Have You Ever Thought Why Christmas?

My parents never said it to me, but as an adult looking back, I’m sure they thought, “I wish that kid would just shut up!”

I was one of those “why?” kids. I asked why about everything. Why don’t we go on red and stop on green? Why don’t bushes grow tall like trees? Why aren’t ice cubes falling from the sky if snow is frozen water? You get the drift.

As a child, still young enough to believe in Santa, Christmas morning was exciting. It was the 1960s, and there was usually a larger gift from Santa, one or two smaller gifts from mom and dad, and usually a couple of packages of clothing.

I remember two “Santa” gifts: a tricycle at age five and a set of bowling pins at age eight. The tricycle put in my mindset to never get my kids an outdoor gift for Christmas because mom would not let me take it outside; it was too cold, and snow was on the ground. Riding new wheels around the inside of the house is only fun for a short time. The bowling pins became my go-to indoor toy. I did win four individual state championships in bowling through high school. Who would have thought that a set of bowling pins given to a little kid for Christmas would help shape his future?

As a child, the only teaching I received about the true meaning of Christmas came from two children’s television specials: The Charlie Brown Christmas with Linus reading the Christmas story and The Little Drummer Boy. The Little Drummer Boy is not a true story, but it does have baby Jesus.

If someone had to learn about Christmas today from watching movies and TV, one could conclude that it has something to do with people banding together to save the local Christmas pageant or a business from bankruptcy or that it is a time for someone to dump the snob they are going to marry for a perfect human being they find by chance by being stranded in a small town by circumstances beyond their control.

In real life, however, Christmas is a month of events filling up the calendar, shopping, and money spent that we probably never spend if it wasn’t Christmas.

There is a spirit of giving, but it does not consist of “Well, we have to get Uncle George something. He’ll be at the Christmas dinner.”

Amid the busy schedules, gift-giving, and money spent, have you ever thought, “Why Christmas?”

The quick and easy answer is that it is Jesus’ birthday. But that little kid in me who always asks why comes to the surface and asks, “Why was Jesus born?”

To know why Jesus was born, you need to look in a mirror. Jesus may be the reason for the season because we celebrate His birth on December 25, but the answer to why He was born is us: me and you.

To understand why Jesus was born for us, we need to examine the events of two thousand years ago.

The Holy Spirit comes upon the virgin Mary, and the Son of God is inside her womb. Shortly after an angel explains what is happening, Mary visits her cousin. When she returns, keeping her pregnancy secret is impossible; she is showing. Joseph, Mary’s fiance, is now in a predicament. He knows the baby is not his. There is no record of Mary explaining the situation to Joseph. Would he believe her? He might stop listening when he hears the words, “I’m still a virgin.”

God sends an angel to Joseph just as He did to Mary. Matthew 1:20-21, “But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.”

There it is! Why was Jesus born? To save us from our sins.

Look into that mirror. You stand there alone, the only face seen. Some people have done worse than you, and others have done better, but that does not matter. God will not judge us based on how we compare to others. We all stand there alone, and we are all guilty of something.

Look in that mirror and see the good things you have done, but the problem is that the good does not erase the bad. Titus 3:5, “Not by works of righeousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost.”

Looking in that mirror, we see ourselves as God sees us: a guilty soul with no way to erase the sins we have committed.

But remember, Jesus was born to save us from our sins. He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). How does Jesus save us from our sins? 1 Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

Jesus Christ was born to die on the cross for our sins.

The Babe in the manger, the man on the cross, and the coming King redeeming us from sin is why Christmas.