Jesus Isn't Decaf (By Naomi Meyers)

A beautifully interesting thing happens when you consecutively read one chapter of Luke each day starting with the first day of December. Something that speaks to the question I once overheard my nephew asking a priest, “Which holiday is more important, Christmas or Easter?” I quit my eavesdropping before I heard the answer. I wish I hadn’t. I’ve pondered the question since. I have yet to arrive at a solid answer. This year, though, my annual pilgrimage through Luke has added a new dimension to my ponderings. 

As I write this, I’ve read more than 20 chapters. There are 24. I’ve read of Gabriel’s visit to Mary. The ill-timed census travel. The stable birth. I’ve read through most of Jesus’ life, been awed by His miracles, inspired by His teachings. I’ve read accounts of lives He changed with a word or a touch. I’ve read of those who refused that change. Admittedly, I’ve looked ahead. In these last few days before our celebration of Christ’s birth, I will read the account of His death and resurrection. The relevance to the above question is not lost on me.

Our society views these momentous occasions as separate events. Today, Christmas is largely touted as a season of celebration punctuated by lavish decorations, extravagant parties, and generous gift-giving. Folks get caught up in the lights, euphoria, and anticipation, forgetting the reason for the celebration–the Baby who was born to die. At Easter, the celebrations might be less, but the commercialization is more. Egg hunts, bunnies, chicks. Although exciting and adorable, not one speaks to the fact the Child whose birth we celebrated scant months before now hangs dying on a cross. We gloss over Good Friday and hop straight to Easter morning and the resurrection. We forget that Jesus didn’t have that luxury. He was born to die.    

Personally, the two accounts have become so intricately interwoven I can no longer determine which is of greater importance. The birth of Jesus celebrated at Christmas is not a separate story from the one of the cross and resurrection. His birth was just the beginning. The manger would lead to the cross. It was always meant to. On that night of strange birthing quarters, caroling angels, and rejoicing shepherds, the stark truth remained–Jesus was born to die. No other baby born in Bethlehem would do what He came to do. He wouldn’t be just another great teacher, another prophet like Elijah, another preacher like John the Baptist. He was Heaven on earth. God in human flesh. He was God on a mission. 

A mission to save the world. He’d do anything to make it happen. Change every willing soul. Heal every faith-filled heart. Teach as often as possible. Care more deeply. Love more strongly. Plead unendingly. And, when the time came, He’d sacrifice Himself freely so all humanity could be saved. Everyone. Those who mocked and scorned. Those who betrayed. Those who believed. Both then and now. He’d die for everyone. It’s what He came to do.

Jesus birth was just the first in a long line of gifts to His people. For those who then believed, He brought the joy of fulfillment and hope for the future. Anna, having spent 84 years in the temple serving, fasting, praying, waiting for the arrival of the Messiah, felt her heart swell with praise and joy that hope for the future had finally arrived. Simeon, promised he would see the Messiah before he died, praised God for the fulfillment of both prophecy and promise, speaking of the hope made possible by His coming. It wouldn’t be without pain, that journey from the manger to the cross. But all humanity would benefit from the trek. It was the reason He came. (Luke 2:25-38) 

The manger made it possible for the cross to stand between us and eternal punishment. Just as Isaiah prophesied. (Isaiah 9:6) Jesus is our Counselor. Our Advisor. In a courtroom setting, our legal defense. The Mediator between God and man. The One who cries out for leniency on our behalf. As we stand guilty and ragged and broken before the great Tribunal of Heaven, the Man from the manger cries out from the cross, “It is finished.” Completing on Golgotha the work that started more than 30 years earlier in Bethlehem. You see, it is impossible to extricate Christmas from Easter!

Over and again He has proven to His people He is their Mighty God. Account after account fill the Gospels of impossibilities made possible only by His power. The virgin birth of Jesus. (Luke 1-2) Water turned into wedding wine. (John 2:1-11) Blind regaining sight. (Mark 8:22-26) The absolution we seek, but find so elusive, made possible only through the beating and scorning, the mocking and death of Heaven’s Child. (Matthew 26-27) Oh, yes, Christmas is all about Easter! 

In the final chapter of Luke, the one I’ll read on Christmas Eve, we find our eternal, everlasting Savior. His lifeless body is taken from the cross, lovingly prepared for burial. Wrapped in fine linen. Laden with perfumes and spices. Placed in a tomb. The stone is rolled over the door. It seemed final. His followers gathered to mourn. They were in for a big surprise! Death couldn’t keep the linen from falling away. The tomb couldn’t hold the Savior down. Triumphantly victorious over sin, death, and the grave, He rose up and came calling. Calling His followers then. Calling His people now. Calling you. Calling me. Fulfilling the mission for which He came, Jesus proved once and for all that death has absolutely no power over the Father who has always been and will always be. Our salvation and eternal life rested on Jesus coming to earth to die and rise again. Don’t you see? Christmas is all about Easter! (Luke 23:50-24:1-49; Isaiah 57:15; Isaiah 43:13; Psalm 102:12) 

After Jesus’ resurrection, He ascended into Heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father, praying for us. Groaning prayers. Aching intercessions. Prayers we have no idea how to pray or even that we need to pray them. Prayers for our salvation. Prayers for our faith. Prayers for our steadfastness. Prayers that bring us peace. Prayers that touch the Father’s heart because they come from His beloved Son. The One He sent to Golgotha via Bethlehem so His people could be saved from their sins. (Luke 22:69; Romans 8:26, 34; Hebrews 7:25; Matthew 1:21)

The truth is, Christmas and Easter are the inextricably intertwined efforts of God the Father and God the Son to bring us the one thing we long for most. The thing we wish for above all things. The thing we dream of as we lay unsleeping in the dark. The thing we hope for with every new bauble, new move, new job. The thing nothing in the world can give. Jesus came to give us peace. Peace no matter what is going on around us. Peace no matter what news we receive. Peace with God through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. (Colossians 1:20)

As Jesus hung on that cross, dragging in His final breaths, the separating curtain in the temple split in two, finishing the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophetic passage, “He will be called…Prince of Peace”. (Luke 23:44-46; Isaiah 9:6) That torn curtain means we can leave our sheep in the pasture, our grain in the field, our oil in the cruet. Through the shed blood of the manger-born Christ-child, we can directly access the Father. We can have peace with God through the forgiveness of sins by simply calling on the name of the Lord in confession, repentance, faith. (Romans 10:13; Ephesians 2:14) Christ was born for this exact reason. Yes, friends, Easter is all tangled up in Christmas!

I find I’m no longer trying to choose between Christmas and Easter. I found the choice impossible. I cannot leave Christmas behind on December 26 and treat Easter as a separate event. I don’t even want to do so. Just as Bethlehem was the starting place for Jesus’ journey up Golgotha, Christmas has become a starting place for me. My celebrations are just beginning. Earth’s Christmas might be over, but Heaven is still sending gifts. God is still sending out invitations. Invitations for pardon, for peace. Engraved invitations in your name and mine. Invitations that can only be sent because Jesus came as a baby to die as a man so you and I could secure a seat at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Heaven gave us Christmas because we would die without Easter. (James 1:17; John 3:17; Revelation 19:9; Hebrews 9:22)

In a few days, Christmas 2020 will be history. You will put away your opened presents, pack up your decorations, and tuck away your precious memories of this year’s celebrations. The sense of deflation that comes after the realization of a much-anticipated event may settle over your soul. Don’t let it overtake you. You don’t have to stop celebrating. Pick up your Bible. Read the last few chapters of Luke. Heaven is still sending gifts. There’s so much to look forward to! Christmas might be over, but thank God, Easter is coming!