The Adventures of Christmas Esimerkki

December 8th

I asked people on Facebook, what is your favorite Christmas tradition? Surprisingly, no one said “holiday travel.” I think I would rather eat last year’s gingerbread house than travel at Christmas time.

There are… long lines, screaming kids, often the worst weather of the year, TSA unwrapping your nicely decorated gifts checking for explosives and strangers singing Christmas songs wrong!

Close to 100 million people traveled last year at Christmas time. They took planes, trains, automobiles and at least one one-horse open sleigh. The first Christmas involved a lot of travel as well. Shepherds traveled from outside the city. Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The angels traveled from heaven to earth. Magi traveled from the East.

"On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh." (Matthew 2:11)

“They fell down and worshiped Him.” When translated, this phrase literally means to fall down violently and be shattered. It is the word picture of a building collapsing.

What gets me about this is that the Magi traveled thousands of miles to worship in anticipation of what is to come. Nothing had changed yet. Mary and Joseph were still poor. Jesus didn’t sit on the actual throne. The Shepherds would still go back to being shepherds. Rome still ruled. 1/4 of the people were still slaves. But this was the start of a revolution.

Think about how people reacted to the first episode of the Disney+ TV show, The Mandalorian. When people saw Baby Yoda (“the child”) they lost their ever-loving minds. He hadn’t done anything yet. But there was so much promise. 

Maybe your life doesn’t feel very different. But we should worship in anticipation like the Magi.