Christmas is a monumental event. It is almost too big to define. It is commemorated with parties, gifts, and lighted drive-through displays with thousands of lights. But is Christmas about those things? Why do people do all these things? Is it for entertainment? Is it for commerce? Is it for family? Slogans like “the reason for the season” and “it’s about the baby Jesus” attempt to simply the season we commemorate, but there is so much more.
Instead of bending Christmas to us for the answer, lets bend our mind and hearts to Scripture’s teaching to discover what Christmas is about. We can find the clear answer in the genealogy and birth of Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:1-17 and 18-21). Notice three verses in this section:
“This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:1)
“and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, and Mary was the mother of Jesus who is called the Messiah.” (Matt. 1:16)
“She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (Matt. 1:21)
The genealogy in Matthew (Matt. 1:1-17) boldly establishes Jesus’s identity through David. David is a descendent of Judah. Judah is descended from of Abraham, whom we know from the Old Testament to be descended from Eve.
Notice that the words of Matthew mirror the language used to introduce creation itself and the genealogy connected to Adam (for example Gen 2:4 and 5:1).
Next, the inclusion of four women in the genealogy is unusual because each of the women was an outsider to Israel with a questionable background. Tamar was a Canaanite who disguised herself as a prostitute to seduce Judah (Gen. 38). Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute who lied to protect the Israelite spies and helped overthrow Jericho (Joshua 2; 6:25). Ruth was a Moabite woman who moved to Israel upon the death of her husband. Finally, Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah the Hittite; King David married Bathsheba after fathering a child by her and killing her husband (2 Sam 11-12). The inclusion of these of women shows that God actively seeks to forgive, restore sinners, and to reach out to those who are marginalized, unnoticed, and outsiders.
Finally, Mary falls in line with these other women by conceiving a child through virginal conception. The Greek text and English translation clearly show that Jesus is the biological son of Mary but not of Joseph (the Greek relative pronoun is feminine). Joseph was Jesus’s legal adoptive parent. He was not his biological father. Matthew intended his genealogy to show Jesus’s concrete historical and legal connection to David and beyond that to God.
Jesus is the unique Son of God. He is the Savior and King. Later he died as a substitute for sinners to provide the hope of forgiveness for all who come to him in faith. Through Jesus Christ, God forgives, restores, and reaches out to those who are marginalized, unnoticed, and outsiders. He came to save his people from their sins (1:21).
Christmas is all about Jesus and his purpose is to bring hope, the only hope. Celebrate Jesus Christ, our hope, this Christmas.