Luke 2:7 says, And she brought forth her first born Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, for there was no room for them in the inn.  As we celebrate Christmas today, we often display nativity scenes to remind us of that first Christmas.  This has become a problem for many people, because, like that first Christmas, there is no room for Jesus in their lives.  They not only don't have room in their lives, but they don't want Jesus in anyone's life.  The question is whether we as His people have room for Him in our lives today.  The world today puts more emphasis on Santa Claus than on Jesus.  After all, Santa brings presents to all good little girls and boys, but when children get up on Christmas morning, what do they see that Jesus brought.  In the material world, we are more excited about things we can see, and on Jesus' birthday, we want to see what presents we got.  Now, I am not against Santa and presents, but wonder how much room we really have for Jesus.  That first Christmas, the angels appeared to the shepherds and verse ten says, And the angel said unto them: Fear not, for behold I bring to you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  Jesus was the source of the great joy.  The shepherds got no material presents, but they received the good news, the good tidings of great joy.  This news was not only for them, but for the whole world.  We need to make sure we share those good tidings today.  We need to share the news of Jesus' birth with the world, especially on His birthday.  Verse eleven says,  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  This is the present, the gift, that Jesus gives, though it cannot be wrapped under a tree.  We must keep this as our focus on Christmas.  Jesus gives more than Santa ever can.  Jesus give everlasting life, and batteries are not needed.

I am going to leave the passage we have been looking at since it is Christmas eve and look at Christmas for a couple of days.  This will be my first Christmas without at least one of my parents alive since momma passed away July first.  Momma was always big on Christmas decorations, but she was even bigger on the Christ of Christmas.  When we were young boys, my brother and I went with daddy, mommy, and our sister, into the woods and cut our tree every year.  Some Christmases were not filled with lots of presents, but they were all filled with lots of love and the presence of God.  We didn't start thinking about celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving.  I once said I was a wiseman in a lot of Christmas plays, but I was actually a shepherd.  Daddy would make us shepherd staffs, hook and all, and momma would make our costumes.  I have been caroling a few times in my life, where I would at least make a joyful noise.  Today, Christmas seems to have become more about material things than the birth of Christ.  Thanksgiving has become more of a day to think about Black Friday than to celebrate blessings as we gear up for Christmas.  We are told we only have sixty something shopping days left until Christmas, as if we did not know what day Christmas is and shopping is our main priority.   We have Christmas in July for television movies, Christmas parades the first few days of December, and the worry about what gift to get for each person we feel the need to buy for.  By Christmas Eve, we are worn down with Christmas.  So, what was that first Christmas Eve like?  Mary and Joseph were still completing there journey to Jerusalem, and the world was continuing its normal routine.  Mary especially had to be tired, but not from shopping.  The world would not note the birth the next day, and they certainly didn't pay attention to Mary and Joseph.  Still, Mary and Joseph knew the promise of the meaning of the coming birth.  The world today still does not understand the true meaning of Christmas, which is why we as followers of Christ must point them to it.  This Christmas Eve, let's keep Christ first in our Christmas thoughts and let the material things come second.

