‘‘You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.’’ Luke 1:31
We have sung the words of that Christmas carol since infancy. But those words actually do not come from Scripture. ‘Silent Night’ was a poem written by an Austrian priest in 1816. The words conjure up a serene picture with the happy couple watching their newborn baby. It’s not likely, however, that there was silence. After an exhausting journey on a donkey, Joseph and the very pregnant Mary didn’t check into the master suite of the Bethlehem Grand Hotel. They begged the use of an animal shelter, complete with the clatter and scents of barnyard animals – anything but silent! Ask any mother about giving birth. Even with the help of modern pain-reducing medicines and sterilised environments, the bravest woman rarely remains silent while giving birth. For Mary, Joseph, and Jesus – this was hardly a silent night! ‘Holy night’: of all the nights in history, this was the most holy. God set in motion His eternal plan to come to earth as the Redeemer of lost people. ‘God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them’ (2 Corinthians 5:19). Jesus came to take on Himself the sins of doomed humanity, so ‘that we might become the righteousness of God in Him’ (v. 21). It doesn’t get any holier than that! ‘All is calm, all is bright’: on that holiest of nights, our spiritual and moral darkness was forever dispelled by Jesus, the Light of the World. And our fears as lost sinners were replaced by the peace and joyful assurance that we are His eternally forgiven people.
