What is the true meaning of Christmas? The Gospel of Matthew has the Christmas Story. The Gospel of Mark has the Christmas Story. The Gospel of Luke Has the Christmas Story. Yet the gospel of John does not contain a Christmas themed story. Now John does summarize the story, but we do not have these main characters. John doesn’t talk about the wisemen, the shepherds, Mary, Joseph, or the angels. What is beautiful is how John summarizes the true purpose of this season.
John 1:14 tells us, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Notice this emphasis of the Word. Grace and truth are on the side of Jesus. Remember the words of Charles Wesley’s Christmas hymn, “veiled in flesh, the Godhead see.” To look at the sun, is to wish harm on the retina of your eyes. When Moses met with God on mount Sinai, his face was glowing. The glory of God is so great that our mortal eyes cannot see it and live (See Exodus 33:20). When Jesus was born as a baby, this was the first time we had seen God face to face.
Norma Cook Everist wrote, “When we see Christ dying on the cross, we see a vivid picture of the twofold love of God. We see both God’s love of justice and his heart of love for his fallen children” Christmas is a season about God’s grace and truth.
This Christmas reflect on the goodness of God. In the midst of a busy Christmas season, take time to pause. Go to church, read Luke chapter two, talk to your friends about what you read, and pray. Be like a chipmunk and store God’s word in your cheeks. When we do these simple things, we are able to place the focus where it needs to be. Let’s open up the word and find the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus becoming a man. Through this, He was able to live a perfect life, die on the Cross for us, and save us from our sins.
Matthew, Mark, and Luke contain the Christmas story. And while the Gospel of John does not contain the main elements such as the wisemen, shepherd, or angels, it does give us the true meaning. John 1:14 tells us that, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” The truth is that the Bible is a beautiful Christmas Story. It is a story of how God became a man.