What Are We Celebrating?
Luke 17:11-19
What ARE we celebrating? Isn’t that a good question to ask? Not “What should we be celebrating? NOT intellectually, “What do we celebrate at Christmas?” But, “What are we actively celebrating this Christmas?”
As we rush again toward another Christmas, it is good for us to “take stock.” It is good for us to slow down and step back and honestly evaluate what are we actually celebrating? What are we actively celebrating in our hearts and in our actions? So today, let’s take a minute and look closely at our own lives and ask, what are we celebrating this Christmas?
It’s certainly no revelation that Christmas has become, primarily, a cultural holiday. The cultural celebrating of Christmas is basically a worldwide event in one form or another.
We were at Disneyland recently, and Jozlyn and I stopped at a “holiday” ornament craft area they had put up along the walkway. There were about six craft areas that celebrated this holiday from around the world, and it took up a long stretch of the walkway. But it seemed Disney ran out of room because the area that celebrated the Christian Christmas tradition was kind of tucked behind some big rolling carts and had no lights pointing on it (and it was night). And so, to say that there is a broad spectrum of what we can celebrate at Christmas would be an understatement.
And hear me please, I love everything good that goes with our Christmas celebrations. I love the family gatherings. I love the gifts and kids, lights, the tree, decorations, and the food. I love it all. And us asking, what are we celebrating this Christmas doesn’t change any of that. The question just helps us keep the main thing the main thing, and we can keep the main thing the main thing in the midst of all the other “good things.”
And here is the main thing.
The God of all Creation – the Maker of Heaven and earth – The Eternal, All-Existing One… was born as a baby.
If we can even begin to fathom the monumental vastness of that truth, then we can begin to embrace what we are truly celebrating at Christmas.
The immensity of that truth is revealed in the opening verses of the Gospel of John. John describes Jesus Christ as “The Word” (The Logos), and this title (Logos) for Jesus means “God in communication” or “God in Expression.” In English, it’s translated The Word. Here’s what John Chapter 1, verses 1-4 say.
John 1:1–4 (NLT)
1 In the beginning the Word (Jesus) already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him (he is the Agent of Creation, he is the conduit of creation), and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word (Jesus) gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
And then, in verse 14, John says this.
John 1:14 (NLT)
14 So the Word became [flesh] (human) and made his home among us . . .
Every one of us, deserving God’s judgment, sinners and enemies of God, this God who IS and WAS and IS TO COME, who has always been, who has always been God, who is the Agent of Creation, who is Author of Life – this God became a man and dwelt among people who deserve hell. No holiness. It is impossible for me to explain how far down Jesus came. From an indescribable holiness to an indescribable wretchedness, it’s almost impossible to explain.
The God of all Creation – the Eternal, All-Existing One… became a baby in a manger in order to give the gift of eternal life – to us.
Speaking of Jesus Christ,
Philippians 2:6–7(a) (NLT)
6 Though he was God (speaking of Jesus), he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. (in other words, he didn’t have to prove he was God, he didn’t have to maintain his deity position, he maintained his deity but set aside its privileges)
7 Instead, he gave up (set aside) his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being . . .
We forget that Jesus Christ is GOD. And he is all that God is, expressed to us in the flesh, but initially as a needy baby. He became a human being.
This is the great “condescension.” This is the humbling, the lowering, the demeaning of the King of kings, the Lord of ALL Creation. The Lord of the infinite universe (always growing, always expanding) – omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and unspeakably holy God – lowered himself to where we were. And where we were is on our way to hell because God must judge sin.
And so, Jesus lowered himself to our level by being born a human, be clothed in human flesh, to be born a despised Nazarene in a filthy stable to a poor, nobody, Jewish girl, without any earthly fanfare. There was fanfare as all of Heaven broke into glorious worship. But as far as the earth was concerned, he went as low as he needed to go to save us.
Why did God take on human flesh and lower himself so far to walk this earth as a man? The second half of Philippians Chapter 2, verse 7 and also verse eight, tell us.
Philippians 2:7(b)-8 (NLT)
7 . . . When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
God in the flesh lowered himself so far down… to reach us, and we have too high of an opinion of ourselves – even being willing to question God. He lowered himself down, down, down to the pit of sin that we were stuck in, with no way of getting out ourselves.
He lowered himself in order to offer us the greatest gift of all possible gifts – the free gift of eternal life through faith in him. The King of kings and the Lord of Lords humbled himself, demeaned himself, lowered himself to become a man on earth in order to save us for an eternity in Heaven.
