Why I didnt watch The Nativity...

When the Focus of Christmas is temporarily taken off of Santa and presents, our attention is then transformed to this cute little nativity, of the Virgin Mary holding the precious baby Jesus, as cute little sheep and donkey’s. We constantly hear about this amazing night, and this amazing birth, all the while forgetting that with exceptions to the whole virgin birth thing, this birth was quite unextrodinary. .A baby born in the animals slums of the poorest nation in the world at the time. Contemplate that for a moment. Bethlehem was probably one of the dirtiest, poorest cities in the world, through out time. That means poorer then the poorest in modern Africa, Poorer then the poorest in the middle ages, and poorest of the poor in the future of the world. Bethlehem was not on any major map, it was probably overlooked by the roman’s, tossed aside as “The place some Jew’s live.”

So when Mary and Joseph were looking for a place to stay they most likely went down the list of stars. Five star Hotel, Denied, Four Star, Denied, Three Two and Motel Six, all denied. They ended up not staying in a hotel at all, they stayed outdoors, Mary was forced to give birth to the Creator of Life, in a feces infested shed. A hotel for the poorest animals, in the poorest country, the world has ever known. Christ wasn’t even granted a humans birth. The son of God’s first breath wasn’t even granted the smell of fresh air; instead Christ was greeted to the smell of animal urine on hay. His first bed was the feeding troth of those animals.

So you see the birth of Christ means nothing. It is small, miniscule and insignificant, why is this?

The reason Christ’s birth was stripped of any dignity is quite simple. The entrance of Christ to this earth means nothing. The true glory of Christ coming to earth is nothing in comparison with his exit. He didn’t come to earth to get gifts from wise men, he came to die.

With all the hope and cheer going on in the world on Christmas day, all the giving, good will towards men, and happiness and laughter I want to remind everyone reading this that were are all dirty rotten sinners, and some good person had to die because of us, Myself included.

Jesus Christ was whipped beaten and ripped apart, not because Jesus was a Good person, but because we weren’t.

This Christmas as we unwrap our gift’s and give to others. Don’t forget the gift that is waiting for you, the gift of God’s grace. What Christ did for you not on Christmas, but three days before the first Easter, when his skin was disfigured, and punctured like play dough and toothpicks, all because he cared enough to pay your sin, and bail us out of an eternal Hell.

So instead of sitting with the family and seeing “The Nativity” why don’t you watch The Passion of the Christ and discover what Christmas is really not about?

- Marcus