There’s a lot about our celebration of Christmas that you can do without. Turkey is just too dry for some people. The Hallmark Christmas movies aren’t everybody’s thing. And the gift-giving can feel like it’s feeding commercialism more than it is our souls. There’s a lot about Christmas that you can skip, but what if Jesus skipped Christmas? How would it have been any different if Jesus hadn’t come into this world and been born as a child? Asking that “what if” helps us to see what we need to keep central about our celebration of Christmas.

1. We wouldn’t have a Saviour who gets us

If Jesus skipped Christmas, we wouldn’t have a Saviour who gets us. God can feel distant at times. It’s comforting to know that He loves and cares for us, but we want someone who understands. It’s so encouraging when we meet someone who’s faced what we’re dealing with – someone who’s been through the trenches. That’s one of the reasons that God came into our world. Hebrews 4:15 says, “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” and Hebrews 2:18 adds, “because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Jesus went through it all and He felt the pain of this world’s suffering. He suffered poverty, rejection, violence, persecution, torture, grief, and death. He’s been where we are, and so He understands us when we come to Him. Without Christmas, we would have missed this.

2. We wouldn’t have a perfect example

If Jesus skipped Christmas, we wouldn’t have a perfect example. God’s commands are helpful, but it’s not always clear what they look like in real life. Principles and proverbs point us in the right direction, but without Christmas, we would never have seen how they all fit together. Noah was a righteous man, but he had a problem with alcohol. Moses was a role model in some respects, but anger got the best of him. Peter is an example of a disciple, but he had his issues as well. Without Christmas, we wouldn’t have a perfect example of how the will of God is fully realized in a person’s life. 1 John 2:6 says, “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” Because Jesus came into this world, we have a perfect example to follow.

3. We wouldn’t have a mediator before God

If Jesus skipped Christmas, we wouldn’t have a mediator before God. As cute as the baby in the manger is, what we really needed was someone who could deal with our guilty verdict before God. We stood condemned for our sins and needed someone who could take sin’s penalty for us and stand between us and God. Most people assume that this is what happened at the cross, but it started in the manger. Jesus could only take our penalty for sin if He didn’t have His own to pay. We needed “a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19), so every act of obedience from the cradle to the cross was crucial. Born into this world as a baby, Jesus is both fully God and fully man, and having provided a perfect sacrifice for sin, He can bridge the gap as our representative before God. As 1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” Without Christmas, we would have none of this.

As you reflect on Christmas this year, the Christian message isn’t just “let’s all slow down and not get caught up in the commercialism of the season.” What’s magical about Christmas isn’t time with family or nostalgic traditions. The wonder of Christmas is the God who entered our world so that He could go through all the same kinds of trials that we face and gave us an example of how to face them in His perfect will. It’s the celebration of the Saviour who lived the life we didn’t and died the death we deserved so that we could stand before God. May God stir your hearts this Christmas as you reflect on what we enjoy because He came.

In awe of Him,

Paul