Big idea:

Jesus’ family shaped him as fully human, multiplied His ministry and set a model for His Church.

Family may be the why of Christmas

The True Meaning of Christmas

We have started going through our family Christmas movies. We still have a few to go. I love how Christmas movies almost always teach the true meaning of Christmas... but for most movies, there is a different true meaning of Christmas.

The Santa Clause with Tim Allen – Santa could die on your property, if he does, your Dad has to say goodbye to the family, move to the North Pole without you and be the new Santa Claus. The true meaning of Christmas is loving your family.

Elf – the meaning of Christmas is to believe in Santa and sing enough Christmas carols so that Santa’s present delivery system will operate properly. But also being reunited with family.

Home Alone – abandoning children usually works out for the best… but it is all about family. Even when you wish them gone, you want to be with them for Christmas.

Die Hard – the meaning of Christmas is to never let the terrorists win.

The Grinch – it’s all about giving and being together and singing together around a Christmas tree.

National Lampoon Christmas Vacation – again, it is all about family… and kidnapping your boss is likely to give you a Christmas bonus. It’s all about family.

Giving, family, serving others… believing in Santa Claus.

The true meaning of Christmas: That is all garbage. Incorrect. They are all good things, wonderful parts of the way we celebrate Christmas but...

The one who gets the meaning of Christmas right is A Charlie Brown Christmas.

"I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord..." and the baby, and the manger, and the heavenly host of angels... Hosanna, glory to God...

"That is what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown."

Gifts and giving – that is not the meaning of Christmas, but they can remind us of God’s gift to us, Salvation, born in Bethlehem.

Santa – fun, great backstory, great example of generous giving, but definitely not the focus and meaning of Christmas.

Family – also not the meaning of Christmas, but it got me thinking.

The Why of Christmas

So we know and remember the meaning of Christmas, but we have been talking about family these last few weeks. We have talked about the tension between the real and the ideal of family. This is the way families were created to be and could be in the ideal, and this is the way my family really is.

So I have been pondering this: why Christmas?

Why Christmas? That is, why a baby, and why a baby in the bizarre manner we take as the “Christmas story.” There are angels singing, shepherds coming into the birthing facility, which would be unhygienic if it wasn’t already a cave used to house the family’s animals. There was no inn, by the way, they did not have inns, it was probably a cousin of Joseph. Family stayed with family, it would better say "guest room." The Christmas story is a family story...

But why a family? Why a baby?

Couldn’t Jesus have descended from heaven in an adult body? He could have just appeared one day and started his ministry.

It seems like the whole baby born in a manger was a messy awkward way to start. And everyone who has taken care of an infant knows, the messiness had only just begun. Jesus with a poopy diaper, there is a new thought for Christmas.

Why Christmas? We know why we needed Jesus: we needed God to rescue us from sin and death. But why in just this way? Why have Jesus born into a family? Jesus lived with his family for 30 years before starting his ministry!

Well, there is not text in Scripture that tells us straight out, but I have some clues we can pick up in Scripture. I found 3, perhaps you can find or think of more and let me know.

Mary and Joseph - Shaping the Human Experience

Mary

Our first clue lies in two pretty amazing people. Mary, highly favored by God, blessed among all women, is chosen to give birth to a son. She is given by an angel what really could have been a death sentence, if she had been accused of adultery by her fiance. But instead of responding in terror, she calls her self the Lord's servant and just praises God. Mary treasures up all the miraculous story of Jesus' life, and has the wisdom to keep it to herself. She loves her son, follows her son and is faithful through every part of his life, death and resurrection. Scholars believe she is responsible for much of the material Luke gathers for his gospel.

There can be a tendency in Protestant churches to never talk about Mary because she is overly elevated in the Catholic church... but she was favored, blessed and simply amazing.

Joseph

Joseph was a miraculously understanding man. Mary had a personal visitation by an angel. Joseph had a dream where an angel spoke to him. On the strength of a dream, he believes his fiance's story about getting knocked up. He must have loved her, cared for her, for rather than charge her of adultery he was doing the quietest thing he could while remaining righteous himself.

But on the strength of a dream... and consider how well you remember the best of your dreams, he marries her, cares for her through the pregnancy, and then raises a child he knows is not his for at least 12 years. All on a dream, and belief in Mary's story. He protected his family, obedient to God's leading as they fled Bethlehem after a few years to Egypt, and obeyed another dream from God to return to Israel.

Joseph was a tremendously righteous man, one of the faithful to make the trip to Jerusalem every year, about 91 miles, between 2-5 days journey each way. And all along

Luke 2:40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.

