Did He Come Upon a Midnight Clear?

Christmas is near! “Black Friday” is nearer. Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It is the most popular shopping day of the year for retailers. It is often regarded as the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. Black Friday is known for more than just seeking ‘good deals’. It is known for aggressive crowds, assaults, shootings, throngs of people trampling on other people where even deaths have occurred. Let’s not forget those ‘Road-Raggers’ jockeying bumper-to-bumper for parking spots. Pandemonium! Sounds like an awful lot of fun doesn’t it? Why is it called “Black Friday” anyway? The term was first associated with the first United States financial crisis of 1869. In 1961, this shopping “nightmare” was recreated in Philadelphia and was actually labeled “Black Friday” by the Philadelphia Police Department due to massive traffic jams and enormous unruly crowds. In 1975 a Philadelphia newspaper article attempted to rename Black Friday to Best Friday due to its chaos, but that failed. Shoppers cannot manage to shop for gifts the whole year unencumbered, they need this one day. For many police departments, Black Friday is not a term of endearment. Black Friday, in theory, seems to be the beginning of the period when retailers no longer have losses ‘in the red’. Profits must be made you know—‘Tis the season.

Christmas is near! There will be a little less jingle in our pockets and more jangled nerves. Festive red, blue, green and gold decorations are already up in most stores. The radio stations are playing Christmas music 24/7. There are already signs and cards that say “Jesus is the reason for the season”. That sounds reasonable. We’ve been raised on that saying, but do we even question it anymore? Did we ever?

Christmas is near! To Christians the world over, Christmas is special. But did Jesus come so we could have Christmas? Did Jesus come so the calendar might be changed from B.C. to A.D.? The Bible records that Jesus came to seek and save what was lost. Jesus didn’t come to earth for himself. So, when we read that Jesus is the reason for the season, may I submit for your consideration; that statement might not be entirely correct. It would make more sense to say that “we are the reason for the season”. You see, Jesus came: for you, for me, for humanity—not himself. Beware, advertising can be frightfully persuasive. We must be on guard, seeking the truth wherever it leads us. Doesn’t the Truth seek, save, and set you free?

What is the answer to the title “Did He Come Upon A Midnight Clear?” We are not 100% certain that it was exactly midnight when He came, but, we are 100% certain that it was “clear” why He came.

“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost”. Luke 19:10