Christmas is one of the most popular festive seasons in the world. Christians celebrate it by remembering the coming of the Messiah to save humanity. Others celebrate it for various other reasons like the holidays or the end of the year. Whatever their reasons for celebrating might be, Christmas and the season brings great joy and hope to everyone.
God the Father sent His only begotten Son into this world to save mankind—and therefore, Christmas is for everyone.
The joy of Christmas was given to the shepherds on the Christmas Day and the wise men on the Epiphany Day. It shows that a wide spectrum of people, from far and near, were included in the celebration and good news that Christ is born.
Etymologically, the name “Jesus” or “Joshua (Yeshua)” derives from Hebrew roots meaning “the Lord is salvation.”
The angel of the Lord told Joseph in Matthew 1:21: “She [i.e. Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus the Saviour came to save all of mankind from sin and its consequences. Salvation is only through Jesus, the Saviour.
Sozo is the Greek word for salvation, yet its root meaning goes beyond just the forgiveness of sins. According to Strong’s Concordance, it means to save—that is, to protect or deliver, heal, preserve and to make whole. It carries the idea of being physically healed of diseases and to be delivered from enemies. In the spiritual sense, the enemies are sin, Satan and death.
Jesus conquered and defeated these enemies on the Cross, which was otherwise undefeatable by mankind. These defeated foes still wag their tails to disturb and distract people from living a life of harmony and peace.
There is no doubt that Christmas will be different for the second continuous year, from what we once knew, because of the pandemic. Coming together as family or as believers with lots of restrictions and distancing guidelines have already curtailed celebrations and activities during Christmas.
Today in an unprecedented time with unrelenting pandemic, people of all walks of life who are journeying through uncharted waters with fear and uncertainty need to hear the Good News that a Saviour is born, and He brought salvation to all who come to Him.
In this Christmas and always, let us take Jesus, the Saviour, to those who are homeless, recently bereaved, lonely or struggling to make ends meet, away from their family, staying in dormitories, sleeping rough, the rejected and the neglected.
CHRIST came for all. CHRIST is for all. CHRISTmas is for everyone!
Blessed CHRISTmas!
Rev Albert Vijay Joseph is the Pastor-in-Charge of Tamil Methodist Church, Short Street.