Christmas Eve and the Dawn of Hope

As another Christmas Eve arrives, consider for a moment a pivotal question that surrounds this season: what is hope, really? Unknowingly or not, our lives revolve around our answer to that question, for hope is often the only thing sustaining us. But is hope merely wishful thinking, a wing and a prayer? Is it faith in things unknowable and unseen? Is it rational, or irrational?

Hope is in the end defined by each person who chooses to engage in it. It can range from faint to clear, fleeting to steady, weak to strong. But for those who embrace the genuine, original reason for the season of Christmas, as the hymnist writes, their hope is based on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

How could an earthly tale that commenced in sheer humility, in the spare surroundings of a manger, and ended in brutality on a cross of crucifixion, inspire so many millions across two millennia to proclaim this Jesus as their repository of hope? How could a story of salvation about a humble carpenter from so long ago and far away - thought to be a legend or fable even by many who respect the story of Christ without fully believing it - bring hope in the form of certainty about the very essence of our existence? After all, this savior is depicted in a way entirely opposite to the expectations of the world.

Think about it: While many souls across the globe would readily embrace a self-proclaimed savior who presents as a conquering warrior swooping in, vanquishing the enemies of civilization and seizing power, what human in their right mind would ever think to concoct a story of salvation such as it appears in the Bible? In order to draw people to a true faith, what person would, in a world where strength is treasured and weakness despised, fabricate a story about a savior who would arise from the middle of nowhere - what good ever came out of Nazareth? - and be mocked, beaten and crucified - after refusing even to defend himself before the deep state rulers of the first century.

No, the type of savior the world envisioned was one who would wear a crown of gold, not of thorns, smite his enemies instead of praying for them, and employ his power to vanquish them instead of turning the other cheek. This man who was a model of humility while simultaneously asserting that “all authority on heaven and earth has been given to me” has entered the hearts of so many with a story based in actual history, not on some myth, that so many others in the world have written off as pure foolishness.

Something to Remember This Christmas Eve

But ironically, perhaps it is the very preposterousness of the narrative - dying on a cross and rising days later to pay the sin debt of all who believe in him and will join him in eternity, which, paradoxically, makes the belief that much more real for its adherents. Anyone can jump on the bandwagon of a gleaming, wondrous hero fulfilling all that the world would expect from such a grand figure. But only those who have truly been endowed with the gift of faith will embrace a savior urging humility, self-sacrifice and submission to his authority, with the hope of entering His kingdom.

The Bible speaks of how God has rendered foolish “the wisdom of the wise,” those souls in rebellion living apart from the unmerited grace - and genuine hope - He offers freely to all who will simply accept his eternal gift. Many pay lip service to humility, but far fewer practice it as Jesus preached.  So, on this Christmas Eve, remind yourself that, as the songwriter says of God, His most awesome work was done through the frailty of His son.