Christmas is all about presence – not presents, but presence.  It’s about the presence of Jesus Christ on earth.  Even the famed Grinch from Dr. Seuss fame gets it.  He said, ” It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.” And he puzzled and puzzled ’till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.  “What if Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store?  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?”

The Grinch is right.  It absolutely means more.  True God and true Man, born of a virgin, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  With one purpose – saving mankind as Savior of the world.  Yet Christmas without Easter is just the birthday of a nice guy.  Christmas with Good Friday and Easter, however, is the most amazing act of love ever conceived.  Christmas is best viewed in light of the cross, where the innocent blood of Jesus Christ, the son of God, was shed for you and me.  As the band Newsboys sing, “Amazing love!  How can it be – that you my King should die for me?!”  More amazingly, He rose again on Easter conquering death once and for all.  It’s in that glorious resurrection that Christmas has its real value.  So, Merry Christ-mass!!