It was over 2,000 years ago that Jesus, the Son of God, conceived by the Holy Spirit to a virgin, was born in Bethlehem. Unable to find a place in an inn as travellers, the parents had to settle for a stable, where Jesus was born. Christmas celebrates this birth of the saviour of humankind. The significance of Christmas goes beyond carols, Christmas trees and gifts. The angels heralded the event with the words ‘peace among men.’ Jesus said: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.” In a warring world and amid the bane of terrorism, Jesus’s message of peace has a special relevance. The message of love comes out strongly. The Bible says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” That is the nature of God’s love for the world that Jesus demonstrated on the Cross by dying for human sins.
The innkeepers not providing them a place showed their preoccupation with others who were more important to him. Are we also not so preoccupied with our worldly affairs that we do not give God any place in our heart? Secondly, the child was laid in a manger, the feeding trough for cattle, pointing to obscurity and poverty. The news of His birth was first given to shepherds, lowly placed in the social ladder, indicating that Jesus would not come to the proud and the powerful but to the humble.
The child brings to focus the importance of children in our families. India may be a major IT power and a nuclear weapons State, but when it comes to care of children, it lies near the bottom. Christmas is a wake-up call for all those who are neglectful of this precious resource. — M.M. Rajendran
(The author is a former Governor of Odisha)