By: Scott Adkins, Sling ‘n Stone Ministry
Carter County Times
Christmas approaches. Yet Christmas presents a paradox. Paradox comes from two Greek words: doxa, meaning “a truth or a fact;” and para, or “alongside.” One Old English definition says paradox means something seemingly absurd yet true. Several serious paradoxes come with Christmas. Christmas suffers a split personality of sorts. What do we mean?
Kids wait to meet Santa Claus, that mythical, obese elf, who sports a red suit. His whole gift to language seems to be “ho-ho-ho.” Juxtaposed against Santa stands none other than God’s resurrected Son Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is real (Revelation 1:8), possessing all power in heaven and earth (Matt. 28:18); Whose word endures forever (Matthew 24:35), and gives life eternal (John 6:63). Sad to say, our sin-sick society flits between the Santa of Christmas and God’s resurrected Son.
Christmas heralds “peace on earth,” but delivers furious shopping, impossible schedules, and high suicide rates. The Lord Jesus Christ also heralds peace, but He delivers. (John 14:27) (“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.”). Why? Because Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:60).
Two thousand years ago, one lone star lit the sky above that Bethlehem goat barn where Jesus entered this world. Today, we’re awash in Christmas lights – every house, every store. Lights everywhere. But true light nowhere do we see – that is, the only true light is that light Jesus brought (and continues to bring). Only The Lord Jesus gives “the true Light.” (John 1:9). Jesus’s life – the life He lived among us, and the life He gave for us on the cross “is the light of men.” (John 1:4). Only Christ’s dying on the cross gives light, truth, and meaning to what we call Christmas. No cross? No Christmas.
And the cross where Jesus died presents humanity’s greatest paradox: that Pilate’s crucifying a Galilean carpenter in 33 A.D. would bring peace and eternal life to as many as will receive The Lord Jesus Christ on His terms. (John 1:12). We get and give presents galore. What did The Lord Jesus get? He got spit on; unjustly tried; abandoned by His closest friends; rejected by His own people for Barabas the killer; beaten bloody by a Roman’s whip; nailed naked to a tree, and then mocked while Roman soldiers gambled for His clothes. (Matthew 26:56-27:35). What does Jesus give in return?
In return, Jesus gives mercy and life eternal. (John 10:28). Mythical Santa sports his red suit and entertains. The Lord Jesus Christ shed His red blood and washes away sin. (I John 1:7); (Revelation 1:5). Christmas’s paradox is clear: the world’s Christmas promises joy and peace, but delivers neither; God’s resurrected Son promises mercy and eternal life; He delivers both. Yet the world will never know unless we go tell them. And go tell them we must. (Matthew 28:18-20).