In 1987, in Texas, a toddler the world knew as “Baby Jessica” fell into an eight-inch well casing, becoming stuck in the well-pipe twenty-two feet below ground. She was stuck with no way of coming back up again. And so, in a heroic fifty-eight-hour rescue operation, a second well hole was drilled, and a rescuer shimmied down, down, down to below where Jessica was. And then he dug over to her well-hole, and he reached her where she was, and he brought her back up to life.
Let me tell you something you may not know. That rescuer ended up dying as a result of that rescue. And I know it doesn’t fit the story perfectly, but he ended up taking his own life, which on the one hand, is shocking because of the PTSD of the rescue.
But on the other hand, Jesus gave his own life. He came down this hole that we’re stuck in, and to get lower than us, to die a criminal’s death so that he can pull us out of the pit of sin that we’re in, and rescue us and give us life.
And that is a picture of what Jesus Christ did for us – to save us. And THAT is what we are celebrating at Christmas. The Lord of Glory shimmied down a well-hole and dug through the miry ground to reach us because we weren’t going anywhere. We were going to die. And he pulled us out, and he pulled us up to life.
What we are celebrating, the Bible calls “The Good News” – the Gospel. On the night that Christ was born in the shepherd’s fields outside Bethlehem, Luke 2, verses 9-11 says,
Luke 2:9–11 (NLT)
9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,
10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.
11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!
This is God lowering your rescuer down the well-pipe. The nativity scene on your coffee table doesn’t quite depict this. But a miry pit with the glorious God being lowered down into it would be a better depiction.
THIS is the GOOD NEWS that he came into the hole that we were dying in to save us. This brings great joy, and this is what we are celebrating at Christmas. Jesus saved you from death.
And notice the three titles given to Jesus in verse 11.
Jesus is our Savior – he is our Redeemer who has bored his way down to earth to reach us where we were, no matter how low we were, he went lower, to reach us and to save us.
Jesus is the Messiah – he is the Christ who came to fulfill all of God’s law on our behalf so he could exchange our sin to him and his righteousness in place of our sins. (2 Corinthians 5:16 says.)
Jesus is Lord – he is God WITH US.
Matthew 1:23 (ESV)
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
That is what we are celebrating – that in Christ – God is WITH US.
We celebrate with gifts – because Jesus Christ is God’s inexpressible gift to us
We celebrate with lights – because Jesus Christ is the light of the world
We celebrate with singing – because in the shepherd’s fields that night, the Host of Heaven broke forth in praise to God.
What we are celebrating is the greatest act of love that creation has ever witnessed because God was born as a baby in a manger to die as our Savior on the Cross so that we could live forever in eternity with him.
John 3:16 (NLT)
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
THIS is what we are celebrating at Christmas because the earthly path to our salvation began in a stable in Bethlehem.
THAT is what we have to celebrate, but the question is – are we celebrating that? I know our “Christian response” is, “Of course that’s what I’m celebrating.” But isn’t it good to take stock of where we currently are in our celebrating of Jesus Christ? Isn’t it good to check our current situation? Isn’t it good to check our current focus and our current mindset and ask ourselves the hard question? IS JESUS what I am actively celebrating as this Christmas approaches?
Turn in your Bible with me to Luke Chapter 17. Guys, our disease of sin brings us separation from God and certain death, which is exactly what leprosy brought in the days of Jesus. And beginning in verse 8 of this chapter, we see ten men who were celebrating for sure, but only one was celebrating the right thing.
Luke 17:11–19 (NLT)
11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria.
12 As he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance,
13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.
15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!”
16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?
18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”
19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
You can be sure all ten of these men were celebrating but only one knew WHO and what to truly celebrate. Only this one healed leper returned to Jesus, praising God and thanking Jesus for what he had done.
May we be that one this Christmas season. May we consciously and actively celebrate by praising God and thanking Jesus because he lowered himself down, down, down to earth to save us when we could not save ourselves.
Romans 5:8 (NLT)
8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
We were stuck in the pit of sin. We could not save ourselves, and we were dying. And Jesus Christ dug down from Heaven – to us – to save us by dying in our place on the Cross to pay the full penalty for our sin.
I would encourage you to find some time every day between now and Christmas to celebrate God being born in a stable, to come to save us from the pit of sin that we were dying in.
Find some good advent devotions. Or follow our calvarynuevo or wordbymail Instagram accounts or the Facebook accounts for our Daily Video Advent Calendar. But please, take some time each day to celebrate Jesus Christ as we approach Christmas.
And if you’ve never received the free gift of salvation that Jesus was born to bring, you can do that right now. In this season of gift-giving, the best gift you can receive is the original gift that God became a man to offer you.
Receive the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ, and you will have a real reason to celebrate this Christmas.
John 1:12 (ESV)
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Receive the greatest gift of all by putting your faith in Jesus Christ, and then celebrate HIM as we approach Christmas.
