Photo by Getty Images on UnsplashIn the craziness and turmoil that will define 2025, it becomes easy to lose sight of the bigger picture, which is that Jesus is the savior of all mankind (humans, male and female).
He paid a price that offers us a path to eternal life.
The intense commercialization of Christmas (it began in September) also makes it easy to lose sight of Christmas.
Churches and local governments have made bold attempts to remove Christ from the Christmas story.
While it is true that the Roman holiday Saturnalia was adopted by the Christian church in the mid-4th century to celebrate Christ, December 25th has become synonymous with his birth.
And, while traditionalists reject the idea, the reality remains that Jesus was born, just as the scriptures say.
A reflection is an image of something else.
For example, seeing your face in the mirror is a reflection of you.
The reflection of Christmas means looking into the scriptures and seeing Jesus reflected.
“This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about[fn]: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 1:18 New International Version
The birth of Jesus Christ happened this way.
1. It was a definitive moment in time
There is endless debate about when it happened, with some saying it occurred in the spring or the Fall.
The fact is, it happened at the precise time God intended.
This is important because, as Christmas is about giving and receiving gifts, God the Father made sure that all humanity received a gift in the birth of his Son, God the Son.
The beauty of this gift is that it is unending, until the end of time.
It can be received at any time, any place, by any human on the planet.
It can be received in a large crowd or in a private place.
It can be received by repeating someone’s words (a prayer of salvation) or by uttering a heartfelt, “Lord, save me.”
This happens because at a precise moment, the gift of eternal life was introduced to the world.
2. It happened in a particular way
Joseph and Mary were engaged to be married when he found out she was pregnant; a sin punishable by stoning. (Interestingly, God chose this avenue for Mary — but that is a story for another time).
Because Joseph was a righteous man and open to God’s direction, he immediately obeyed the angel’s dream that Mary’s pregnancy was of God. (This is a massive act of faith — and also a story for another time).
In the bigger picture, Mary’s pregnancy had to happen this way because it was foretold by the Old Testament prophet Isaiah.
“All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin[fn] will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”
Isaiah 7:14 New Living Translation
There is much to be said about this.
His birth often overshadows it, but Mary was a virgin, which means she did not have sexual relations with a male, and yet was pregnant.
Without being graphic, God the Holy Spirit placed sperm in her egg during her normal time of ovulation.
It is difficult to wrap your head around it, but Mary became pregnant in a particular way.
God works in ways we neither see nor comprehend, and if we are not careful, we will miss it, or perhaps worse, mislabel it.
God sent an angel into Joseph’s dream to prepare him for something that looked obviously very different.
How many times has he set things in motion for you that, without divine intervention, you would misinterpret as something else?
While not as obvious, it must be considered what God has spoken over you that he fully intends to bring to pass.
In the same manner that Mary had to become pregnant, so could circumstances in your life be a divine setup for God’s plan to be fulfilled in your life.
Imagine for a moment what Mary must have thought when she realized she was pregnant.
Yes, an angel spoke with her, and yes, she agreed to God’s will being done in her life, but what do you think went through her mind when it became real?
Can the same happen to you?
It can, which is why this second reflection of Christmas is essential.
It can serve as a reminder that God has a particular purpose for your life and will bring it about in a specific way.
3. It got the attention of very prominent people
It happened at a definitive moment in time, in a particular way, because God had some prominent people who needed to validate the birth of Jesus.
Yes, the shepherds say the angelic choir, and reported everything they saw, but it was the magi, the wise men, who stood before King Herod to proclaim, “Where is he who is born King of the Jews?
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem village, Judah territory — this was during Herod’s kingship — a band of scholars arrived in Jerusalem from the East.
They asked around, “Where can we find and pay homage to the newborn King of the Jews? We observed a star in the eastern sky that signaled his birth. We’re on pilgrimage to worship him.”
When word of their inquiry got to Herod, he was terrified — and not Herod alone, but most of Jerusalem as well.”
Matthew 2:1–3 The Message
The star appeared at the right time for the wise men to notice it.
They arrived in the region around two years after his birth, which gave the baby time to get established before the journey to Egypt.
The announcement to Herod drew the attention of those living in Jerusalem and prompted the religious leaders to search the scriptures to find the answer to the Messiah’s birth.
This third reflection is critical because it points to God’s plan for the bigger picture.
As humans, we tend to focus on the little picture of everyday life with its trials and tests.
While God does not minimize the trials and tests, his focus is on the bigger picture: eternity.
Keep this in mind
According to the Bible, it has only been a couple of weeks since God created Adam and Eve.
As we understand eternity in the Bible, with God one day is like one thousand years, which means seven days for creation, four days from Adam to Jesus, and about two days from Jesus to the present. (This isn’t a doctrine, only a thought.
I mention this because in the bigger picture (the eternal picture), hardly any time has passed since Adam walked in the garden with his wife, Eve.
I mention this because in the bigger picture, it was only a couple of days ago that Jesus ascended into heaven, leaving the apostles on the hillside.
It is difficult to wrap our heads around, but if we can see this life through God’s eyes, I believe we will.
This reflection of Christmas allows us to take a moment to stand on the hillside with the 120 and watch as Jesus lifts off the ground and disappears into the sky.
The final reflection in this installment is the beauty of an annual reminder. Perhaps it is why God had the 4th-century church introduce Jesus during the Roman holiday.
The call of the Spirit is going out across the land for light bearers and (wisdom-speaking) truth givers to bring the words of life to a lost and dying world — one person at a time.
The journey is exciting and scary, and I am thankful to everyone willing to follow along as I take it.