Read: Luke 2:1-20
Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior. (v. 11)
Merry Christmas! As you read the familiar story of Jesus’s birth today, listen for the traditional themes of the Advent season: hope, love, joy, and peace. These themes are embodied in the characters we meet.
Hope. As Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, they probably had some apprehension. Where would they stay? What would they eat? Who would they meet? And yet they were also a young couple starting a new life together. They were expecting the birth of their miracle baby, the child of God’s promise. They must’ve been filled with hope, knowing what God could do and what he had in store for them.
Love. The shepherds of the Judean countryside were low-paid laborers on the fringes of society. There must have been times they felt unseen and unloved. When the angel appeared to them, they were bathed in heaven’s attention and affection—the pure love of the living God.
Joy. When the Savior was born, the host of heaven burst into song. We can imagine that all creation rejoiced with them.
Peace. At the Christ child’s birth, the angel announced the joy of heaven. At the same time, he pronounced its effect on earth: “Peace among those with whom [God] is pleased” (v. 14).
This blessed Christmas Day, remember the perfect hope, love, joy, and peace that settled on the weary world that welcomed the Savior. Welcome the Savior into your own heart, and let his hope, love, joy, and peace be yours too.
As you pray, celebrate the Savior who has come, and will come again.
Ben Van Arragon is an ordained minister in the Christian Reformed Church in North America. After twenty years of congregational ministry, he now serves his denomination as a pastor wellbeing consultant in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
