The holiday season is upon us, the most wonderful time of the year.
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There are two separate and distinct stories that I heard as a child as the holiday season drew near.
One hard-to-believe story is of a baby born in a manger, born of a virgin, Messiah, and savior of the world. A story whose other characters include angels, and shepherds, and wise men.
The other story, equally hard to believe, is of jolly old Santa, who dwells at the North Pole, bringer of presents to children all over the world in one night. A story embellished with flying reindeer, and toy-making elves.
One can be found in the Bible, the other summed up in a poem by Clement C. Moore, an American scholar and poet. He wrote a poem for his children in 1822 called A Visit From St. Nicholas. A friend submitted it to a local newspaper, The Troy Sentinel, where it was published on December 23, 1823.
That makes this year the bicentennial of the poem’s first publication.
It starts out “T’was the night before Christmas and all through the house ...”
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I suggest you find it and read it to your small children, or grandchildren at some point during the season. Ideally this would be done on, well, the night before Christmas, or Christmas Eve as we have come to know it.
These days, you don’t need to find the book, as the poem is easily accessible online to read from your phone or tablet. Only, don’t just read it — make it an Oscar-worthy performance, and watch the little ones’ reactions. After all, Christmas is for kids.
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Then, read to them the first part of Luke chapter 2 in the Bible. And then the first few verses of Matthew chapter 2.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
— Luke 2:10-11
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When the wise men saw the star, they were filled with joy. They came to the house where the child was and saw him with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. They opened their gifts and gave him treasures of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
— Matthew 2:10-11
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Joy is mentioned in both of these passages of scripture. Joy is very much synonymous with the season, and rightly so. There is nothing like watching the face of a child on Christmas morning, as they look under the tree, especially if the child found exactly what he or she had told Santa they wanted.
Pure joy.
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In the English Standard Version of the Bible, the words “joy,” “rejoice,” or “joyful” appear a total of 430 times.
There are songs that speak of this joy:
The musical group Three Dog Night recorded a song in 1971 called “Joy to the World”. Some have claimed it has religious significance, and Jeremiah the bullfrog represents the prophet Jeremiah. In reality, it’s a tune that songwriter Hoyt Axton wrote for an animated show that he ended up not using.
He offered it to the group while on tour with Three Dog Night. The group took the song and ran with it, before Axton had a chance to change the lyric, which was meant to be just a placeholder. The rest, as they say, is history.
Joy to the World, of course, became a smash hit for the group.
The highlight of the song and its reason for joy comes from the fact that Jeremiah “always had some mighty fine wine.”
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Alternately, “Joy to the World” is a favorite carol of many and one of the best known of all the Christmas songs. The words were written by Isaac Watts, prolific writer of more than 800 hymns.
Watts never meant for his hymn to be a Christmas song. The hymn is really an Old Testament Psalm mixed with New Testament language which probably describes Christ’s second coming better than his first. Still, the note of joy and the images of the Lord coming and every heart preparing him room all combined to make this one of the best-loved Christmas carols of all time.
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Jesus spoke of joy:
“If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete. This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you.”
— John 15:10–12
And this was said about Him:
... looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
— Hebrews 12:2 (ESV)
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We cannot even conceive of that type of joy. Joy motivated by His immense love for us. All of us.
Joy to the world!
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Welcome to a new column, Just say the Word. As a Sunday School teacher for more than 30 years, I have read and taught about all the great stories in the Bible, and that will be my focus — God’s Word, not religion.
If you are moved to respond to what my thoughts are on the subject of the “good book”, please direct your comments to me directly at davidm@gorgenews.com.
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