So Jesus was born, in the miraculous fashion. And last year we talked about how important it was that he was born of a virgin: that it would be clear he was miraculous from the very start: fully God!

But he was born into a family, that most human of institutions. Like every human being back to Adam and Eve: Jesus had a Mom and a Dad. Like few these days, he grew up with his Mom and Dad.

We have a high priest who has been human, who knows what it is. Who knows what it is to live in family.

Jesus knew what it was like to miss your face with the spoon as you try to feed yourself.

Jesus knows what it is like to poop your pants as you struggle to potty train.

He knows what it was like to be protected, to be taught, as he learned his father's trade, to be loved. And even, at some point, it seems that he lost his father, who is never mentioned after their trip to the temple when Jesus was twelve.

Jesus' family shaped who he was.

James and Jude - Multiplying the Ministry

Jesus knows what it is like to live in family. Jesus even had younger siblings.

Now this is something that is laid out pretty clearly in Scripture, but the Catholic church prefers to see Mary as a virgin her whole life so they retranslate "brothers and sisters" as cousins or step-siblings from an assumed previous marriage of Joseph.

But it is pretty clear, when Jesus ministers in Nazareth, his hometown, the people who grew up with don't believe him... including most of his family.

Mark 6: 2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

Jesus had younger brothers and sisters. Now, Imagine the rivalry…

“I am faster than you!” “Oh yeah? I am the Son of God!”

It makes total sense to me that Jesus' brothers and sisters did not believe. Come on, you are my brother. In fact, earlier, in Mark 3, when his family heard his preaching, they "went to take charge of him, for they said, "He is out of his mind."

That makes sense to me. What is amazing, one of the best testimonies to the truth of Jesus, is that things did not stay that way. We do not know about all of Jesus' family. But two we know: his brother James and his brother Jude come to believe that their older brother is the Son of God.

James received a special visit after the resurrection. Jesus appears, "Hey, brother, check it out!"

James and Jude both wrote books of the Bible.

James, in James 1:1 himself a "servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Jude calls himself in Jude 1:1 "a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James."

I love how they claim a greater relationship: yeah he is my brother, but you know what, he is more truly my Lord and Savior. That is an incredible testimony.

These two continue and multiply the ministry of Jesus. James in particular, led the church from Jerusalem. Next to Paul, he was perhaps the most influential apostle. We just got through reading his book, and it is fantastic stuff.

Jesus' family multiplied his ministry

Church Family - Brothers and sisters

Finally, #3, and this is my favorite. Jesus founded a community that would carry on His teachings after His ascension into heaven. He formed and trained the seed and leadership of His church in his 12 apostles. It couldn't be an accident that His brother was ready and so able to step in to lead the church from Jerusalem either.

But he modeled His church on something he began to learn first-hand on Christmas day. Early in his teaching, he called his followers family:

Mark 3:33 "Who are my mother and my brothers?" he asked. 34 Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, "Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

And His followers pick up this remarkable language. The model for understanding Jesus and His church is that of a husband and his bride, a relationship Jesus saw played out firsthand between the remarkable Mary and Joseph. When Jesus said, "you are my brother, you are my sister..." and his followers did likewise: Jesus knew first-hand what that means!

He could mean it in the most familial sense, not a kind of formal platitude like we can sometimes slip into... but you are my brother like James is my brother.

Jesus made his church a family

And we follow in those footsteps. You are my family. I have my family... and I have my church family. You are my brother like Jono is my brother. It means I love you, I care for you, and even if we disagree or even fight sometimes, we are brothers. You are my sister like Heather and Angie are my sisters. We are committed to love one another.

We are family: my brothers and my sisters and me.

Summary: the Why of Christmas

Jesus is the reason for the season. He is the true meaning of Christmas: a Savior born to us.

But it is important that Christmas happened just the way it did Placing Jesus in a family.

Why Christmas: Family.

And Jesus is fully human, shaped by his family in the same way that we all are. He learned and grew, even while being fully divine.

Jesus was shaped by his family. And our family of origin shapes us too, for better or worse.

Jesus' family, at least Mary, James and Jude, picked up his ministry. They added to it, they multiplied it, they carried on. And at the very best, our family does that too. That is often what makes Christmas so awesome. I bring some food and presents and cheer, you all do the same, and suddenly we have a feast, and we have piles of presents, and we have joy.

Jesus' family multiplied his ministry. That is what families can do.

and Jesus made his church a family. And this church family is a family.

My brothers and sisters, and I mean that truly, we are family because of Christmas.

Merry Christmas.