More Than Holiday Magic
By Dean Collins
I watched my first Christmas special of the year the other day. I hadn’t planned on it,but I was tired, got into bed early, and was flipping the channels to find something to put me to sleep. Streaming content gets me right to sleep almost any evening. As I scrolled through the selections, I stopped on the Dolly Parton Christmas special, thinking like all Christmas specials and movies, it would be as good or better than melatonin. But then in the middle of all of the usual talk of Christmas magic and Scrooge-like characters, I was struck by how openly and directly Dolly talked and sang about Jesus, God, faith, and a number of other theological topics.
My daily reading started with this familiar line, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. “ I have never heard anyone use this passage at Christmas. This is a comforting passage pastors and sympathy cards often use. Jesus spoke the words to comfort the 12 as they continued their Last Supper conversation that would continue on to the Garden of Gethsemane.
As Christmas nears, there will be more movies and more conversations between parents or grandparents and children to answer questions about whether Santa Claus is real and whether Johnny or Julie still believes in Christmas magic. The Hallmark Channel is filled with holiday specials where someone needs a Christmas miracle. Nostalgia stirs the old memories of Christmas magic in each story line. I suppose that’s all well and good and maybe even takes our minds off of the noise and struggles of life. But we need more than magic at Christmastime, and Dolly seems to know this.
So does the apostle John. John 14 offers insight way beyond the Baby whose birth in a manger we soon will celebrate. Time passes quickly from the shepherds tending their flocks to the calling of the disciples and now to the last supper Jesus would have with the 12. It is in the hours ahead that the disciples would finally begin to understand the true love gift of Christmas. It’s there for us to realize, too. John had first written of the Word that became flesh. Now he reveals how God’s gift of Jesus had a far bigger purpose. One that comes with humiliation, suffering, and death—all to bring payment for our sins.
The 12 struggled to grasp the message but were challenged to believe in God and in the one standing before them who was explaining what was about to happen. Thomas and the others got stuck in the details. So do we when we are in the middle of a struggle, a sickness, or the loss of loved ones. We want to know and see the way forward, but confusion and grief cloud our view.
Like Thomas, we ask, “How, how can we possibly know the way?” The answer from Jesus is complete, but often it’s not enough for us. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” But this wasn’t a Google Maps answer. We may want the exact turn-by-turn directions, complete with warnings of traffic ahead. But Jesus offers something bigger; Jesus offers himself as the way. His way is to be our way. All that is required is for us to believe and to walk in faith.
Remembering love
As we prepare for Christmas, we can enjoy the holiday games, movies, music, lights, and more. What we must do is remember to understand the amazing truth, love, and life that is ours because of the gift of a Savior who was born to die so that we would have a way through this life and into eternity.
And maybe our gift to someone this Christmas is as simple as remembering that our belief in Jesus gives us the privilege of loving another with some sacrificial gift of love in their moment of need. We might be the one who brings hope and a new meaning to Christmas. Jesus said if we believe in him, we will do the works that he did. Love works in every situation.
Your time with God’s Word
John 14:1-14 ESV
Photo by Thái An on Unsplash
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