We all know
Christmas is a time of celebration. A time where we celebrate as an entire world, whether our beliefs are Christian or not. Whether we get lost in the commercialization of the season or recognize the true meaning isn't really what's pertinent. The fact is: it's
Christmas, and everybody knows it. Some look at this holiday as a time of giving and sharing and selflessness. Others look at it as a time of rebirth and
new beginnings as another year comes to a close. But this year, I'm looking at Christmas in a
different light. In fact, light is exactly what this season is all about for me.
As He is often referred to, Jesus Christ is the Light of the World. I've kept that in mind a lot this past month as I've read scriptures concerning His coming and His birth. The first scripture I ran into was the testimony of Simeon in Luke's account of the Savior's life. Simeon had been promised by God that "he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord’s Christ."(Luke 2:26) When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple, Simeon at once knew, through the power of the Holy Ghost, that their Baby was that promised Messiah.
As Luke states: "Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said, 'Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.'" (Luke 2:28-32, emphasis added)
So, even in His infancy, Christ was known as a light to the world. I pondered this more as I read of the account in Matthew of the Three Wise Men who came to Herod, the king, asking "Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." (Matt. 2:2) Herod, thinking only of his throne, told the Magi to find the Child and then return to tell him, under the false pretense that he, too, wished to worship this new King. In reality, Herod thought only of protecting his crown and sought to destroy this King of which they had spoken. We find in the scriptures later, however, that these Wise Men were warned through divine intervention not to return, and the life of Jesus was spared. Continues Matthew: "When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy." (Matt. 2:9-10)
The Christmas Star. It plays a larger role than many people know. As we already have seen, men from a distant land in the East were told of Christ's birth through the sign of the star. But they were not the only ones who
recieved this sign.
Across an ocean, in the Americas, prophets had prophecied of the coming of a Messiah, even Jesus Christ. These prophecies are recorded in an ancient record of scripture called The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ. One of the prophets who testified of Christ's coming was named Samuel. Five years prior to the Savior's birth, Samuel stood on a city wall and prophecied of his coming.
The historian Helaman records: "And now it came to pass that Samuel, the Lamanite, did prophesy...unto them: 'Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name.
'And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day.
'Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be unto you for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shall be two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; and it shall be the night before he is born.
'And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you.'" (Helaman 14:1-5)
Again, the sign of the Christmas Star, as prophecied by other prophets, in addition to those in the Old World.
The believers who lived on the American continent held fast to the words spoken by Samuel, looking forward to that day with great anticipation. After five years had past, those who did not believe hatched a plan to rid themselves of what they felt were a race of people blinded by foolish beliefs and the traditions of their fathers, even the believers of Christ.
"Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death except the sign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet." (3 Nephi 1:9)
The leader of the church, named Nephi, heard of these plans and, as you can imagine, was grieved for the plight of the people of Christ. He went and prayed unto the Lord all day and pleaded with Him on behalf of His people, asking for deliverance from this awful fate the unbelievers had put upon them. As he prayed, the voice of the Lord came unto him saying:
"Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfill all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets." (3 Nephi 1:13)
As the time approached that the wicked had set apart and they began to approach the believers, to put them to death, a miraculous thing occured.
"It came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.
And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given.
And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.
And it came to pass also that
a new star did appear, according to the word." (3
Nephi 1:15,19-21, emphasis added)
The Lord fulfilled His promise to His people, saving them from their imminent death and changing their apprehensions to rejoicings. The Star had been shone. The sign had been given. The Redeemer had entered the world.
How appropriate was the sign of His coming: The lack of nighttime. The vanquishing of darkness. Christ, as that light, proves that darkness cannot prevail where He is. This was also emphasized in the sign the people of the Americas were given of His death:
"But behold, as I said unto you concerning another sign, a sign of his death, behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead." (Helaman 14:20)
When Christ died, darkness came for three days. The people of this continent were in terrible anguish, not able to see anything, stars, moon or sun, for three long days. It seemed that darkness had prevailed. Evil had triumphed. The Savior was dead. But, after that three day period that He was in the tomb, He rose again! The Easter Ressurection occured. Light came back to the Earth. Jesus Christ had conquered death. He had overcome the world. No longer would light ever have power over darkness again.
I know that Jesus Christ is that light. He can make difficult things easy. He can make burdens light. In the words of Isaiah: "Surely, he hath bourne our griefs, and carried our sorrows...he was wounded for our trangressions, bruised for our iniquities...and with his stripes, we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5) We can always turn to Christ.
I love this symbolism of light. The light of his birth, the darkness of His death and then, finally, the triumph of everlasting light that is Jesus Christ. We will never be alone. Satan and his legions can never triumph. In the words of Paul: "in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us." (Romans 8:37) Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father love us. As John 3:16 states: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." We CAN have everlasting life through Jesus Christ, our Savior. Through Him, our families can be together forever.
That we remember the true meaning of Christmas is my hope this season.
Thank you all so much for your love and support.
Always,
-
ZDT Hops
Now that I've got that out of the way, I can tell you about the rest of the week.
I did, of course, miss my own family's traditions, such as singing Silent Night on Christmas Eve in front of our nativity scene and then singing Joy to the World on Christmas Morning and placing baby Jesus in the manger. I also, on a side note, really missed the Rosser's famous Christmas Eve Breakfast. No country ham this year!
I hope everyone else's Christmas was equally as wonderful.
