#18 Question: Is Jesus the reason for the season?

  Many people believe that Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season. In addition, homes are beautifully decorated, stockings are hung, presents are wrapped and piled under a tree. But if Jesus is the reason we are celebrating, we are neglecting what the Bible stresses.

Thinking about any part of Jesus life—birth, miracles, or death on the cross—is a great thing to do at any time. However, from a Bible standpoint, the birth of Jesus gets only a little attention. (We cannot be sure that Jesus was born anywhere near December 25. Because the shepherds were in the fields, Jesus was probably born in the spring and there is no command or example of the New Testament church having a special day to celebrate his birth at any time of the year.)

The birth of Jesus is surely important. But what gets attention in the New Testament is His resurrection after His death on the cross. If He had only died and had not been resurrected, then Christianity would have lost its power. Many powerful teachers have existed down the stream of time. But none were resurrected after three days. Jesus’ resurrection proves that we too can be resurrected at the Judgment Day.

Notice how the apostle Peter made the resurrection the cornerstone of His message about Jesus on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2:23-24;

“…this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up,”

Then Peter quoted a prophecy from Psalms 16, Acts 2:27:

“For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption.”

Peter says that King David prophesied that the Messiah would be resurrected, Acts 2:30-32;

“Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses.”

Further, Peter says that being born again is through the resurrection, 1 Peter 1:3:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

In fact, Peter says that because we believe that God raised Jesus, it means our faith and hope are in God, 1 Peter 1:21:

“who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The basis for belief in the resurrection of Jesus today is twofold: 1. On the third day after His death, His tomb was empty. Angels were present at the empty tomb and proclaimed Him resurrected. 2. Many witnesses saw Him and affirmed that He was alive. When persecuted, these witnesses were willing to die affirming that He was alive.

What do we learn from all this? 1. The resurrection provides the power behind our faith and hope of heaven.  2. Although many people focus on the birth of Jesus, the New Testament shows His resurrection to be much more important.

The answer to the question in the title is many people believe Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season. But the Bible stresses the resurrection as the key to Christianity.

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