John 20:8

John 20:8 says, Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.  After Peter had gone in, then that other disciple, John, went in.  He may have faltered at first, but he didn't stop wondering without seeing for himself what was true.  Peter saw and wondered, and John saw and believed.  The cross had brought doubt and defeat to their thinking, being but the empty tomb offered hope.  Anytime we find our faith wavering, we need to remember the empty tomb beyond the cross.  Jesus is victorious, and we can be through Him.  Verse nine adds, For as yet, they knew not the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.  I don't believe this means they weren't familiar with the Scripture. Matthew Henry says they just hadn't applied it to Jesus yet.  We may be familiar with a lot of scripture, but until we accept it as truth for our lives, it really has no meaning.  The scripture, the Bible, is not just a book of words to point us to how to live better, but it is the Living Word of God.  If the Bible doesn't come to life as we read it, then we are just reading words on the page.  The Bible needs to light up hope in our lives every time we read it.  If we are simply reading it to feel that we have met an obligation as followers of Christ, then we are going to miss the truth it contains for us.  Until the tomb, the truth of the scripture had not really meant anything to John, but now the truth was beginning to come alive for him.  Verse ten continues, Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.  They were now sure that the tomb was empty except for the burial clothes.  I would wonder why, if the body had been stolen, the burial clothes were still there.  Peter and John had seen all there was to see at the tomb, and they returned home.  At least John was thinking about the resurrection of Christ.  We as followers of Christ, when we have gotten all the facts we can about a situation, must just continue on with life knowing that God will reveal the truth to us.  There is never a reason to linger in doubt.  Peter and John went away with a little more hope than they had before.  They may not have yet understood the truth of the resurrection, but they knew the truth that Jesus's body was not in the tomb.  We today may not understand everything about God, but we can know the truth of the empty tomb and the resurrection that it signifies.  We can claim victory over this world because of the sacrifice of Christ.  Even when we do not understand everything, we just need to continue to live by faith.

John 20:3

John 20:3 says, Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulchre.  They did not just take the word of Mary Magdalene, but went to see for themselves.  We cannot just take the word of others about Jesus but must find out for ourselves.  Peter may have denied knowing Jesus during the crucifixion, but he was now going to the tomb which would again associate him with Jesus.  We can only wonder at the thoughts that had been going through Peter's mind.  He had denied Jesus as Jesus said he would, and now Jesus's body was gone. If we are ever guilty of denying Christ for whatever reason, we must seek His will again.  We, like Peter and that other disciple will not find Him in a tomb, but for us, within our heart. Verse four adds, So they ran both together: and the other disciple outran Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.  Whether Peter was just a slower runner, the other disciple, that everyone acknowledges as John, outran him.  We need to recognize that Peter was now running to where Jesus was last seen.  He may not have gotten there first, but that didn't matter.  Others may have gotten to Jesus quicker than we did, but it doesn't matter.  What matters is that we do come to find Jesus where He is.  He will indeed call us to Him, but we must respond.  Verse five continues, And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying : yet went he not in.  Having gotten there first, the other disciple looked in and saw evidence that Jesus had been there, but for whatever reason, he didn't go in.  Some today may get to where Jesus is but stop short of full commitment.  Verse six states, Then cometh Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre; and saw the linen clothes lie.  Unlike Mary Magdalene and the other disciple, Peter did not stop outside the sepulcher.  He went on in.  We must never let the actions of others determine our actions in relation to God.  We must let nothing stand between Him and us.  Matthew Henry says that we must be willing to go through the grave with Jesus.  Even death cannot separate us from Him if we are His.  Verse seven adds, And the napkin, that was about His head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.  Jesus had no need of the burial clothes.  We today have no need to look for them.  We do not need religious relics when we have a living Savior.

John 20:1

John 20:1 says, The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.  She was still expecting to find Jesus in the tomb.  Though John doesn't say it, Jesus had been sealed in the tomb and guards posted to keep Him there, but when the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty.  We see that Mary Magdalene did not wait until daylight.  As soon as she could, which was after the Sabbath, she went to Jesus.  She may have gone for the wrong reason, but she went.  People today would always do well to go to Jesus early, even if for the wrong reasons.  Once they are seeking Him, they can begin to find the truth.  Mary Magdalene discovered the truth that Jesus was not in the grave.  When we as Jesus's followers have questions of faith today, we need to seek Jesus early.  There is no advantage to struggling along on our own.  He will give us the answer based on His truth.  Verse two adds, And then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid Him."  She didn't wait around to try and figure things out on her own, but ran to two of the disciples, those closest to Jesus, looking for help.  When people have questions about Jesus today, would they feel that they could come to us for answers?  We, as His followers, should be not only able, but ready to help anyone looking for the truth about Jesus. If they come to us running early in the morning or reluctantly at night, we should be ready to share the truth of the gospel with them. Of course, the disciples should have been the first ones there, but even though they weren't, Mary Magdalene came to them.  We are commissioned to go into all the world with the gospel, but it is even better when the world comes to us.  We just need to be ready to meet them, even early in the morning.

