"Now I get it! That's why Christmas is a big deal to so many people!" Dave's reaction sent my mind on a rabbit trail: Surely this well-educated, middle-aged, professional man knew the meaning of Christmas…Or did he?

"What do you mean, Dave?" I needed to clarify what he meant. In response, he promptly replied, "I mean, the baby Jesus in the manger. He wasn't just a baby, but he was actually God—Yahweh, the Creator God. That tiny baby was HIM!"

Dave's realization came as we were reading together in chapter 10 of By this Name. We were focusing on the Christmas story from Matthew's Gospel. In this passage, the angel of the Lord was reassuring Joseph after he had learned that Mary was pregnant.

"Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,' which translated means 'God with us.'" - Matthew 1:22, 23 NASB

We then read,

"Who being in very nature God…made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." - Philippians 2:6-7 NASB

As Dave processed this new information, there must have flashed through his mind a myriad of Christmas memories: holiday pageants, parades, decorations, carols, tinsel, presents, and family. He recalled many years of celebrations, yet somehow those recollections were void of true meaning. That is, until now.

Dave had already learned much about God's identity and history because we had studied the foundational story of the Old Testament. And now, in Dave's heart and mind, he transferred all that he knew to be true about Yahweh's character to the baby in the Christmas manger.

For the very first time in his life, Dave grasped the wonder of the true identity of the baby Jesus. And, for him, this truly made Christmas a very big deal.


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