As we rush again toward another Christmas, it is good for us to “take stock.” It is good for us to slow down and step back and honestly evaluate what are we actually celebrating? What are we actively celebrating in our hearts and in our actions? So today, let’s take a minute and look closely at our own lives and ask, what are we celebrating this Christmas?
It’s certainly no revelation that Christmas has become, primarily, a cultural holiday. The cultural celebrating of Christmas is basically a worldwide event in one form or another.
We were at Disneyland recently, and Jozlyn and I stopped at a “holiday” ornament craft area they had put up along the walkway. There were about six craft areas that celebrated this holiday from around the world, and it took up a long stretch of the walkway. But it seemed Disney ran out of room because the area that celebrated the Christian Christmas tradition was kind of tucked behind some big rolling carts and had no lights pointing on it (and it was night). And so, to say that there is a broad spectrum of what we can celebrate at Christmas would be an understatement.
And hear me please, I love everything good that goes with our Christmas celebrations. I love the family gatherings. I love the gifts and kids, lights, the tree, decorations, and the food. I love it all. And us asking, what are we celebrating this Christmas doesn’t change any of that. The question just helps us keep the main thing the main thing, and we can keep the main thing the main thing in the midst of all the other “good things.”
And here is the main thing.
The God of all Creation – the Maker of Heaven and earth – The Eternal, All-Existing One… was born as a baby.
If we can even begin to fathom the monumental vastness of that truth, then we can begin to embrace what we are truly celebrating at Christmas.
The immensity of that truth is revealed in the opening verses of the Gospel of John. John describes Jesus Christ as “The Word” (The Logos), and this title (Logos) for Jesus means “God in communication” or “God in Expression.” In English, it’s translated The Word. Here’s what John Chapter 1, verses 1-4 say.
John 1:1–4 (NLT)
1 In the beginning the Word (Jesus) already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He existed in the beginning with God.
3 God created everything through him (he is the Agent of Creation, he is the conduit of creation), and nothing was created except through him.
4 The Word (Jesus) gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone.
And then, in verse 14, John says this.
John 1:14 (NLT)
14 So the Word became [flesh] (human) and made his home among us . . .
Every one of us, deserving God’s judgment, sinners and enemies of God, this God who IS and WAS and IS TO COME, who has always been, who has always been God, who is the Agent of Creation, who is Author of Life – this God became a man and dwelt among people who deserve hell. No holiness. It is impossible for me to explain how far down Jesus came. From an indescribable holiness to an indescribable wretchedness, it’s almost impossible to explain.
The God of all Creation – the Eternal, All-Existing One… became a baby in a manger in order to give the gift of eternal life – to us.
Speaking of Jesus Christ,
Philippians 2:6–7(a) (NLT)
6 Though he was God (speaking of Jesus), he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. (in other words, he didn’t have to prove he was God, he didn’t have to maintain his deity position, he maintained his deity but set aside its privileges)
7 Instead, he gave up (set aside) his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being . . .
We forget that Jesus Christ is GOD. And he is all that God is, expressed to us in the flesh, but initially as a needy baby. He became a human being.
This is the great “condescension.” This is the humbling, the lowering, the demeaning of the King of kings, the Lord of ALL Creation. The Lord of the infinite universe (always growing, always expanding) – omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and unspeakably holy God – lowered himself to where we were. And where we were is on our way to hell because God must judge sin.
And so, Jesus lowered himself to our level by being born a human, be clothed in human flesh, to be born a despised Nazarene in a filthy stable to a poor, nobody, Jewish girl, without any earthly fanfare. There was fanfare as all of Heaven broke into glorious worship. But as far as the earth was concerned, he went as low as he needed to go to save us.
Why did God take on human flesh and lower himself so far to walk this earth as a man? The second half of Philippians Chapter 2, verse 7 and also verse eight, tell us.
Philippians 2:7(b)-8 (NLT)
7 . . . When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
God in the flesh lowered himself so far down… to reach us, and we have too high of an opinion of ourselves – even being willing to question God. He lowered himself down, down, down to the pit of sin that we were stuck in, with no way of getting out ourselves.
He lowered himself in order to offer us the greatest gift of all possible gifts – the free gift of eternal life through faith in him. The King of kings and the Lord of Lords humbled himself, demeaned himself, lowered himself to become a man on earth in order to save us for an eternity in Heaven.
In 1987, in Texas, a toddler the world knew as “Baby Jessica” fell into an eight-inch well casing, becoming stuck in the well-pipe twenty-two feet below ground. She was stuck with no way of coming back up again. And so, in a heroic fifty-eight-hour rescue operation, a second well hole was drilled, and a rescuer shimmied down, down, down to below where Jessica was. And then he dug over to her well-hole, and he reached her where she was, and he brought her back up to life.
