Christmas, a festival officially meant for a group of people called Christians, is widely celebrated by people of different countries, languages, cultures, lifestyles, food, and clothing habits. For many of us, Christmas means Santa Claus, Christmas tree, cakes, decorations, stars, and most probably gifts, etc. But do you know, it is more than that?

      Christmas is celebrated as it reminds us of the birth of Jesus Christ on the earth around 2000 years ago. Let us look at some of the facts which surround His birth. He was born in a city called Bethlehem, in the nation of Israel located in the Middle East, in the continent of Asia. After His birth, He was placed in a manger instead of a cradle. This is because, when He was about to be born His parents were traveling and they were unable to find a place to stay, so the only place they could find out was a stable where animals were kept. His parents leaving their home and traveling to their native place during His birth was a crucial moment, as the world’s first census was carried out at that time. His birth in an uncomfortable and stinky manger was not a coincidence but a pre-planned one, which signifies Jesus leaving all His splendor and majesty of Heaven to be born as a child on the Earth, for Him to be easily accessible for human beings. He was known as a carpenter’s son by His native people while His admirers and followers addressed him, King or Messiah.

          The facts are all good, but what is the reason that His birth is remembered and celebrated all over the world, amongst different kinds of people even after so many years. We all like birthdays and we celebrate our birthdays with our family, friends, and relatives, but here is someone whose birthday celebration has become a festival in many nations for around 2000 years, not only in the country where He was born but also around the world. What could be the reason that the remembrance of His birth on the earth has become such a huge celebration? This also triggers us to think, why God, who lived in His abode of excellence, disguised Himself as a human being and lived among us? What could be the need for this? Was He unable to hear prayers clearly from heaven, that He had to come down on this earth? A solution for this could only be found out by looking deeper into His journey on this earth.

            He spent His life on earth for around 33 and half years, began His work at 30, and worked for around 3 and half years. He lived like any other normal human being on this earth, got hungry when He was away from food for a long time, got tired when burdened with work also. He was quite famous during His life on earth. News about Him spread all the more when He did things that were different, strange, and difficult to grasp. When people on the earth were busy doing their routine work to earn a living, He was busy finding people, so that He could fulfill His mission. One of the works He did which made him very popular was to help people come out of their illness, in short, to heal the sick. Often when we fall sick, we visit doctors or have some medicines because we know according to our natural knowledge that medicines have the power to kill the source of the disease i.e. germs, or to stop the spread of the same. People hardly had any need for medicines when Jesus was around, as He carried the power of the medicines in Him. His one-touch would kill all the sources of the disease from people’s bodies and would restore good health. So whenever He was around, people would bring the diseased to Him and they would return with complete relief from the disease.

            Jesus' power not only killed the germs and viruses from people’s bodies and gave them good health but also deleted fear, anxiety, worry, pride, anger, frustration, depression, lust, greediness, love of money, envy, bitterness, and un-forgiveness from people’s hearts and minds and replaced them with hope, confidence, goodness and peace. An illustration of this happened on one of His journeys when He met a man named Zacchaeus, whom people disliked. The people had a valid reason to dislike this man, and it had to do something with his profession. Not because they had to pay some of their income to him as tax but because he filled his pockets with as much as he wanted to collect from them. His greed for money did not stop him from wanting to see who Jesus was, not to collect money from Him, but to know Him genuinely, as Jesus was very popular at that time. But there was a problem,  Zacchaeus was of short stature and since there used to be a crowd around Jesus always, he was unable to see Him. So he decided to climb a tree. His efforts were all the more fruitful since he not only got to see Jesus but also Jesus expressed His desire to stay at his house. It was quite shocking for him as to how Jesus could have known him and it was surprising for the crowd as well as to why would Jesus like to visit a cheater’s house. But Jesus exactly knew where to stop to do His work, as He would always quote – “A healthy man does not need a doctor, but a sick man does”. Sickness here does not refer to ill health but ill heart. To add to their surprise, in some while, this man said, “I will give half of my belongings to the poor, and if I have cheated anyone, I will pay back four times as much”. How could this man who was greedy for money for so long, would have said such a statement in a short while.

