More than Warm Fuzzies (Christmas Devotion)

by Will Jackson

If we’re honest, we tend to take Christmas for granted. That’s certainly not groundbreaking news. The Christian bubble has popularized “the Reason for the Season”—and for good reason. The American culture is one of success and materialism, and the holidays create a tinderbox of opportunity.

Instead, I’m suggesting that we take the incarnation for granted. We inadvertently make Jesus the mascot of the Christmas season rather than the centerpiece of our daily rhythms and choices by forgetting the full scope of his ministry.

God’s central promise is not that Jesus would be born (of course, that was part of it)—he promised that once he was born—he would carry our sin on his shoulders, he would willingly submit himself to be our atoning sacrifice, he would lead us to healing and wholeness and redemption and purpose.

Why We Celebrate Christmas

Christmas is a reminder of God’s promise—it’s his guarantee of the victory that will be won. 

We celebrate Christmas because we celebrate Easter.

We celebrate Christmas because the Savior that once came into the world by being born like us died our death for us, ascended in the heavens, and will come back into the world in the same way he left—and that is the prevailing highlight of the Scriptures.

In Isaiah 7, we see this so clearly.

For sure, one might say Isaiah’s central contribution is the Suffering Servant passages, which come later in the book. I can’t argue there—those are rich and significant for understanding Jesus’ work. Yet, to connect the dots between the Old Testament longing for the Messiah and the New Testament provision of a Messiah, we’ve got to spend some time with early Isaiah.

In the first several pages of Isaiah, the prophet vacillates between judgment speech and deliverance speech. King Ahaz has led the people astray and is now the object of God’s rebuke. Israel, corporately culpable in following the lead of their evil king, will receive similar discipline. However, God’s heart of mercy and love is not lost on his children. In these chapters, God promises a rescuer who will transcend the rule of Ahaz and the dominance of the nation Assyria—a king who would perfectly shepherd the people.

Then, we come to a monumental verse in Isaiah 7:14.

¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (ESV)

Isaiah 7:14, in precise terms, is a warning declaration against evil King Ahaz. God would send a sign to verify what He had promised—both judgment and deliverance for the people—and that sign would be the birth of a child.

The child’s birth would be the sign that God was beginning to fulfill his promise.

God with Us

Scholars have debated whether God fulfilled the 7:14 prophecy immediately in Isaiah’s day. Many, in fact, believe Isaiah’s son (named Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz. ... wow) was the promised child, while others feel more comfortable matching Hezekiah with the prophecy.

Whether or not the prophecy saw immediate fulfillment, we know its ultimate end is found in a child who would be born in a cattle stall in Bethlehem.

At the base level, the chapters surrounding 7:14 preach of a deliverer who would transcend all earthly powers. This king would demonstrate a pure heart and resolve for justice. He would be guided, above all, by love.

Isaiah 9:4-6, for example, speaks of the one who would be named “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace.”

Likewise, Isaiah 11:1-9 shows a new king in the royal Israelite line whose reign will not see an end. Note the text says, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”

Isaiah wasn’t merely prophesying about a descendant of David. No, this king would be a new and better David—a divinely appointed replacement. God’s anointed one would see victory whose reach will recreate the earth and establish a new cosmic peace like that which humanity hasn’t seen since the garden.

And he will do this, by the cross.

Jesus is inarguably the most authentic fulfillment of the name in 7:14, which means “God with us.” God wouldn’t merely signify his increased involvementby the birth of a child in Isaiah’s day. 

Instead, he would declare his direct and embodied presence in the incarnation of the Second Person of the Trinity. 

Immanuel was not merely “God [metaphorically or symbolically] with us.”

No, Immanuel of 7:14 means, “God [somehow stepped into the world He created and became a human person, warts and all, so that he could bear our cross after having truly empathized in every way] with us.” (see John 1:14)

God has saved us by entering our plight—not merely watching from afar.

Look Inside 

Jesus came to be the Savior of the world—at his birth, things would change forever for a world that was spiraling into destruction.

Christmas, then, is the dawning of this light. A light that shines evermore brightly from the shine of the cross and the empty tomb. A light that will envelop the world once and for all at the Savior’s return.

During this holiday stretch, certainly don’t forget the reason for the season.

But, my extra encouragement is this: be careful that you don’t end up worshipping the warm fuzzies of the nativity scene.

Instead, look inside the manger. 

Let us worship the Lord of heaven and earth who chose to make himself low. For us.