The birth of Jesus and the hope of salvation of humankind
- Part 1 -

Khelsoril Wanbe *

Christmas celebration at Khongnangpokpi Village, Saikhul Assembly Constituency, Senapati District on 27 Dec 2014 :: Pix - Shankar Khangembam

Every year, without fail, Christians all over the globe celebrate Christmas, to commemorate the birth of Jesus on earth a little over two thousand years ago although nobody knows on which exact date Jesus was born as the Bible is completely silent on this matter. Nevertheless, Christmas celebration has today become almost an integral part of Christian tradition.

Christmas time has indeed become a time of great joy and excitement not only for serious ardent Christians but also for millions of nominal Christians who no longer care much about traditional Christian values and principles. Christmas season is also a time when we remember many of those near and dear ones who have left us and gone to the land of oblivion.

During this time, we do not forget to remember many of our friends and relatives who died untimely deaths as well natural old age deaths – by untimely death, I mean, sudden death without warning due to accident, disease, sudden sickness etc before what is conceived as right age to die say 80/90. It may not be wrong to say Death is the greatest enemy of humankind.

According to the Holy Bible, long ago, Jesus was born; he died, he resurrected, he went back and promised he would be back. True Christians believe the biblical narrative concerning the birth, death, resurrection and promise of his return; but I'm sure there must be teeming millions among Christians who no longer believe the Bible and its narratives concerning Jesus. There must be many Christians who celebrate Christmas but don't even care if Jesus ever existed or not.

This materialistic world seems to have made people care more about materialistic prosperity and competition and less about spiritual values, principles and well being. The hedonistic philosophy of pleasure worship seems to have overthrown traditional spiritual values. This is an age of hyper competition – competition for more power, fame, fortune, pleasure. 'Seize the day; enjoy maximum pleasure; we don't know what tomorrow holds' seems to be the new global religion for the young and the old. In this context and setting, Christmas celebration has become more about pomp, pleasure, merrymaking, fanfare, drunken binge, debauchery, etc.

Christmas has been celebrated by Christians for centuries in remembrance of the incarnation of God as a man named Jesus, also known as the "Son of God."I have done a bit of searching with regard to the meaning of the "Son of God". I found that 'Son of God' shouldn't be understood in the same way as we understand human biological relation between son and father: God did not get married.

God only chose Virgin Mary to be a means by which He could incarnate in the form of a human being. Mary conceived baby Jesus after being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit. Being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit and getting pregnant with a child while still virgin is indeed a mystery which cannot be unravelled through human endeavour. This is believed by let me say Christian believers because they believe in the Bible; this is a mystery that is beyond scientific explanation.

Mystery is what actually surrounds everything about Jesus which could possibly be explained only by a Science far greater the science which mortal humans are engaged in. Jesus' birth was a mystery, his death and resurrection too were incomprehensible mysteries beyond human explanation, which we accept to be true only through faith, but not 'blind faith' a phrase which atheists might love to use to describe the faith of a true Christian.

How Christianity came into existence and how it grew to become the largest religious body in the world too is a mystery. When Jesus was crucified on the Cross, his terrified disciples had a hard time trying to hide away from the prying eyes of all those who knew them to be the followers of Jesus. But after the resurrection of Jesus, they began to regain their courage and enthusiasm; it grew far stronger than ever before.

Over and above their experiencing the presence of the resurrected Saviour in their midst, the Holy Spirit was poured upon them on the day of Pentecost and the gospel was spread like wild fire all over the world. From few thousands, the number of Christians grew to millions upon millions. After a few centuries, Rome, the Superpower of that time, also embraced Christianity and Christianity spread like wildfire in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and everywhere.

What I'm trying to explain here is that if Jesus had not resurrected from death and his disciples had not personally witnessed it, from where would His timid disciples have got the courage that would propel them even unto the jaws of death fearlessly and joyfully. The very timid short-tempered Peter was a completely changed man. He wasn't even afraid to die.

Earlier, when Jesus was captured and brought before Pilate and was being tortured, Peter was terribly afraid even to the point of denying Jesus three times before the first crow of the rooster in the morning, exactly as predicted by Jesus himself. From few followers the disciples of Jesus who began to be known as Christians grew in number.

Today, Christianity is the largest religion in the world. Perhaps, there might be some scientific explanation for this phenomenal growth of Christianity after the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Some Christians talk of the God of the Old Testament as being very harsh, fiendish and unforgiving, destroying not only thousands but millions. Like the God of Noah's time who killed all but eight human beings by sending a global flood although of course not before One Hundred and Twenty Years of warning and admonition to build a boat and enter into it to be saved from flood; then, the God of Abraham killed all the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah who were like the denizens of modern cities like Los Angeles, London, Moscow, Mumbai etc; then the God of Moses killed many of the obstinate Egyptians including their Pharaoh, although that too happened after showing them ten signs of His power to inflict terrible calamities in the form of ten plagues and urging them to let the Israelites go back to their land; and the God of David, Solomon and the kings that succeeded them also killed thousands of people both Israelites and non-Israelites for worshipping gods and idols other than Himself.

Yes, when we look back at what happened in the Old Testament time, we are tempted to conclude that the God of the Old Testament seems to be very revengeful and unforgiving, unlike Jesus who allowed himself to be beaten black and blue and be killed on the Cross. But, if we study the Bible more thoughtfully and seriously, I believe we will surely be able to gain more insight into the true nature of the God of the Bible, the Jehovah!

The world famous New Testament verse says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved" John 3:16-17. The 'God' in this New Testament verse is the same Jehovah of the Old Testament. Again, we may read here, "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love." 1 John 4:8. There is only one God in the Bible; he is the same loving God of the book of John and the jealous God of Exodus 20: 5. He created the first two parents of humankind, Adam and Eve because He was a loving God. But before He created human beings, sin had already entered the universe through Satan who was earlier called Lucifer, the light bearer.

Notwithstanding the entry of sin into the universe before He made Adam and Eve, God made the world and created man and woman, and even at the risk of them falling into sin for which He would hold Himself solely responsible and accountable and would require Him (God) to be born as a human being, live as a man and ultimately die a terrible death that the worst sinner deserve to experience.

(To be contd)