12/21/2025 What is Christmas all about? #1
/MMC 2025 Christmas Sunday Message
Date: December 21, 2025
Title: What is Christmas all about? #1
Scripture: Matthew 1:18-25
[Matthew 1:18-25 NIV] 18 This is how the birth of Jesus the Messiah came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant through the Holy Spirit. 19 Because Joseph her husband was faithful to the law, and yet did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly. 20 But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 "The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel" (which means "God with us"). 24 When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25 But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.
Message
The story of Christmas is the most well-known story, not just to Christians, but to everyone in the world. It is very familiar to us, but if you look closely, there are actually many strange things about the Christmas story.
First, why did God allow an unmarried virgin to become pregnant? I have seen people answer this question by saying, "Oh, it is because there was a prophecy in Isaiah 700 years ago that He would be born of a virgin." But isn't that too simple of an answer? The question asks why He had to be born specifically from Mary while she was still a virgin. Answering with just the prophecy is like saying, "Oh, it was just supposed to happen that way."
This question is not about the theological argument that Jesus could not be born with the DNA of Joseph and Mary, who possessed a sinful nature. The Bible clearly records that the two did not consummate their marriage until Jesus was born anyway.
Although they were pledged to be married, the fact that Mary, still a virgin, became pregnant meant she could face divorce. Furthermore, she could have been considered a disgrace to her family and kicked out. Why did God choose that specific moment for His Son to be conceived? If she had become pregnant just a few months later, after being officially married, couldn't they have avoided many misunderstandings and dangers?
When Joseph found out about the pregnancy, he actually intended to divorce her quietly. However, an angel visited him and reassured him, allowing Joseph to accept this incomprehensible situation.
For Mary, who had done nothing wrong, this pregnancy was more of a confusion than a blessing. She experienced the heart of a woman carrying a child no one could welcome. And the baby, even in the womb, experienced the rejection of family and parents who could not simply rejoice at His conception.
Have you ever felt unwelcome? Not because you were wearing the wrong clothes or something like that. Have you ever been unwelcome simply because you are "you"? Jesus empathizes with that feeling.
Second, why did they have to travel to Bethlehem during the cold season? And why was there no room for Jesus, the King of kings, to lay His head?
The Roman Emperor ordered a census, and everyone had to travel to their ancestral town to register. It just so happened that this order was given when Mary was already heavily pregnant. Since everyone from Bethlehem who was scattered across the country returned home, it was obvious that lodging would be scarce if they didn't arrive quickly. Because Mary was heavily pregnant, the journey took much longer for them. By the time they arrived, all the houses with warm rooms were already full.
However, God surely knew all these circumstances. Unless God performed a miracle through an angel to provide a room, it was obvious that the only place left for Mary and Joseph was a stable. But God did not do that. This implies that the stable was exactly where God wanted Him to be. And so, Jesus was born in the darkest, smelliest, and lowest place in Bethlehem at that time.
God knows the heart of a mother who has no warm room to lay her beloved child. God knows the heart of a father desperately wiping down a manger—a feeding trough for animals—to make it clean. God empathized with the hearts of such parents.
Third, another strange thing is that after spending time in Bethlehem, Jesus’ family moved back to Nazareth in Galilee, where Joseph and Mary originally lived.
In the Gospels, we see that the Jews looked down on the Galilee region itself. Among the towns there, Nazareth was so despised that people thought nothing good could come from it. Also, the Galilean accent was so strong that anyone could recognize it immediately. Located on the border of Israel, Nazareth had a mixed population of foreigners, making it a region that was treated with even more contempt.
Historical records show that during Jesus' time, there were many large Roman construction projects in Nazareth. Most common people lived as hard-working laborers called "carpenters." Therefore, being a carpenter in Nazareth was one of the most common and low-paying jobs. At that time, children in Israel started helping with housework around age five. When boys turned twelve, they would take over their father’s trade and begin working in earnest.
The Son of God lived for 30 years as an unknown member of the lower class, in a despised region, with a job that was looked down upon. Since the time Jesus appeared to the world, performed miracles, and taught God's word was only about three years, He spent more than 90% of His life as an unknown, lower-class laborer in Nazareth.
This is the hardest part to understand. Wouldn't it have been much more efficient for Him to meet more people, heal the sick, and teach God’s word at least after He became an adult? Did someone as precious as Jesus waste most of His life on a dusty construction site in the outskirts?
Unless God truly wanted it this way, we cannot find any other reason for it. Yes, God wanted it. He allowed Jesus to spend most of His time on earth living that way. He made Him live most of His life in the lowest place, lower than even an ordinary life. God desired this.
