12-17-06-Advent-Candle of Love
The other night I saw a show about Hanukkah on the PBS station. They had a children’s skit with puppets. The children said that the best holiday is not Pesach (Passover—deliverance from Egypt), Purim (Esther—lots cast to save the Jews from destruction), but Hanukkah (Festival of Lights) because of the gifts they get. Then a Rabbi said, “Hanukkah is not about God, but about finding the inner light in us.” Let me explain what Hanukkah is all about. Hanukkah is a festival that the Jews celebrate each year in mid December to commemorate a great miracle that took place in 164/165 BC. The Jews were in danger of being destroyed by the Syrians and Greeks. The king, Antiochus Epiphanies, defiled the temple by sacrificing a pig on it. So a revolt was led by Judas Maccabaeus and with a small army of Jewish soldiers they victoriously entered Jerusalem and cleansed and repaired the Temple. Now the miracle is that they found a small jar of oil that had only enough oil for 1 day. But when they used it, it lasted for 8 days. This is the reason why Hanukkah is called the Festival of Lights and why it is celebrated for 8 days. Each day a candle is lit on the Menorah and gifts are given. This year Hanukkah began on Friday, December 15 at sundown. So it will end on the 23rd at sundown.
Now I am not against Hanukah nor am I criticizing the Jews, but how my heart broke when I heard what the Rabbi and the children said. Israel was commanded by God in the scriptures to celebrate many festivals, including Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, and the Day of Atonement. To place this man made festival, Hanukkah, over Biblical festivals commanded by the Lord, is to deny the basic teachings of the scripture. Israel has forgotten that if God had not delivered them from Egypt centuries before, they would never have been in the land of Israel to have a Temple or the miracle that occurred there. So in essence they were saying that the gifts we get from God are more important than the God who gives the gifts. While it is understandable that children would find the gifts more important than the giver, the whole TV program supported this idea. Then the words of the Rabbi, “Hanukkah is not about God, but about finding the inner light in us” deny the fact that God was the one who worked the miracle and instead speak about mysticism and how man has the power within him to bring light into the world.
There are 8 points of similarity between Hanukkah and Christmas:
1. both originated in the land of Israel by Jews
2. both occur in December
3. both have the exchanging of gifts
4. both have special songs that are sung (Mo’oz Tzur (Rock of My Salvation (or Rock of Ages) and carols)
5. both are a commemoration of great historic events
6. both have lights (Hanukkah is called the Festival of Lights)
7. both have a place of importance for the Servant (Messiah)
8. both have become highly commercialized
Now friends, you may be asking what does all this have to do with us today in the year 2006? We are not Jews and we don’t celebrate Hanukkah. As I thought about the words of the children and the Rabbi, I felt that if we are not careful, the church is in danger of having the same mindset if we lose sight of why we celebrate Advent/Christmas. Have we taught our children the true meaning of Christmas or is it all about a big fat guy in a red suit that brings them lots of toys? Is Christmas about gifts and gift giving? Or is it about the One who gave everything He had to bring light and salvation to a dark and dying world?
Today we lit the Advent candle of Love. This is the most important thing that we can remember about Christmas. The word Christmas by the way means “Christ-sent.” This is the true miracle of Christmas that God sent His only Son into the world. He gave us the gift of His Son because He loved us. John told us about it in John 3:16
¨ John 3:16 (NIV) “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Now I know most of the time we see this verse displayed on signs at football games or around Easter, but I think it is most appropriate for Christmas because it gives us the true meaning of this wonderful celebration. So let’s examine the Christmas story to see the Love of God.
First, I think about the virgin Mary. Mary loved Joseph and was engaged to be married to him. Then the angel Gabriel announced to her that she was going to have a child who would be the Savior of the world.
¨ Luke 1:26-38 (NIV) 26 In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of His father David, 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end.” 34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. . . . 38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
In this familiar passage of scripture there is an amazing truth. God so loved the world that He chose a special woman as the vessel to bring His Son into the world. He could have simply chosen to have Jesus show up one day out of the blue and declare that He was the promised Messiah. But instead, God chose to use the method of a little child being born to deliver the Savior to the world. Jesus did not begin to exist at His birth on the earth, but He was already the preexistent Son of God in heaven. The Incarnation is the term we use to describe divine God coming in the form of human flesh.
What tenderness there must have been in the heart of God to look down on Mary and see her as a willing vessel to give birth to His Son. Notice that Gabriel did not say that she was “full of grace,” (“Hail Mary full of grace” as is taught by the Catholic Church) but he did say that she was highly favored of God. 4 [i] That means that she was honored by God with His blessings. She was not the agent of grace, but she received the grace of God on her life. So Mary allowed God to pour His love through her into the world by agreeing to allow her womb to be the container for the Son of God.
