My Christmas Treatise: Keeping the cart in front of the horse. Christmas is the celebration of the physical birth of the existential reality that we can LIVE FOREVER. It is the celebration of something that is real and receivable. However, many say it is just a story, a metaphor type story inspiring more and more stories (Santa Claus, Miracle on 34th Street, etc) all telling us to do our best and enjoy life, family and friends. If that is all it is then it is just emotional therapy via an ancient story. And I can say cool to that. I can appreciate a season of being extra appreciative and nice ... all good stuff. But is it possible that Christmas is more? I think so. In fact, I am betting my life on it. I think all of those stories are fine, as long as we keep the horse in front of the cart. I think that I would be dishonoring God to reduce what He has done to something lass than it really is. It is an integrity issue for me. When I unpack the meaning of Christmas I end up at Easter. Christmas is important because it begins the story that explodes at Easter (Resurrection Sunday). The Biblical message of Easter is that death dies, life lives, the grave, all evil, the Evil One; they all get destroyed. They get destroyed not by a nice story but by REALITY - the reality that He (Jesus) walked out of that tomb and CHANGED EVERYTHING. Not most things, everything (Hebrews 2:14-15). Christmas is the birth of the message we can LIVE FOREVER. I looked up forever in the dictionary and it said something like a long, long, long time that NEVER ENDS. Christmas is the tangible birth of the existential reality that we can live forever. Why do I believe all this? Because the totality of evidence says so. And when I include evidence I include evidence from within ... spiritual evidence. In short: [1] When I look at the totality of the evidence from science I conclude that we are more than just molecules in motion. We are more than the by-product of a great accident. I call this evidence from above. By itself, is it enough? - probably not. [2] Love and my own inner-spritual experience with God (the Holy Spirit). Science cant fully or rightly explain love. Love isnt needed for physical life. Love isnt part of evolutionary theory, and isnt needed for evolution to be true. So what about love? We love, we see it everywhere. We can and do love; even in the midst of a dark and fallen world. Why? Because we are made in the image of God - who at his core is love. Along these lines, I have heard Gods Spirit speak to me, and others, in ways that arent explainable by any other answer other than something that was loving, personal, and transcended me/us humans has spoken. I have seen the Holy Spirit reveal things that say God has not closed shop. This evidence I call evidence from within. And [3] evidence from below, history. I cant rightly explain Jesus without there being a God. It is that simple. Nice guy - not. Jesus spoke as if he was the meaning of life. He was very, very arrogant if he wasnt the Son of God. This brings me back to Christmas - more than just a story. For me, when one opens their historical paradigm the evidence concerning all things surrounding Jesus become overwhelming. And what seals the deal is the lives of the apostles. Not one cracked and recanted. And if Jesus didnt rise from the dead they, the apostles knew. The Bible does not expressly give details about the ways in which the apostles died. We must rely on early church historians and non-church historians. Interestingly, both seem to be in agreement in almost every case. Because of this, we have no reason to disbelieve these accounts. But why is this important? Because they knew! These men KNEW, for sure, whether or not Jesus did, in fact, rise from the dead. This means they either died for what they knew to be a lie, or they were literally crazy and/or brainwashed into believing Jesus defeated death - which means there would have been evidence of their craziness; but there really isnt. They, the apostles, werent advocating the overthrow of the government - they were teaching reasonable respect for the government. They were also caring for the poor and giving aide to widows. They were missionaries. They were all over the world carrying out the Great Commission. Thomas died in India, Jude in Persia, Matthew in Ethiopia, Bartholomew in Armenia, etc. Knowledge of Peter’s death is widespread among non-church and church historians. He was crucified but he thought himself unworthy of the same type of death that Jesus suffered and so asked to be hung upside down which was done in Rome. These guys, and I only mentioned a few, were spread all over the place lucidly preaching the Good News of the Gift of Christ and were executed without one, not one, ever changing their story. Not one cracked. All they had to do was recant and most would have been allowed to live. NOT ONE DID. They either knowingly and falsely died for a lie, or they died for the truth. The evidence has to be stretched beyond belief for any other option to be seriously considered. Even the scholar R. Bultmann admitted this much. Today, many (suicide/homicide bombers) die for what they think to be the truth and/or God Will. The difference is that Apostles KNEW. Todays homicidal terrorist has believed a lie, but he or she cant test the lie the way the Apostles could. Peter knew himself. He saw with his own eyes. He wasnt buying a message from a preacher, Rabbi, or Iman. The same is true for all, not most, all of the Apostles. In fact, it was true for hundreds of eye witnesses at the time. These apostles and disciples were either insane, evil, or speaking the truth. Like Albert Schweitzer, one has to believe that Jesus was the greatest, the wisest, the most profound, and the most genuine insane prophet that ever lived; but was sadly executed ... and that his followers, ALL of them, were also nice, loving, but crazy as well. The Apostle Paul himself deals with this issue, to some extent, in his letters. He tells us that if Jesus did not rise then he, Paul, and the others (Peter, John etc. and all who believed) were fools to be pitied. But what if they werent crazy? Then they were either evil dispensers of a deluded message of false hope, or they were messengers of Good News to a dark and hurting world. If the latter is true then it is right and obligatory that we honor and celebrate the birth of Jesus. To rise he had to die, and to die he had to be born. That is why Christmas is so special ... All the other stuff is great. It is usually soaked in love and inspires ... nevertheless ... for those who believe - lets keep the cart in front of the horse.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 21:27:10 +0000
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