From the Pulpit: Happy Birthday, Jesus!
Does it sound strange to you to hear someone say, “Happy birthday, Jesus!”? Why does it sound odd? Is it because we don’t know the exact day Jesus was born? Most Christians understand that celebrating birthdays was something Romans did, and that it wasn’t common in Israel, and that’s why the exact day of the birth of Jesus wasn’t recorded. Nor are we bothered by the fact that the day we celebrate Christmas – Dec. 25 – replaced a pagan holiday celebrating the winter solstice. What matters to us is that Jesus truly was born, as it says in Luke 2:11, “Unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
Christians are the first to admit the birthday of Jesus was like no other. It’s hard to explain to little children how a newborn baby could be older than the world He was born into, because He helped His Father make it. But Jesus clearly affirms He is eternal when He prayed in John 17:5 “Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” Jesus also says in Rev. 22:13, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Can adults understand that mystery any better than a child can? We can believe it, yes, but understand it, no!
When we say, “Happy birthday, Jesus!” we have to be careful to remember that Jesus didn’t stay a baby, but that the eternal Son of God grew to adulthood, suffered and died for our sins, rose, and still lives. A 10-year-old girl once went with her family and friends to see the Christmas lights around the city. At one church they got out to look at a beautifully made nativity scene. “Isn’t that beautiful?” asked the girl’s grandmother. “Look at all the animals, Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus.” The little girl replied, “Yes, Grandma, it’s really nice. But there is only one thing that bothers me. Isn’t baby Jesus ever going to grow up? He’s the same size as He was last year.”
Jesus can’t stay “the baby Jesus” with us. We understand Jesus was born to die, and rise, and reign. That’s why we sing the old carol, “The Birthday of a King.” In our minds, Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter are all connected, because they have the same purpose. As Greg Laurie once said, “Jesus took his place in a manger so that we might have a home in heaven.” A children’s Christmas song gets this right when it says, “Happy Birthday Jesus, I’m so glad it’s Christmas/ all the tinsel and lights/ and the presents are nice/but the real gift is you.”
So, it’s OK to celebrate Christmas as the birthday of Jesus, as long as you remember who is doing the real gift giving on His birthday. Jesus trades our sins and uncleanness for His righteousness, and takes our sorrows and gives us His joy. That’s why it is appropriate to pray this birthday prayer from “O Little Town of Bethlehem”: “Cast out our sin and enter in, be born in us today.”
Yes, happy birthday Jesus!
