vethanayagam

In a little town in Bethlehem a unique event in the history of mankind that shook the world took place over twenty centuries ago. It was the birth of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, called Christmas.

This glorious event has been celebrated down the ages to the present time and would go on till the end of time. Christians throughout the world are once again preparing to commemorate this special occasion. This event was to be the beginning of the life story of the promised Messiah, who came in to the world, not only to redeem mankind from sin and bring salvation, but also to give comfort to the grief stricken, the poor, the suffering and downtrodden. This he did by the life he lived on earth and finally sacrificed his life by dying on the cross and taking on himself the penalty for human sin. The Messiah was to provide a serving mission on earth and rightly call the ‘Servant Yaweh'. He always wanted to serve and never expected to be served.

The real meaning and significance of the birth of Christ was importantly based on hope, expectation, love, justice, peace, good will and forgiveness, which was to be bestowed to mankind by his life, death and resurrection. For he was to be the way, the truth and life, and that he will come again in all his glory to judge the living and the dead. Therefore it should be clearly understood that every Christmas, it ought to be Christ with us now, forever and the Kingdom of God still to be realized. Christmases will come and go as it usually do every year, but like the life of Christ would remain a continuous mystery, which would bring new hopes of a new life in Christ to each and everyone. Although the first advent was only a prelude to a great and certain event the world was to witness, the significance, importance and impact on the human race then and now had not been properly understood to date, instead tends to remain a mystery.

To many, Christ continues to be a helpless babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes, still lying in a manger. On the contrary there are those who realize his rare and wonderful gift, to see God the father through Jesus. Jesus is in our lives, not only during Christmas, but everyday in our lives.

Festival of great joy

Christmas down ages has traditionally been an occasion and a festival of great joy and happiness. There is ample evidence in the Scriptures to show that Christianity is essentially a message of joy. The message of joy has echoed throughout the world from the very first Christmas. However it is sad to note that man has fashioned endless variations, by which the material joys have surpassed the spiritual joys that every Christian should experience during this time. Unfortunately today in a world that is drifting and growing more and more materialistic and secular, Christmas is fast losing its significance and meaning.

Man loses this real happiness when he deliberately keeps on distancing himself and ignores and abandons God only to remember and celebrate the occasion in a material way with only external manifestations.

Further the message of Christmas has been very often misunderstood and misinterpreted by a coterie of Christians who are influenced by their own ideologies and dispositions failing to realize that Christmas is a festival not merely denoting the birth of Christ, but the unity of God and man, the promise of salvation and eternal life. This can only happen with our meeting Christ in person. To such unbelievers Christ had been a failure. There is no Christmas without Christ the central figure. The spiritual joy, which the Angels proclaimed to the Shepherds and the world on the first Christmas night. “Be not afraid. I bring you tiding of great joy” is sadly lacking at the present time, which is the cause of confusion and turmoil to all mankind.

Untold suffering

As we look at the world, our country and in our own surroundings, theirs is full of evil, injustice, corruption, hatred, poverty, exploitation, untold suffering and misery. How many of us for a moment reflect and ponder that the message of Christmas was brought for the poor and lowly? Christ said “The poor you will have with you always and whenever you will, you can do good to them” (Mark 14/7). Then this is a time, when all those who call themselves followers of Christ must go out to a suffering world and share God's love and peace by a life of sacrificial service. The deeper meaning and message of Christmas is essentially peace and goodwill to all mankind combined with the other important aspect of caring and sharing. Since Christmas is back on the threshold, this challenge, that the love seen in the stable and later on the cross, to share the resources of God's world and message is to ensure peace, justice and equality among all mankind, more so the less fortunate. For hunger, want of shelter, clothing and financial problems, continue to plague the poor in our midst.

Then there are also destitute elders who have been disowned, discarded and abandoned by their own children. These helpless folks are either on the streets and left desolate languishing in the make shift homes undergoing immense suffering, pain of mind and hardship. Then Christmas is a God given time for affording them a better living and bringing relief, comfort or some sort of happiness in the sunset years of their lonely lives.

All these inhuman action and tendencies go to negate the very idea, for which Christ came into this world. It is incumbent on the part of every Christian to spread the message of love and compassion through noble deeds especially to the poor, the homeless, the lonely the marginalized and victims of war, so that they could live with honour dignity and peace. This could only be achieved by a change of heart, soul searching and attitude towards our fellow men. Once this is achieved, we could really be worthy being called children of God and true disciples of Christ.