But the message of Christmas is not just about the birth of Jesus. In fact, the message of Christmas is about the death of Jesus. For if Jesus had only been born into the world, He would not have been able to be the Savior of the world. It was through His death on the cross that salvation was bought for all mankind. We see this clearly illustrated in the gifts of the Magi.
¨ Matthew 2:11 (NIV) On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense (frankincense) and of myrrh.
Tradition has taught us that there were 3 Magi (wise men) because of the 3 gifts, but we do not know that there were only 3, there may have been 300 wise men, we just don’t know. The important thing is the gifts they brought to worship Jesus.
Gold obviously speaks of riches and royalty. It would have been very useful to provide for the family for many years, especially while they were gone on their unexpected journey to Egypt. But maybe there are other more subtle meanings. In Rev 21:21 we are told the streets of heaven are made of pure gold. Could it be that the gold brought by the Magi was a reminder to Jesus of the place where He had come from and the place that He would someday return to? Gold is the gift for kings, maybe this was a way of reminding us that He is the “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (Rev 19:16).
Frankincense or as the NIV calls it incense is a white resin that would be used by a priest. It was one of the ingredients in the perfume of the sanctuary (Ex. 30:34), and was used as an accompaniment of the meat-offering (Lev. 2:1, 16; 6:15; 24:7). When it was burned it put off a sweet smelling odor. Song of Solomon speaks of frankincense and perfumes for Solomon the king. So both gold and frankincense were fitting gifts for a king. But the last gift of myrrh is a strange one.
Myrrh is the gift for one who is to die. Myrrh was used to embalm the bodies of the dead. You don’t usually bring myrrh until someone dies. How strange to give the gift of embalming fluid to a king or a newborn baby!
¨ Isaiah 60:6 (NIV) Herds of camels will cover your land, young camels of Midian and Ephah. And all from Sheba will come, bearing gold and incense (frankincense) and proclaiming the praise of the Lord.
This verse was fulfilled when the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon and brought him gold and frankincense as well as many other spices (1 Kings 10:2). But prophecy often has multiple meanings, the current historical one (e.g. Solomon) and a future one. So prophetically Isaiah saw the wise men coming to visit Jesus at His birth bringing gold and frankincense. But there is one gift missing in Isaiah’s prophecy—the gift of myrrh.
We see this gift of myrrh appear one more time in the scriptures:
¨ John 19:39-40 (NIV) 39 He (Joseph of Arimathea) was accompanied by Nicodemus, the man who earlier had visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds. 40 Taking Jesus’ body, the two of them wrapped it, with the spices, in strips of linen. This was in accordance with Jewish burial customs.
Nicodemus is the one who visited Jesus one night and was told by Jesus that to enter into the kingdom of heaven he must be born again. In fact in the conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus clearly told him that He had come to die.
¨ John 3:14-16 (NIV) Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. 16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Now we have the true context of John 3:16. It is a passage that deals with the death of Jesus. He said that He must be lifted up like the serpent in the wilderness was placed upon a pole. This signified His death on a cross. It is a passage that reveals to us the real love of God in sending His Son to die.
When the wise men (including Nicodemus) came the first time, they came to worship a king who was born to die. When He comes back the next time, He is not coming to die, but to reign as King of Kings!
Gold for a king, frankincense for a priest, myrrh for one who was to die—these were the gifts of the wise men, and, even at the cradle of Christ, they foretold that he was to be the true King, the perfect High Priest, and in the end the supreme Savior of men.[ii]
This is the real wonder of Christmas, that God loved sinful men so much He was willing to send His only Son to suffer and die for us to be our Savior. The gift that God gave was not a baby born in a manger, but the gift of His Son who would lay down His life for us by dieing on the cross and then being resurrected so that we could have a relationship with God. Jesus came into the world to live for men, and, in the end, to die for men.
Let us not lose sight of the true gift of God at Christmas time—His love. If we do so, then we will have the same mindset as we saw in the Jewish children and Rabbi—we will worship the gifts of God instead of the giver.
Jesus is no longer a little baby, but He has ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God Almighty. He is now the Savior of all who will call upon Him. He stretches out His hand to give the gift of eternal life to whosoever will. Will you receive His gift today?
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4 (1:28) The Greek word is a passive participle, showing she received the favor. The Latin gratia plena (“full of grace”) has been misused to teach that Mary is a source of grace. This points up the importance of precisely accurate translation.
[i]MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (electronic ed.) (Lk 1:28). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
[ii]The Gospel of Matthew : Volume. 2000, c1975 (W. Barclay, lecturer in the University of Glasgow, Ed.). The Daily study Bible series, Rev. ed. (32). Philadelphia: The Westminster Press.