Merry Christmas. The first four candles have been lit and are burning bright. Now the last and most important one of them all joins them and burns brightest in the middle of them. This is the Christ candle.
It’s hard to say anything that has not been said already about who Christ is and what He means to the holiday. We celebrate Christmas being the night of His birth, and give Him glory by sharing the joy and good tidings of the holiday with those around us. We celebrate His birthday with singing Christmas carols, enjoying holiday feasts, giving gifts, and many other ways. We specifically emphasize gift giving because Jesus was God’s gift to us.
Before I continue, think about the kinds of gifts that you give or receive. Maybe it as a toy that you spend hours playing with, or maybe a tool that you can use to fulfill a necessity in your life, of just something that brings sentimental value to your soul and expresses the love of the giver. Whatever it is, there is always a purpose to the gifts that we give and receive. In the same way, there was a purpose to why Jesus was born that night in Bethlehem, but the reason was not as clear as people thought.
As I have written these articles, I have touched a lot on what the people of Israel were expecting from the Messiah and how Jesus trumped those expectations and fulfilling the prophecies in unexpected ways. I will say once more what people were expecting and then say what the people got instead. They wanted a warrior-like king to take dominion over Herod’s dynasty and overthrow the Roman Empire and have Him live in a luxurious palace and rule over Israel forever. Instead of that, they get a baby born in a manger to a small town carpenter and his wife, and grew up becoming a carpenter himself and then changed roles to a wandering preacher who was despised by the religious leaders and killed by them.
It wasn’t at all like the Jews had hoped, but as it turned out His life was all supported by Scripture and Jesus did what He set out to do and did more than what the people expected. He did not come specifically to free the Jews of the Roman Empire like they wanted. Instead He freed everyone from the real enemy and his bondage over us and our condemnation to hell. He did not raise a sword to wage war on the mortal world, but was raised up on a cross to end a war in the spiritual one. He does not set His dominion over us in a large, luxurious palace, but rather in the hearts of those who accept Him as LORD and Savior.
I hope that each of you who have been keeping up with my blogs have enjoyed these articles on the Advent and my take on the meanings behind the candles. I hope your holidays have been blessed by these articles in some small way. Again, to my family, friends and fellow readers, Merry Christmas.