            Did Jesus advise him to do that? Well, advice has hardly changed anyone. For so many years, people are providing so much advice to one another in the name of constructive criticism, but the majority of the world remains the same. Advice has been a means of pushing each other down rather than changing them. So what could have happened with that man that resulted in such a huge change? Well, why would Jesus advise anyone, when He had the power to change the natural settings of human beings? Human beings react or behave in the way that is natural to them, some of which they have acquired from their birth and others from their surroundings. It is not that human beings are evil,  but choosing the wrong option is natural to them. We, human beings would get happy for others' success if it was natural to us, but what is natural to us is to be jealous of others' success, which is easy for us to do. The default settings of a smartphone may not always be desirable and need to be modified for optimum use, similarly, we human beings need some change in our natural settings too. That change cannot happen with advice as we already can discern the right and the wrong, but it needs a power that changes the natural, a power which helps us to choose the good and right, so doing good becomes very easy and natural too. That’s how Jesus brought about a change in the rich tax collector, not by giving advice but when he accepted Jesus gladly into his home, Jesus changed his heart overwhelmed with greed and love of money to a heart of goodness and generosity. So now when his natural setting was changed, it was easy for him to give back the money that he collected illegally and to continue his work with honesty and integrity.

            Other than healing ill health, Jesus also had the power to heal people’s ill minds and hearts which caused disruptions in their personal lives and also in the society, and that too, not by condemning them but by helping them whenever anyone accepted Him gladly in their hearts. He communed always with the poor, vulnerable, untouchables, and with those who were looked down on by society because of their status or evil doings. His journey on the earth was for human beings to have a better life filled with goodness, good health, and peace. Words that came out from His mouth changed people’s rock-hard hearts and made them soft and tender. His power made the blind to see, the lame to walk, the leper to be clean, the deaf to hear, and the dead to live. His authority over the natural things of the earth was revealed when the winds and the sea obeyed His words and became calm after a tempest of waves on the sea, when He multiplied the 5 bread and 2 fish for the people who were hungry so that more than 5000 of them can be fed, and when He converted the water into wine as they ran out of wine in the wedding. Even the natural things of the earth that troubles mankind can be made right by His power. His mission on earth was to make life comfortable, easy, and joyful for human beings.

            His final work on the earth is the main reason for His birth on this earth. Human beings have been living with problems, sickness, addiction, sorrow, etc. for so many years. Jesus wanted to give a permanent solution i.e. a permanent medicine for all the trouble a human is facing. The permanent medicine that is working for so many generations is the blood that He had shed on the cross. His blood can be used to relieve sickness or disease from the body, worry, anxiety, fear from the mind, lust, pride, bitterness from the heart, and to put an end to any evil disturbing the earth. Now the problem arises where can we get His blood from? His blood is not something we must apply physically, but we must apply it by faith. Faith is believing with utmost confidence that we have a heart, even when we cannot see it. We will not be able to see His blood, but by faith, we must apply His blood on the areas we need relief. Just like how the tax collector’s greedy heart was converted into a generous heart, the power of the blood of Jesus converts evil & wrong into good & right. Hair-dressers existing in this world doesn’t probably mean, that everyone in this world gets a haircut, but only those who have a desire to get a haircut, & those who choose to visit the hairdresser, likewise, the power of Jesus and His blood existing, doesn’t mean, everyone will receive its benefits, but only those who choose to get it, as it involves free will and choice. The celebrations of the birth of Jesus Christ all over the world are clear evidence of His power even working today.

Jesus' power is capable of transforming-

 “DARKNESS”

[Sickness, hatred, fear, worry, depression, addiction, lust, greediness, bitterness, pride]

 Into

  “LIGHT”

 [Good health, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control]

Darkness will not leave just because we don’t like it, but only when something opposes it. Darkness and light have always been enemies of each other, so if darkness should leave, light must enter. When Jesus was in this world, He said, “I am the light of the world”, so His entry should make darkness say goodbye to this world. 2000 years ago He needed a manger to be born, and today He needs people’s hearts to be born again in this world for creating a similar impact. He can only enter the hearts of those who have a desire to know Him and who will accept Him gladly in their hearts just like the rich tax collector, thereby creating an impact in themselves and the society. So why don’t you go ahead and give Him a place in your heart, and allow the light to shine upon your life this Christmas?

May you have a blessed Christmas !!!

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