John 19:38

John 19:38 says, And then, after this, Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave.  He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. We have to wonder why Jesus' closest disciples were not there to ask for permission to bury Jesus, but at least one of His followers was. Sometimes, those who appear to be the closest to God may not be the ones to get done the things that need doing, for whatever reason, but God will have someone in place who will.  There are countries today where followers of Christ follow Him in secret for fear of other religious leaders, but Joseph was a disciple in secret for fear of God's chosen people.  Though he should have declared himself openly a follower of Christ, at least in the crisis he did, and so should we today.  We find no other mention of this Joseph, but he had an important role in the crucifixion of Christ.  Even after Jesus was crucified, Pilate still had to give permission for His body to be removed, but Joseph, if he had fear of asking him, overcame it.  Had the body of Jesus been removed by the soldiers, it would have been buried with the thieves and robbers.  Verse thirty-nine adds, And there came also Nicodemus, who came at first to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myhrr and aloes, about an hundred pound weight.  Nicodemus was another who had come to Jesus in secret, but he was now openly declaring himself a follower.  He was also supplying what was needed to care for the body of Jesus.  We need to be willing to give whatever we can to meet the needs of God's people as we openly serve Him.  Verse forty continues, They took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury.  They may have seen this as a normal Jewish burial, but it was far from it.  The body really did not need to be preserved, but it was good they were willing to do so, no matter the personal cost.  Verses forty-one says, Now in the place where He was crucified was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was no man yet laid.   Verse forty-two adds, There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jewish preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.  They needed to bury Jesus quickly because of a religious feast.  Again, the Jews were more concerned with rituals than with a relationship with God.  People today travel to see the tomb of Jesus, but it was never His.  The tomb, like the cross, was soon empty and the exact location is not really important.  It only matters that it was but a temporary place for the body of Christ.

John 19:32

John 19:32 says, Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs, of the first, and of the other that were crucified with Him.  As we know from scripture, one of the thieves was penitent and one was not, but both endured the same agony of having their legs broken.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, that does not exempt us from the consequences of our sins here on earth, but from the consequences in our relationship to God.  The one thief was forgiven and restored to God spiritually, but he still died just as painful of a death as the unrepentant thief.  We cannot expect to accept Jesus as our Savior and suddenly have all consequences of our sins removed in the world. For example, if a person is in prison when they accept Christ as Savior, they are not going to be immediately freed.  Verse thirty-three adds, But when they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they brake not His legs.  The Scripture said Jesus gave up the ghost, so we should not be surprised that He was physically dead. They did not take His life, but He freely gave it.  We should be just as willing to freely give up this physical life for God.  As with Jesus, it is the spiritual, everlasting life that matters.  Verse thirty-four continues, But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.  They wanted to make sure Jesus was dead and not just pretending, so they pierced His side with a spear.  The blood and water are significant.  Blood brings atonement and water purification, and through Christ we have both. The atonement is forever, but the purification is continual.  Even after accepting Christ as our Savior, we must continue to purify our lives daily.  Verse thirty-five says, And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe.  This was not something John had heard, but something he witnessed firsthand.  When it comes to our relationship to Christ, it must be something we experience firsthand.  Until we accept the truth of God personally, we cannot be saved.  Verses thirty-six adds, For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of Him shall not be broken.  Verse thirty-seven continues, And again

another scripture saith, They shall look on Him Who they have pierced.  Once more, we can be sure that the Roman soldiers were not doing these things to fulfill the scripture, but that the scripture was fulfilled by their doing these things.  They had no significance to to the soldiers but did to one familiar with the scripture.