Christmas is a time of joy. However, the story of Jesus’ birth also includes struggles, suffering and grief. This is found specifically in the narrative of the Magi, which includes great joy and the reality of the world. Greg Boyd identifies this and provides concrete ways to deal with grief in healthy ways.
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The Joy – and Grief – of the Messiah’s Birth
• Greg Boyd
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Christmas is “the most wonderful time of the year.” It is the season where we celebrate the joy Jesus brought to the whole world. But for many, it is not a joyful time. It’s actually a time of great grief. Jesus came to bring joy, but how do we embrace it while also dealing with the grief of our broken lives, our lost loved ones and our suffering world?
The tension of the joy and grief is built into the Christmas story, specifically in the Magi’s visit to Jesus. They followed a star to Judea, where they asked King Herod for information about a coming Messiah. The Bible experts of the time pointed to Micah 5:2 which names Bethlehem as the location of the Messiah’s birth. This is fulfilled in Matthew 2:6. The Magi went to Bethlehem, but did not return to tell King Herod of what they found. As a result, he ordered all male children two years old and under in Bethlehem to be killed. Then Matthew quotes Jeremiah 31:15, the focus scripture above.
Jeremiah wrote this after the Babylonian’s brutal conquest of Jerusalem in 586BC. This caused people to ask, “If Yahweh is the one true God, and the Temple is his house, how can this conquest be happening?” Rachel, a symbolic mother of Israel, was weeping for her children, the Israelites. Matthew says the slaughter of the children in Bethlehem “fulfilled” Jeremiah 31:15. This event fills out to the full the grief that God’s people have often suffered at the hands of despotic, cruel kings and empires. In addition, it fills out to the full the theological confusion that this suffering brings along with it.
With this in mind, there are three things that this means for our lives today. First, we are allowed to give ourselves permission to grieve. A common myth amongst Christians is that we are supposed to be happy all the time. Jesus experienced profound grief at different moments of his life. In Matthew 26:38, we read “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death.” His grief was so intense that he blew out some of the corpuscles in his face, and he sweat drops of blood. If we feel that our soul is being crushed with grief to the point of death or wondering where God is in the midst of our pain, it doesn’t mean we lack faith, or maturity. It only means we are an authentic human living in a broken, painful and sometimes very confusing world.
Second, we can invite Jesus and others into our grief. Grief is never meant to be experienced alone, and it grows much worse if we try. The first thing to do is to invite Jesus into the struggle. The cross reveals a God who is always on the inside of our suffering. He wants to help shoulder that grief, but he can only do that if we let him. We also need to allow other people into our burdens. Galatians 6:2 reads, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
Third, remember where your story is heading. Jesus experienced soul-crushing grief as he faced crucifixion. Yet it was for the joy set before him that he was willing to endure it (Hebrews 12:1-2). The only way to run our race with perseverance is to fix our eyes on Jesus, the one who pioneered the way ahead of us. Even while we allow ourselves to experience grief, this pain and confusion is temporary. The joy that lies before us is eternal. When Jesus appears at the end of this age, there will be no more sorrow, death and grief.
Hide Extended SummaryTopics: Christmas, Pain & Suffering
Sermon Series: Fulfilled
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The MuseCast: December 23
Focus Scripture:
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Matthew 2:17-18
Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:
“A voice is heard in Ramah,
weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.
