Some Christmas Eve thoughts

We Christians celebrate on this night the birth of Jesus. As told in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary through the Immaculate Conception. As stated in the description of "my humble home in the blogosphere," I am a United Methodist with unconventional views, and this post will express some of those views.

I happen to believe in the story of the Virgin Birth, but not because it is written in the Gospels. Rather, my belief in the Virgin Birth is based on my belief that anything and everything is possible with God. If that's not unconventional enough for you, just wait...Even if it is conclusively proved that the Virgin Birth did not happen, I would not care. I believe that Jesus was and is Christ, and my belief does not require that the Virgin Birth story be true. And the basis for my belief is...?

Christmas is one of two major Christian holidays related to Jesus. In basic terms, Christmas commemorates the birth of Jesus, and the other major holiday, Easter, commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus. Indeed, it seems to me that the focus of many Christians is primarily on these two events (the huge popularity of Mel Gibson's film is some evidence of this). More to the point, I feel that the majority of Christians place too much emphasis on these two events and ignore the life of Jesus. Jesus said that the most important commandment was to love God with all your heat, soul, mind, and strength, and then he said another commandment is like it--love your neighbor as yourself. See Matthew 22:36-40 and Mark 12:28-31. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus provided examples of how to achieve these commandments. Stated differently, through his life, not his birth or resurrection, Jesus showed how to love God and our neighbor as ourselves. Yet where are the celebrations of this? Where is the emphasis on this in the institutional Christian church?

The Virgin Birth and the Resurrection serve to highlight the divine nature of Jesus. However, it seems that the institutional church and many Christians place little emphasis on the fact that Jesus was not only Son of God, but also Son of Man. Indeed, Jesus constantly refers to Himself as Son of Man, not Son of God. The point here is that Jesus was a human being, subject to the same weaknesses and foibles as any of the rest of us. Were He not, why would Satan have bothered trying to tempt Jesus? Why would Jesus have prayed in Gethsemane for "this cup" (His trial and crucifixion) to be removed? See Matthew 26:36-39 and Mark 14:32-36. If He was only divine and not human, why would He express such reservation?

My belief in Jesus as Christ rests in what I see as the fact that Jesus--as a human--achieved total and complete union with God in this physical existence. Jesus is known by many other terms: Christ, Messiah, Lamb of God, Exemplar...Jesus achieved perfect union with God, and His life provides an example of how we can do the same.

For me, of the three main aspects of Jesus--His Birth, His life, and His death and resurrection--His life is the most important. Was Jesus the Christ just because He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary? If His life had ended when He was a child, would we worship Jesus as the Savior? If Jesus had grown up to be a juvenile delinquent, would we worship Him as Christ? Not likely. Consequently, I maintain that the Virgin Birth--standing alone--does not make Jesus the Christ. As for the Resurrection, I believe that the lesson is not that Jesus overcame death, but rather that death never really was present. I'll save a detailed discussion of that topic for the spring, but here I will say that this view also deals with life rather than death. And so I return to the life of Jesus. Jesus stated what the two most important commandments were and are. Indeed, he said "There is no other commandment greater than these," (Mark 12:31) and "On these two commandments hang all the law and prophets" (Matthew 22:40). And by and through His life, Jesus taught and showed how to carry out these commandments. That is why my faith is based on the life of Jesus.

Does that mean I think anyone who does not agree with me is wrong? No. This belief is what works for me. It may or may not work for others. See, I believe that however one achieves the two commandments given by Jesus is fine. If someone believes that the Virgin Birth is absolutely the most important aspect of Christianity and also satisfies the commandments from Jesus, I have no problem with that person's beliefs.

Does this post mean that I think Christmas is not important? No. The birth of Jesus deserves a most joyous celebration. Without the birth of Jesus, we never would have had the life of Jesus. His birth was the Word made flesh (John 1:14). It was a miraculous, joyous event. It did mark the beginning of a new age of possible peace on Earth. However, we need to keep in mind that birth is a beginning of life. It is an opportunity to then truly live. It is important to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but it is also important to celebrate His life by following the example He gave us. His birth should remind us of that as we celebrate this Christmas season.