By Editor Bob Terry
For some, Christmas is a holiday time, a time of joy and celebration. For others, Christmas is a pleasant time of the year, a time to practice “good will toward men.” But no matter how it is described, Christmas is about Christ. It is about a real, historical person. It is about the One known as Jesus of Nazareth. Christmas affirms that in the person of Jesus, God acted. Jesus is “the Word made flesh.” Theologians call this incarnation. He is “God with us.”
At the center of the Church and the Christian faith is the historical Jesus. The entire New Testament is about Him. Galatians 4:4 declares that Jesus was “born of woman.” Yet John 8:58 affirms that He was before Abraham. God’s redeeming plan came to its ultimate expression in the person of Jesus.
Some people still attempt to dismiss Jesus as some mythological character, the embodiment of a noble character or the personification of an attractive philosophy. The testimony of the Bible is far different.
The Book of Mark is widely acknowledged to be the first New Testament book written. As such, it was the first attempt to record an orderly account of the life of Jesus. Later Matthew and Luke drew heavily on Mark as they wrote their accounts of the life of Jesus.
Mark boldly declared the intent of his writing in his opening words — “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Gospel means “good news” or “glad tidings.” Mark told all who would read his writing that the book was about the good news of the person of Jesus. And Mark added that this Jesus was the Christ for whom Israel had longed for generations. Jesus was the Son of God. For Mark, there was no equivocation. He was writing about a real person, about Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified and raised to new life by the power of God.
The Book of Matthew affirms the historical nature of Jesus in a different way. Matthew addressed his work primarily to a Jewish audience. His goal was to prove that Jesus is the Christ promised in the Old Testament. He began with genealogy. As a “son of David,” Jesus is a descendent of a royal bloodline. As a “son of Abraham,” He is related to the promise of redemption.
Jesus stands in the train of real people known to Matthew’s Jewish readers. And for Matthew, there was no question about the historical Jesus. His family ties proved it.
The Book of Luke presents Jesus as a universal Savior. Luke, a Gentile himself, lifted up Jesus’ saving acts for Samaritans, Gentiles, outcasts, women, the poor and the downtrodden. Luke was also a historian. So accurate was his writing that, according to Sir William Ramsay, a Nobel Prize-winning British chemist and Bible scholar, archaeology confirmed his account of events even when it differed with known records of the Roman Empire.
Luke’s historical accuracy gives credence to the historical accuracy of all the records of early Christianity but especially to the events related in the book that bears his name and its sequel, the Book of Acts. Luke wrote, “Since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you” (Luke 1:3). He then proceeded to describe the birth, the life, the death, the resurrection and the ascension into heaven of Jesus of Nazareth.
For Luke, there was no question about Jesus being a real-life, flesh-and-blood historical figure.
Unlike Luke, the Gospel of John was written by an eyewitness to the life and ministry of Jesus (John 21:24). The author was “witness” to the events recorded. This argues for the historical reliability of John’s accounts. The sequence of events in the life of Jesus differs with other gospels because John grouped his material around great themes, not around a chronological timeline.
One of the initial teachings of the Gospel of John is that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Without that reality, the book would shrink into nothing. John presented a historical figure who gives the teaching and works meaning. John believed in the person of Jesus of Nazareth because he was an eyewitness to Jesus’ personhood.
The letters of the apostle Paul were equally focused on the historical nature of Jesus of Nazareth. In 1 Corinthians 2:2, Paul wrote, “I judged to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Only a real person could be put to death through crucifixion. But Paul’s reference meant more. He understood that Jesus was the Christ and that He died on the cross for the sins of all who believe in Him.
For the writer of Hebrews, Jesus was God’s final word. This resurrected and victorious Jesus is now a mediator who brings God to man and man to God. Peter called Jesus a “living Stone” (1 Pet. 2:4), another historical reference. The Book of Revelation is “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” This revelation was not only given through Jesus but also Jesus is the revelation. He is the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.”
From beginning to end, the Bible presents Jesus as a real, historical figure. It is His birth that we celebrate at Christmas. To be sure, joy is part of the celebration. God acted through the birth of Jesus to draw us to Himself. Good will toward others also is part of the season, for God has been mercifully good to us in Jesus. But the celebration is about the birth of the historical personality we know as Jesus of Nazareth.
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