Why on earth? If we think about the direction of all these events, it is clear. He deliberately came to a place lower than ordinary.
He was unwelcome, rejected, had no warm home to lay His head, lived in a humble town with a humble job, and worked covered in sweat and dust every day. He did this to embrace all of us who live that way every day. Jesus wanted to experience everything we experience in life. Isaiah says that Jesus is familiar with suffering and knows our pain well. That is exactly why. It is to empathize with our hearts.
If you love someone, you want to know how they live. As a parent, when you visit your child's classroom once or twice a year and sit in the small chair your child sits in every day, you feel something touching in your heart. God was even more so. He wanted to be born as a baby, to fall, get hurt, stand up, and run... He wanted to go through all those processes just like us. Because He loves us. He wanted to know and experience it all.
Christmas is a day to remember and celebrate that love. "God loved us this much. He really wanted to experience every moment of life that we go through." All because of love.
However, that is not all. Another important reason Jesus came with such an ordinary background and appearance is this: "What I can do, you can do too."
"I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." (John 13:15)
The Gospel says that humans can never overcome sin by their own strength, but are saved only by God's grace. However, the Bible says that those who have received that life by grace are now led by the life of Jesus, so they want to become like Him, and they can become like Him!
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." (John 13:34)
"Do to one another what I have done to you!" Jesus clearly commands this multiple times in the Bible. So why do we Christians treat it as an option that we can choose to do or not do? Therefore, those who say that Jesus' commands are not a duty for Christians are actually all false prophets.
"Jesus said this, but He didn't mean that." Who can decide that? Isn't opposing God's clear word the deception and temptation of Satan? What is the fruit of that deception? Does it not prevent God's children from being led by the Holy Spirit to become people of love like Jesus, and hinder God's promised blessings from unfolding in their lives?
You are a child of God, but you live most of your life like a child of the world. Who is whispering that following God's will is optional, leading you to a regretful life with no fruit, where everything turns to ash on the day you meet the Lord?
"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:29)
A yoke is a wooden bar placed on a cow's neck to pull heavy loads. Across the world, yokes look similar, and they were always used to make cows work. Looking at this yoke, it seems like something used to bind prisoners. But Jesus is speaking a paradox: that wearing this yoke brings rest.
To take Jesus' yoke means to stand where He stood and follow the path He walked. Is there any room for another interpretation? He is saying that His yoke is never heavy. Rather, He says that carrying that yoke gives you rest.
A life following God may look like a narrow road or a path of carrying a cross from the outside. But once you actually take that yoke and walk, you will realize something. You will realize that the yoke is like wings. The more I fully give myself to the Lord, my Master, and the more I entrust myself to Him, it does not become hard labor. Instead, it becomes rest. The path of obedience may look like the burden of wearing a yoke, but it actually sets me free.
"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)
My cross is the very yoke Jesus gave me. To carry this, I must "deny myself." This means admitting that I am no longer the master of my own life.
The world—even most children's animations—gives the same message: "You are the master of your life! No one else can be your master!" But the Bible says that everything in the world came from God and was created by God. So, isn't God originally the Master of everything? Therefore, the root of sin is the attempt to be independent from God, the Creator and Source of life. Separation from the Source of life is already the beginning of death.
When Jesus lived on earth, He showed complete dependence on God. "Jesus gave them this answer: 'Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.'" (John 5:19)
On the first Christmas, Jesus came to the low and dark place of Bethlehem. The reason He lived for 30 years as an unknown laborer in the outskirts was to become one of us—coming to a place lower than ordinary—to be our Savior. And also, He wanted to show us that we can live that way too.
To save us, God did not just throw us a life vest. Instead, He sent His Son, in the same form as us, to jump into the water where we were struggling in fear. He showed us where to go and how to swim. He showed us His Son so that we could gain courage and faith by watching Him. And now, He hopes that we will also jump into the water for someone else and show them the way of salvation.
This Christmas, we must see Jesus Christ, the One who jumped into the water to save me. We must see my humble King who came to the lowest place to find us. He says this is the evidence of God's love.
But we must not stop there. He lived for 30 years in a humble family as an unknown laborer to become one of us. All of this was to show that even ordinary people like us can follow Jesus' path. So why do we treat that part as if it has nothing to do with us?
As we celebrate Christmas, the day Jesus came to this earth, if you have only realized part of His purpose—whether by avoidance or deception—now welcome Jesus more fully and clearly.
Now, listen to the Lord's word and take up His yoke. It will be a Christmas where you taste the Master's promised joy. Because we follow the Lord clearly, I pray that His guidance, protection, and blessings will also appear clearly in our lives in a way that no one can doubt.
[Hebrews 4:15-16 NIV] 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
