The Meaning of the Christmas Story

This piece originally appeared as the editorial in our church's parish magazine for December 2007.

There can hardly be anybody in the country who doesn’t know the basics of the Christmas story: the donkey, Bethlehem, the inn, the stable, the mother and child, the shepherds, the angels, the star and the wise men. The Christmas story is part of our culture, part of our collective knowledge. Most of us have probably been in a nativity play when we were young at school. Many of us will have heard the story at least once a year at a one church service or carol concert. At some level, most people probably even believe the things in the story are true.

My point is that thinking about the story, knowing the story and even having a vague acceptance of the story is one thing; but it’s understanding the meaning of the Christmas story that matters. It’s when we come to understand what the story is really about that it changes people's lives.

The details of the story are colourful and memorable and many of them add to the meaning of the story, but the two things that are of fundamental importance are: who this baby is and why was he born. They are connected of course – the why he came flows out of who he is. There are two names in particular that the Bible gives to Christ that sum up the essential meaning of Christmas: Immanuel (which is more like a title) and Jesus (his personal first name).

"They shall call his name Immanuel (which means, God with us)." (Matt 1:23).

"You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matt 1:21).

In other words, the real meaning of Christmas, based on these verses, is that God came to earth as a human being to save his people. Christmas is worth celebrating every year because it marks an incredible event – the God of history entering human history, the Creator’s Son taking on the nature of his highest creature, coming to earth as a man.

He came to follow a path that would take him from the stable to the cross to the empty tomb and back to the throne of heaven as King of kings and Lord of lords. And the point of this divine journey is to save sinners like you and me, to deliver us from all our foolishness, pride, wickedness and selfishness and bring us by his grace to wisdom, humble worship, righteousness and selfless love and service to others. He came to save us from hell. He came to deliver us from death and give us life.

This Immanuel comes to each of us with the message that the God of love is with us. This Jesus comes to each of us with a call to repent and believe in him, to offer us eternal life – life in all its fullness now and life everlasting in the future. This is the Christmas gospel that flows from the events of the Christmas story.

If we can even begin to take in the enormity of this eternal plan, that divine journey, and this gracious offer, how can any of us remain unchanged by it? This gospel changed the world in the past and will go on changing the world until history itself has run its course. So, this Christmas, may we all "Go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which has come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us" (Luke 2:15), giving thanks to God for what he has done for us.