It's almost Christmas. People are running around trying to find just the perfect gift for friends and family. The alcohol flows from one party to another. The stress grows as each person tries vainly to fulfill their desires for the "happiest" time of the year. The goal is ever elusive.
Is this what Christmas is really all about? Why do we do this to ourselves? Is there something more? Something better? Something we're missing?
The answer is a resounding YES! There is something more; something much better. There's a secret about the holiday that can make every day the "happiest" time of the year.
By the 12th century A.D., Christmas had become the most important religious festival in Europe. Saint Nicholas, a 4th century humanitarian bishop of Asia Minor, became a symbol of gift giving in many European countries. Artists of the 1400s and 1500s painted many of the now-famous nativity pictures we enjoy today. Most of our traditional Christmas carols came from the 1700s and 1800s. the 1900s saw Christmas become big business with consumers spending millions of dollars on toys and decorations.
It was not a secret that Christ would be born. God promised that woman would give birth to One who would crush the head of Satan (Gen. 3:14). God repeated His promise of a Savior many times during the centuries before Jesus Christ was born. God told Isaiah to prophesy: "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace." (Isa. 9:6)
God was so specific about the birth of Israel's Savior that He told His chosen nation where Messiah (Hebrew word for "Christ") would be born: "But thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler of Israel; whose going forth have been from of old, from everlasting." (Micah 5:2)
God told anyone who would read the Book of Isaiah that Messiah would be born to a virgin: "Therefore the Lord Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call His name Immanuel." (Isa. 7:14)
The Old Testament prophets also wrote about how kings would give gifts to Messiah; how Messiah would be of the family line of Jesse, the house of David, and the tribe of Judah; how Messiah would be a prophet, priest, judge, and king; how a messenger would precede Messiah crying out: "Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God." (Isa. 40:3) They further foretold how the Holy Spirit would anoint Messiah for ministry, how Messiah's ministry would begin in Galilee, and how Messiah would work miracles and be a teacher of parables.
Indeed, the virgin birth and amazing life and ministry of the Messiah was no secret. It was a well-documented and expected future event. Everyone in Israel should have seen how clearly Jesus Christ met all Messianic prophecies, even to the smallest detail.
It was also not a secret that Messiah would die violently. God inspired Old Testament prophets to write that Messiah would be betrayed by a friend, sold for thirty pieces of silver and the money thrown in God's house and used to buy a potter's field. The prophets also wrote that Messiah would be forsaken by His disciples, accused by false witnesses, wounded and bruised, struck and spit upon, mocked, and crucified with thieves.
The details about the Messiah's crucifixion are quite remarkable since the prophets wrote about something of which they had never heard. It was hundreds of years later that the Romans introduced crucifixion as a way of executing criminals. Nonetheless, the prophets wrote that Messiah's hands and feet would be pierced, He would be given gall to eat and vinegar to drink, His bones would not be broken, and His side would be pierced. The prophets also wrote that Messiah would make intercession for His persecutors, that His own people would reject Him, hate Him without a cause, stare at Him, and shake their heads at Him. The prophets wrote that people would divide Messiah's garments and cast lots for His clothing, that His friends would stand apart from Him, that He would cry out "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me," that darkness would cover the land beginning at noon, and that He would be buried in a rich man's tomb.
The prophets also wrote about Messiah's resurrection from the grave, His ascension into heaven, and His seating at the right hand of God. So, where's the secret of Christmas I referred to earlier? Anyone who wants to see can see that Jesus Christ fulfilled every prophecy about the Savior of Israel. The prophets told about His coming and His death. When Jesus ministered on earth, He Himself told His disciples about His death and resurrection. They didn't understand, but they heard. Jesus did not keep what He was going to do a secret.
The secret of Christmas is that Jesus came to save Gentiles as well as Jews and make them part of the SAME BODY! The Jews believed Gentiles would receive a blessing through Israel's Messiah becoming King over the entire world. The Jews had no idea Messiah would treat Gentiles and Jews as equals. As Paul wrote: "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off [Gentiles] are made near by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one [Jew and Gentile], and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished [made of no effect] in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances." (Eph. 2:13-15)
The Old Testament prophets knew nothing about this plan of God, a plan the apostle Paul called "the dispensation of the grace of God." The disciples of Christ in the Gospels knew nothing about it either. Their entire mission was to preach the nearness of Messiah's earthly kingdom. They had no idea God was going to build a spiritual body made up of Gentiles and Jews. They never dreamed God would remove the ordinances of the Mosaic Law from a believer's life. They were shocked to hear that Paul told Jews and Gentiles the laws and ceremonies of Judaism were unnecessary and even unwanted in God's new way of dealing with His chosen people. It was only after strong arguments and debates that the Messianic disciples came to an understanding of the secret of Christmas. Paul wrote: "when they [the Jewish apostles] saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter; (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:) and when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen [Gentiles], and they unto the circumcision [Jews]." (Gal. 2:7-9)
Paul was not writing about just a different audience (Gentiles instead of Jews). Paul wrote about a different message, a different household or administration, and a different way of managing that household.
When Jesus came to earth in the form of a baby boy, He knew He would die on a cross and rise from the grave for Gentiles as well as Jews. He knew Israel would reject the offer His apostles would make about an earthly Messianic kingdom. Jesus knew His death on the cross would reconcile Jew and Gentile unto God in one body (Eph. 2:16). But Jesus told no one. He kept the secret of Christmas to Himself. He walked and talked, healed the sick and raised the dead. He preached, prophesied, and prayed, but told no one the real secret of Christmas.
Even after Jesus ascended to heaven, He still told no one. The disciples of Christ spent many years presenting the truths and commands of the kingdom to Jews only. They kept the Mosaic Law and all the ordinances and ceremonies of the Law. They followed the Kingdom teachings of Christ to the letter. When some didn't and lied about it, they were struck dead at the apostles' feet.
It wasn't until after the leaders of Israel rejected Stephen's message and stoned him to death (Acts 7) that Jesus introduced a new message. Jesus encountered Saul (Paul) on his way to arrest Messianic believers in Damascus. On that road, God struck down and blinded Saul. Then Jesus told Saul to go into the city and wait to be informed about what he must do. Jesus told a Jew named Ananias to find Saul and speak these words: "...[Saul] is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel." (Acts 9:15) A key change in this pronouncement is that Jesus spoke of a ministry to Gentiles. Before this time Jesus had told His disciples not to go to the Gentiles at all. The disciples had obeyed Jesus and had never gone to Gentiles. To even have suggested such a mission would have been ludicrous. They went only to the house of Israel, just like Jesus commanded them. But Jesus changed all that when He converted Saul on the Damascus road.
"God, thank you for your secret. Thank you for revealing it to Paul. Thank you for getting the message to each of us. Thank you for giving to us the challenge to 'make all men see what is the dispensation of the mystery.' Help each reader to use every opportunity during this Christmas season and the coming new year to share the greatest secret of all time. May we see Your precious message of Grace grow throughout this nation and the world to the glory of our blessed hope, Jesus Christ! Amen."
(This article first appeared in Grace Truth Magazine in December, 1990.)
Taking God's Grace to the World!
"Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © , 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers."
Return to The GraceLife(tm) Menu Page for more studies about the Gospel of the Grace of God.
Copyright © , Mark McGee , 1990-2000 / mamcgee@mindspring.com
Last Updated: 12/20/1999