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Wishing you a Merry Christmas
What you need to know:
- The first Christmas day was not exactly a time of joy and peace for everybody.
In Church calendar, Sunday, December 24, is the fourth and last Sunday in Advent and December 25, Christians worldwide celebrate Christmas, birthday of Jesus Christ. As a popular Christmas carol proclaims: “Joy to the world, the Lord is come. Let the earth receive her King.” The Lord, the King and Saviour is Jesus Christ, Son of God and Prince of Peace.
Jesus Christ’s birth was prophesied by Micah 700 years before he was born in Bethlehem, Judea while shepherds watched their flocks by night. Prophet Micah writes: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times.”
“Therefore, Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labour gives birth and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. And he will be their peace.” Micah 5:2-5 (NIV)
Isaiah’s prophecy of the birth of Jesus Christ immortalised as lyrics of Handel’s Messiah reads as follows:
“For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.” Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV)
Christmas is a season of joy, hope and love and reminds me of the good old days when real peace prevailed, not the illusion of peace which a friend calls peace of the graveyard. Christmas is a special family occasion which we fondly looked forward to with excitement.
The birth of Jesus is the focal point of Christmas, not beautiful gifts and the accounts which will feature prominently as readings at Church services on Christmas day are those contained in the Gospels according to Matthew and Luke.
The birth of Jesus is an event whose significance is beyond words. His name in Hebrew, Yeshua, translated as Jesus or Yesu, means the Lord saves while Messiah or Christ in Greek means the anointed one because kings and priests of Israel were anointed with oil as a sign of divine appointment. Jesus Christ’s other name Emmanuel means God with us.
The first Christmas day was not exactly a time of joy and peace for everybody. The shepherds were frightened by what they witnessed. Herod king of Judea was terrified when he heard that a child born in Bethlehem was destined to be King. He panicked and reacted irrationally and violently like a wounded bull.
“When Herod realised that the visitors from the East had tricked him, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighbourhood who were two years old and younger.” Matthew 2:16 (GNB)
According to Matthew, the atrocities and crimes Herod committed fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy: “A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning; Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they are no more.”
As for the shepherds it took an angel of the Lord to calm their nerves and cast out fear. The lesson for wananchi is that God is with us and will never abandon us to enemies of the people. Merry Christmas!
Harold Acemah is a political scientist and retired career diplomat.
