And what really is Christmas?

Does anyone really know anymore? Is the festival now greater than the One whose birth we commemorate? Does the trappings of "gifts" interfere with the Giver and Gift Himself?

Many would try to tell us that the Gift was not really a gift at all, but rather a man on a twisted suicide mission. Others would tell us that the Gift was incomplete, not who He and His disciples claimed him to be. Still others would tell us that He is The Gift, but that we should not dare to besmirch that Gift with our petty celebration. And even others would simply tire of the hustle and bustle, and let their appreciation of the Gift wane as they struggle with guilt and hopelessness.

And yes, there are those who only see the celebration, and never consider the Gift at all.

God with US!! Emmanuel. Distant God becomes just like you and I. "Tempted in all points, like as we are." "... wrapped ... in swaddling clothes and laid... in a manger." How common. How unlike the God we would make with all of our trimmings and lights and stockings.

And yet, He is ALL of those things. To someone, somewhere, He is the embodiment of all the celebration of mankind, as well as the embodiment of all of our despair. HE is Christmas. All of the hopes and expression of good will, all of the frustration, anger and bitterness; He encompasses it all.

"He took my sins and my sorrows, and made them His very own. He bore my burden to Calvary, and suffered and died, alone."

He was made to be sin, in order that we might escape it.

There is NO greater Gift.

How strange all of that must have been for Him who knew no sin of His own. But, He came as commonly as anyone else ever has. Even His mother who had seen a vision concerning His purpose pondered the mysterious situation of her son's birth in that lowly stable in Bethlehem. If she did, why would we expect to do any less?

What REALLY is Christmas?

We may never completely know or understand. But let's enjoy the fact that we are given several opportunities as each year passed to contemplate the whole mystery.

It really is quite a whodunnit !!

Joe Hittle