Christmas is a miracle for all of the obvious reasons. A baby (God incarnate born to a virgin) enters the world in an imperial backwater on or about 0 A.D. in the most humble of circumstances but who would grow up to found the world’s leading faith, fundamentally transform our world and liberate humanity from the tyranny of sin, and affirm the worth of ALL people. It doesn’t get any more miracle-y than that even if you divorce theology from the cold hard historical facts of Jesus’s life.
I’m no less fascinated by the capability of Christmas to create the conditions for successor miracles which reflect the spirit of the original. The nativity story has inspired men and women for 2,000 years to rise beyond base humanity and do extraordinary things.
Consider, for example, all of the ways in the ensuing centuries when Christianity was challenged but not only survived but expanded in the face of considerable oppression. Roman despots, Nazi warlords, and countless godless monsters in the intervening years couldn’t snuff out what began in that manger.
My favorite successor miracle? As a history nerd and New Jerseyans? Approximately 1,776 years later, halfway across the globe, an intrepid band of American patriots led by George Washington braved poor weather condition to attack and defeat a mercenary Hessian army encamped at Trenton, New Jersey and liberate humanity from the tyranny of humanity’s most sinful construct (tyrannical government). Americans were losing the Revolutionary War to Great Britain. Washington’s heroism and the bravery of his men snatched victory from the jaws of defeat and made this country possible, and now this country (at least when we’re actually trying) stands as a shining example of freedom’s potential for improving and elevating the human condition.
The parallels between Bethlehem and Trenton never cease to amaze me every year! No matter how old I get or how many times I revisit them.
Spare four minutes this Christmas to watch the video below and celebrate God’s greatest temporal gift throughout the ages: FREEDOM!
