By the end of the 2016 Star Wars Movie, Rouge One, the Rebels have acquired themselves what is essentially a little floppy disc, that they pinched from the Empire.
Now at first glance this little thing looks pretty insignificant. I mean it’s just this small disc, surely it can’t be that important?
Well in this case looks are quite deceiving. Because not only are the Rebels willing to sacrifice everything to acquire this disc, but it seems that the Empire is willing to throw quite a lot at the Rebels in order to try and get their floppy disc back. In fact Darth Vader himself leads the hunt for this little floppy disc when it gets stolen, chasing down Rebel ships and tearing them apart, in order to get the floppy disc back.
Now there’s an obvious question here: Why? What’s the Big Deal? I mean it’s basically just a little floppy disc after all isn’t it?
Actually, it’s not.
Because on this floppy disc … are the plans to destroy the Empire’s planet killing Death Star. Now THAT’S a pretty huge deal! With those plans, the Rebels could launch an attack to destroy the Death Star and change the entire course of their war against the Empire …
Now in the real world, two thousand years ago Planet Earth kind of …… got it’s own Death Star busting plans (I know that’s stretching the analogy juuuust a LITTLE bit ….. but bear with me 😛)
(Roughly) 2,000 years ago we had a little kid called Baby Jesus, born in a little farmstead in a backwater town called Bethlehem. Now on the face of it, that sounds pretty insignificant. You’d think it’s the kind of thing that would be lucky to even get mentioned in the footnotes of the History books. But in actual fact 2,000 years later this is one of the most celebrated events in all of History. Today we have heaps of songs, decorations, and even movies about the birth of Baby Jesus.
And there were people who made a big deal about Baby Jesus’s birth 2,000 ago too. Three wise men embarked on a months long journey to present gifts to Baby Jesus. There were some Shepherds who came to visit too, and they ended running around town telling everyone about Jesus’s Birth. But perhaps the biggest reaction to the birth of Baby Jesus came from King Herod – the boss of the region that Jesus was born in. Upon hearing of the birth of Baby Jesus, King Herod orders for him to be killed! (See Matthew Chapter 2)
Now there’s an obvious question here: Why all the fuss over this one Baby? What’s the big deal? The answer to this question was provided by some Angels.
Many months earlier, an Angel had popped by to visit Joseph in a dream, to explain how his virgin Fiancee Mary had become pregnant, and who she had become pregnant with ..
Matthew 1:20-23 (ESV) “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).”
Months later when Jesus is Born, some Angels say G’Day to a couple of Shepherds and also share with them the Significance of the birth of Jesus.
Luke 2:8 – 10 “8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David [Bethlehem] a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”
There are two key pieces of information here that help understand why the birth of Baby Jesus is so significant:
- Who Baby Jesus is. “they will call him Immanuel”(which means “God with us”).”, “he is the Messiah, the Lord.” Baby Jesus … is actually God himself come to live amongst us as a Human. Think about that! The God who created the whole Universe, the God who hung every star in the sky, created every mountain on Earth and created every single Human being … has now come to Live on Earth as one of us. That’s the first reason why baby Jesus is so significant – because He is actually God almighty, living amongst us in Human flesh. This begs an important question, why?
- Why Baby Jesus came. “a Savior has been born to you”, “he will save his people from their sins”. This here is the second significant thing about Baby Jesus. God hasn’t popped down for a quick chat. God’s not bored and wants to try something different to shake things up a bit. He has come to save us from our sins – and this herein are the Death Star busting plans, so to speak. Sin entered the world when Adam and Eve rebelled against God in Genesis 3. The consequence of Sin is that this broke the relationship between God and Humans. We were supposed to live in Eternal harmony with God. But Sin broke that harmony, separated us from God and as a result the world has been cursed with Death and Suffering ever since (see Romans 5:12 – 21). So Baby Jesus is God in Human flesh who has come down to us. He is part of God’s plan to rescue us from the consequences of Sin, save us from a world cursed with Death and suffering, ultimately make a way for us all to repair our relationship with God and live with him in harmony (the Bible calls this “Reconciliation”)
So there you have it; the significance of Christmas in a slightly oversimplified nutshell! As with the Rebels from Star Wars, something that seems insignificant – in our case a baby born in a manger – is actually a huge game-changer.
If you want to know more about God’s “Death Star busting plans” ie how He actually planned to save us from our sins through Jesus, how he achieved this, and why it needed to happen in the first place ….. stay tuned for the Epic Analogy I’m preparing for Easter!
If by chance you don’t want to wait that long, then I highly recommend a resource from John Piper called “Fifty Reasons why Jesus had to Die”.
SkyLightz 