I have to begin by sharing with you one of my pet peeves: the jingle “Jesus is the reason for the season.” Jesus is not the reason for the season. Jesus is the reason for everything. Jesus is the center of all things and of all time, and through him we are brought into communion with God for all eternity. It is absolutely too small for Jesus to simply be the reason for the Christmas season, as if we were trying really hard to keep the Christmas celebrations focused on their real meaning. We need to keep reminding ourselves that Jesus is the reason for the season only when we don’t live centered around him as our ultimate reason for existence at every moment of the year. If we did, Christmas would be an intensification of the glory we give Christ every day of the year.
Zechariah had spent nine long months waiting for his son’s birth. He had spent them in silence since the day he had been struck dumb by the Angel Gabriel when he wanted to know how he could be sure that what was promised to him would actually come to pass. He had nine whole months to silently ponder the Scriptures and the words of the angel about his son: “Many will rejoice at his birth…. He will be great in the sight of the Lord…. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit…. He will go before the Lord in the spirit of power of Elijah to prepare a people fit for the Lord….” The silence whispered through his soul and ever so gradually he came to see that his whole life and that of his son revolved around the Messiah.
When his lips were opened after the birth of his son, Zechariah burst forth in a canticle that proclaimed that Jesus was the reason for his child’s whole life. Jesus is the daybreak from on high who has visited his people and brought them redemption. “And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High, for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways.”
Jesus is not the reason for the Christmas season. Zechariah shows us that Jesus is the reason for everything. The day after Christmas the world will get bored, Christmas songs will vanish from the radio, and retail stores will turn over quickly to the next commercial feast day. But you, do not forget that Jesus is the reason for your very life, the purpose of your existence, and He offers you the promise of eternal glory, every moment of every day, next year and every year after that. With Zechariah cry out all year: “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, for he has visited and brought redemption to his people.”
Daily Reading
The Nativity of the Lord (Christmas)
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Saint of the Day
The Nativity of the Lord
“For today a Savior has been born for you in the city of David: he is Christ the Lord.” – Luke 2:11-12
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