Reflection on Christmas

In the run up to Christmas, wherever one turned, it was impossible to miss the fact that Christmas was imminently upon us. Whether travelling by public transport, shopping on the high street or listening to the radio, it was clear: Christmas was near.

This wasn't contested by the persistent weather suffered by the UK, and particularly in Glasgow. The snow on the ground for almost a month was straying into mythical quantities, though commuters may have felt different.

However, this differs considerably from the circumstances surrounding the events which Christmas is supposed to enshrine. The birth of Jesus was an unceremonious event. A young couple in a town where they were either unknown or unwelcommed. They seek shelter from the night in a stable, an animal store, squalor. There, the teenage girl gives birth to a boy. Later, some shepherds visit to pay their respects. In total, this event was significant to fewer than ten people; the young couple and some working class animal keepers.

What is often not considered is what happened the next day; The shepherds leave. The young couple have an infant. The world moved on as if nothing happened. These events would have passed into memory as nothing more than a genealogical statistic, where it not for the identity of the infant.

Because Jesus is the Son of God, these events are remembered by a third of the world today, and capitalized upon by many more than that. While today we prepare for months for Christmas time, the birth of Christ was prepared for by only his parents, and forgotten about by the majority soon afterwards. While we can prepare for Christmas for months on end, in a flash it's all over, and the danger can be that we can treat in Jesus the same way, bidding him farewell and packing Him back into a box until next year. But the life of Christ was in preparation for all people to have a relationship with His Father, and this relationship extends beyond the twelve days of Christmas.

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