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Does it begin with the first carol singing of the season? With the first Christmas banquet? When the Christmas lights are turned on? When the stores have disposed of their leftover Halloween stock and have begun to stay open late to sell Christmas merchandise?
For Mary, Christmas began when an angel announced that she would be the one privileged to bear the baby, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. For the shepherds, it was on the night when Jesus was born, when they came to see Him in the stables: "When they had seen Him . . . they returned glorifying and praising God." For the wise men from the East, it was later, when they followed the star to where Jesus had been born: "On coming to the house, they saw the Child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. . . . They returned to their country by another route."
These folks all had Christmas at different times. So December 25 is not the all important day to celebrate Jesus' birth. Christmas begins with a personal meeting with Jesus. "When they had seen Him," they returned differently. The real Christmas for an individual is to see Jesus as Saviour, no matter what time of the year. Once we have had Christmas the real way, Christmas will never be over.
Norman Fehr lives in Armstrong, B.C.
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