[ Note: This post appeared in the Christmas Day edition of the Lawrence Journal-World. I was asked to write it for the Faith Forum section. ]
How would you expect Jesus to celebrate his birthday if he were a modern man?
How would I expect Jesus to celebrate his birthday if He were a modern man? Exactly the same way He did in the first century.
He didn’t celebrate the exact date He was born in Bethlehem. But He did celebrate His birth. He celebrated not by getting presents, but by giving the most tremendous gift of history.
Here’s how I know: Shortly before He died, Jesus asked,
“…What shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’?” (John 12:27).
“This hour” referred to His death. Though He clearly would have preferred to avoid the Cross, He knew He would follow through and die for us. Why? Look what He said next in John 12:27:
“But for this purpose I came to this hour.”
There’s Jesus’ birthday! He “came” to earth (was born) for that “purpose” of taking on Himself the wrath of God for the sins of the world.
Unlike us, Jesus chose to be born. He existed before His birth and “gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7-9, NLT).
That’s how Jesus celebrated His birthday: By fulfilling the purpose for which He came. And that’s exactly how I would expect Him to celebrate today. This also tells us how He wants us to celebrate His birthday: By believing that He died for our sins and rose again to give us eternal life.
Charles Wesley got it right: “Mild He lays His glory by; born that man no more may die, born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth! Hark! The herald angels sing: ‘Glory to the newborn King!’”
Nonsense. So, he died 34 times? You just love birthdays!
Of course not. He celebrated His birthday by fulfilling His purpose “once for all” at the Cross. We celebrate the same thing every year at Easter, every Sunday at the Lord’s Supper and every day we walk in newness of life.