Do you ever find yourself a little sad after Christmas Day?
I do. Let’s give ourselves a little credit: it’s hard NOT to! There’s such a build up to Christmas and then—POOF—it’s done.
More people see counselors, psychologists, and psychiatrists, statistically at this time of year (after Christmas) than at any other time.
In his book What if Jesus Had Never Been Born?, D. James Kennedy wrote “Jesus Christ, the greatest man who ever lived, has changed virtually every aspect of human life—and most people don’t know it.”[1]
Everything Jesus touched—from culture in general, to people in specific, He utterly transformed. His birth touched time so profoundly that we changed the way we measure time because of it!
Even in an era when the scientific community uses B.C.E. (before common era) and C.E. (common era), you can’t escape the reality that the “common era” is the time after Jesus’ life split time in half!
It’s no wonder Jesus changed everything! Hebrews 1:3 teaches,
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”
Hebrews 1:3
New International Version
The Lord changes things He comes into contact with!
What would the world be had Jesus not been born? What if His incarnation had not happened? In the movie, It’s a Wonderful Life, the key emphasis is the power of one life on so many others. If Jesus had not been born, the impact on our world would be (as Dr. Kennedy states) “a canyon about the size of a continent”[2]
When the Magi came to meet Jesus in Matthew 2:1-2, they expressed remarkable truth. And even though we looked at this passage two days ago, there’s something else waiting for us to see.
Matthew 2:1-2 records
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”
Matthew 2:1-2
New International Version
It was common in that era to send an envoy to the birth of a prince (who would be king) and this envoy would come bearing gifts. That was customary and would not be strange.
But did you notice their language to King Herod? The Magi did not come just to pay a tribute to Jesus—they would have said that. Instead, they came to worship Him AND they called Him a KING—not a prince.
There was something about this Child that called them. It invited them to travel a great distance, following a supernatural star to worship the “king of the Jews”.
The Magi took on great expense and great peril to worship Jesus. They came not to pay just a tribute of precious gifts but to give their lives to this King!
It’s understandable we feel “the blues” after Christmas. Yet, the solution for us is found in the word “Christmas”. Christ…mass—the worship of Christ. There is a promise waiting for us as we worship our Savior, King Jesus: all the hope, peace, joy, and love He has promised.
Like those mysterious Magi of old, let us push through the obstacle preventing us from feeling the spirit of “Christ-mass” and center our mind’s attention and our heart’s affection on Him.
There are many Christian artists who have released “Christmas albums” containing worship songs. Go find one and listen to a few of these songs to help you remember to worship the Christ in the manger.
[1] Kennedy, D. James and Jerry Newcombe, What if Jesus Had Never Been Born? The Positive Impact of Christianity in History (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1994), 1.
[2] Kennedy and Newcombe, 4.
Life Meets Theology 