Let me tell you something you may not know. That rescuer ended up dying as a result of that rescue. And I know it doesn’t fit the story perfectly, but he ended up taking his own life, which on the one hand, is shocking because of the PTSD of the rescue.
But on the other hand, Jesus gave his own life. He came down this hole that we’re stuck in, and to get lower than us, to die a criminal’s death so that he can pull us out of the pit of sin that we’re in, and rescue us and give us life.
And that is a picture of what Jesus Christ did for us – to save us. And THAT is what we are celebrating at Christmas. The Lord of Glory shimmied down a well-hole and dug through the miry ground to reach us because we weren’t going anywhere. We were going to die. And he pulled us out, and he pulled us up to life.
What we are celebrating, the Bible calls “The Good News” – the Gospel. On the night that Christ was born in the shepherd’s fields outside Bethlehem, Luke 2, verses 9-11 says,
Luke 2:9–11 (NLT)
9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified,
10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.
11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!
This is God lowering your rescuer down the well-pipe. The nativity scene on your coffee table doesn’t quite depict this. But a miry pit with the glorious God being lowered down into it would be a better depiction.
THIS is the GOOD NEWS that he came into the hole that we were dying in to save us. This brings great joy, and this is what we are celebrating at Christmas. Jesus saved you from death.
And notice the three titles given to Jesus in verse 11.
Jesus is our Savior – he is our Redeemer who has bored his way down to earth to reach us where we were, no matter how low we were, he went lower, to reach us and to save us.
Jesus is the Messiah – he is the Christ who came to fulfill all of God’s law on our behalf so he could exchange our sin to him and his righteousness in place of our sins. (2 Corinthians 5:16 says.)
Jesus is Lord – he is God WITH US.
Matthew 1:23 (ESV)
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
That is what we are celebrating – that in Christ – God is WITH US.
We celebrate with gifts – because Jesus Christ is God’s inexpressible gift to us
We celebrate with lights – because Jesus Christ is the light of the world
We celebrate with singing – because in the shepherd’s fields that night, the Host of Heaven broke forth in praise to God.
What we are celebrating is the greatest act of love that creation has ever witnessed because God was born as a baby in a manger to die as our Savior on the Cross so that we could live forever in eternity with him.
John 3:16 (NLT)
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
THIS is what we are celebrating at Christmas because the earthly path to our salvation began in a stable in Bethlehem.
THAT is what we have to celebrate, but the question is – are we celebrating that? I know our “Christian response” is, “Of course that’s what I’m celebrating.” But isn’t it good to take stock of where we currently are in our celebrating of Jesus Christ? Isn’t it good to check our current situation? Isn’t it good to check our current focus and our current mindset and ask ourselves the hard question? IS JESUS what I am actively celebrating as this Christmas approaches?
Turn in your Bible with me to Luke Chapter 17. Guys, our disease of sin brings us separation from God and certain death, which is exactly what leprosy brought in the days of Jesus. And beginning in verse 8 of this chapter, we see ten men who were celebrating for sure, but only one was celebrating the right thing.
Luke 17:11–19 (NLT)
11 As Jesus continued on toward Jerusalem, he reached the border between Galilee and Samaria.
12 As he entered a village there, ten men with leprosy stood at a distance,
13 crying out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 He looked at them and said, “Go show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed of their leprosy.
15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!”
16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine?
18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”
19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
You can be sure all ten of these men were celebrating but only one knew WHO and what to truly celebrate. Only this one healed leper returned to Jesus, praising God and thanking Jesus for what he had done.
May we be that one this Christmas season. May we consciously and actively celebrate by praising God and thanking Jesus because he lowered himself down, down, down to earth to save us when we could not save ourselves.
Romans 5:8 (NLT)
8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
We were stuck in the pit of sin. We could not save ourselves, and we were dying. And Jesus Christ dug down from Heaven – to us – to save us by dying in our place on the Cross to pay the full penalty for our sin.
I would encourage you to find some time every day between now and Christmas to celebrate God being born in a stable, to come to save us from the pit of sin that we were dying in.
Find some good advent devotions. Or follow our calvarynuevo or wordbymail Instagram accounts or the Facebook accounts for our Daily Video Advent Calendar. But please, take some time each day to celebrate Jesus Christ as we approach Christmas.
And if you’ve never received the free gift of salvation that Jesus was born to bring, you can do that right now. In this season of gift-giving, the best gift you can receive is the original gift that God became a man to offer you.
Receive the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ, and you will have a real reason to celebrate this Christmas.
John 1:12 (ESV)
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,
Receive the greatest gift of all by putting your faith in Jesus Christ, and then celebrate HIM as we approach Christmas.