Christmas - Oh, HOLY Night!

Christmas … Oh! HOLY Night!

John R. Petrilli

Christmastime often brings to mind childhood memories. For me it recalls the department store window in downtown Syracuse where motorized reindeer mannequins dashed through the winter wonderland scenery, and Santa Claus made a personal appearance at the E.W. Edwards store just to hear me tick off my wish list and make a mental note of my holiday “order”.

The Christmas story itself has a familiarity which, if not careful, can almost lead to a subtle form of apathy or contempt. But this year it’s different for me… really different. I began to see another side of Christmas … the HOLY side. A close examination of the Biblical text surprisingly reveals a Christmas that is holy from start to finish.

Take the night for example. It was holy as the sky was filled with angelic voices singing songs of adoration, praise and proclamation (Luke 2:8-14).

Then there’s the angel sent to relive Joseph’s many and justifiable anxieties. He was undoubtedly holy, as are all the angels sent on God’s errands (Matt. 1:20-23).

And Joseph himself is testified as being a holy young man (Matt. 1:19) who did well to follow the angel’s advice because it was perfectly in line with Isaiah’s prophecy concerning Messiah’s miraculous birth (Matt. 1:22-23), as revealed in the Holy Scriptures (Isaiah 7:14).

Next we have the well-known mother-to-be in beautiful Mary. Her inner beauty and holiness is revealed not only in her ready submission to God’s mysterious and personally embarrassing plan (Luke 1:38), but also in the words that compose her lovely song announcing her child’s impending conception (Luke 1: 46-55). She was a gal who was clearly holy in body and spirit (Luke 1:26-27, 34).

The angel Gabriel who brought the advance notice of Mary’s upcoming supernatural conception was doubtless holy (Luke 1:26).

Mary’s dear friend, cousin and confidant Elizabeth was a Spirit-filled holy woman of God (Luke 1:41), not unlike her Spirit-filled husband Zechariah (Luke 1:67), whose joyful song about his son John’s birth also included direct references to the Messiah and His ministry (Luke 1:68-69 , 76-79).

We all know very well that the shepherds were lowly, but did you ever stop to see that they were also holy? Their open receptivity to an angel’s visit and their quick action in telling others the good news is clear evidence of this fact (Luke 2:15-18).

Holiness continues its theme even after Christ’s birth. Upon completion of her forty days of purification and ceremonial cleansing, Mary carries the baby Jesus into the Temple for dedication to the Lord, and there meets up with a holy senior saint by the name of Simeon (Luke 2:25).

No sooner had he said, “Amen”, but that another holy woman named Anna encounters Jesus and His parents in the Temple (Luke 2:36-38). Her holiness is attested to by her life of dedicated fasting and prayer along with her gratitude for sending the Messiah and her active role in spreading the incredible news to all who were eagerly anticipating their promised Redeemer (Luke 2: 37-39).

And what about those oft-debated Wise Men from the East? Rather than quibbling over their origin, number, or astronomical savvy, we should zero-in on their holy character. Observe the way these men of high degree obediently and carefully followed God’s leading and will as He revealed Himself to them through their familiar language of the stars (Matt. 2:2,9). Upon arrival at the home of the Holy Son of God, these holy men devoutly bowed before Him in reverence and sheer awe (Matt. 2:11).

The story ends on yet another holy note as a holy angel gives an advance directive to Joseph concerning Herod’s plot to destroy Jesus and the necessity of their immediate escape into Egypt under cover of night (Matt. 2:13-15).

From start to finish Christmas is, indeed, wholly holy. It was and still can be , “Oh, Holy Night” as we hear from God’s Word, obey the Spirit’s leadership in our daily lives, and worship the Son Who was born to die so that we could die to ourselves and become reborn.

Are we holy in body and spirit (1 Cor. 7:34b)? Perhaps Christmas is the perfect time for each of us to reassess our personal spiritual status and reconnect with our holy God. A MERRY CHRISTMAS to every one of you, and may this Christmas become for each of you a most “Holy Night!”