so, this is christmas

We've all heard the first line of the famous John Lennon song, 'Happy Christmas, War is over,' but have we ever stopped to think what the line means - 'So, this is Christmas...' and it leads us to the question - what is Christmas?

In celebrating Christmas we are celebrating the mystery of God coming to live amongst us, as one of us, in Jesus, son of Mary, and the saviour promised to us by the prophets of the Old Testament.

Christmas is a great feast which marks the anniversary of Jesus' birth, and it inspires the joyful customs and traditions by which we celebrate today. Carols, cribs, decorations and special foods are shared and enjoyed by millions of people across the world. But of course, Christmas is more than tinsel, trees and reindeer pulling a magic sleigh. It is a time of amazement, wonder and joy. 

Within the gospel accounts, it is declared that the first Christmas provided us with many ways that we can enter into the mystery of God becoming human. Angels filled the night sky singing, groups of astonished shepherds on the hillside found their lives and expectations turned upside down. There was a shining star and the birth of a child which, like many other births before and since, brought hope and possibility. And that hope and possibility endures today in the joy and wonder of the Christmas season and has done for some two thousand years.

Readings in Church on Christmas Day invite us to look beyond the joy of Jesus' birth, and to look also to the significance of His life, and the saving power of His future death and resurrection.

The season of Christmas lasts for twelve days, culminating in another feast - that of the Epiphany on 6th January, when we recall how Jesus was first revealed to the wider world in the visit of the Magi (or Wise Men). December 25th is just the start of the celebration that Jesus Christ is born.