The First Christmas Was Not Easy for Its Actors

It is Christmas Eve 2020, and while my wife and I were preparing for our family gathering, we listened to an interview of Ravi Zacharias. It can be found at this link: https://youtu.be/j0eR1O2EAf0. During the course of the interview, Ravi gave a quote by G.K. Chesterton which made me think about the first Christmas. The quote is "The problem with the Christian life is not that it has been tried and found wanting. Rather it is that it has been found difficult and left untried." As I pondered on that statement, I thought about all the difficulties which were encountered by those whom God chose to involve in the events which took place in Israel in connection with the birth of Jesus. Zechariah and Elizabeth, though elderly, were asked to bring into the world the forerunner of the Messiah, John the Baptist. Mary was asked by the Lord to undergo the shame sure to be heaped upon her by the people of her village when she relayed to them that her pregnancy was caused by the Holy Spirit, and not by an act of adultery. Joseph was asked to marry his betrothed knowing that she was not pregnant with a child of his creation. The Magi had to make a perilous journey to reach Bethlehem from whence they saw the star announcing the birth of the King of the Jews. Many citizens of the region of Bethlehem lost male children age 2 or younger to the soldiers of ruthless King Herod the Great. Joseph and Mary subsequently had to flee to Egypt with the baby to avoid Herod's attempts to find and destroy this new King whose birth was announced by angels. Yes, if during this Christmas season we read the scriptures associated with the entrance of the Messiah into the world with a view to seeing afresh all its associated difficulties, we will be forced to agree that, as Chesterton said, "the Christian life is difficult." So,why should any of us complain this Christmas season,knowing what the coming of Christ cost the actual actors who lived out the events. Are you tired of being told to isolate? Think afresh on how Mary and Elizabeth had to isolate themselves during their pregnancies. Do you find yourself unable to buy as many presents this year because the pandemic has reduced your income? Then think of Joseph and Mary arriving in Bethlehem and discovering their was no room for them in an inn, resulting in their baby being born in a stable. Are you tired of your freedoms being restricted to celebrate as your heart desires? Then think on Joseph being told he must flee Israel for Egypt until such a time as he is told it is safe to return home. Certainly more examples could be given, but these suffice to drive home the point that following and serving Jesus with whole-hearted devotion was never, and never will be, easy. As the Apostle Paul told the new believers in the Region of Galatia,"... through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). So, this Christmas Season, let us dwell not on any particular difficulty which may currently be affecting our lives, but rather on the worthiness of Him who "though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himeself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross." David