Why Many People Hate Christmas

When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.

Matthew 2:3

Considered to be the biggest holiday of the year, Christmas is celebrated by millions across the globe. Amidst all the commotion, festivities and gatherings, the heart of the festival is easily overlooked and neglected. The significance of the nativity of Christ diminishes every year while the popularity of fictitious stories grows. Children nowadays believe in Santa more than they believe in God. Every December, businesses make fortunes, Christmas trees are luxuriously adorned, and homes are ostentatiously decorated.

If you look at the gospel, the essence of Christmas, it is this: That Christ came into this world to save sinners. There are only two ways how the hearts of men will receive this news. Only two ways how men will react to the birth of Christ. And only two ways how it will ultimately result.

The Reception of Christmas

When a child is born, there is unspeakable joy among the family. Such love and tenderness gush out from their hearts for this beloved baby, such careful preparations are made, and the smallest of precautions taken. What if this child was prophesied centuries ago? The One that would deliver His people and do wonderful things.

When King Herod heard the news, he was hostile towards it. He had dreaded the birth of this Christ, because he knew it would pose a threat not only to the throne and to his kingdom, but also the authority and the riches that entailed. Notice how it was not only Herod who was troubled, but all Jerusalem with him.

When the whole nation should have been rejoicing, they were instead disturbed by the news. They failed to realise their need of the Messiah. They were blinded by the devil and all they could focus on was the temporary fleeting pleasures of this world. If this Jesus was born two thousand years ago, and if He is the promised God incarnate then there are only two things we can do: Believe in Him and be saved or reject him and be damned.

So many in this world merely regard Christ as a bold sage and an exemplary leader but refuse to accept Him as Lord. They admire His teachings and even quote Him on multiple occasions, but they refuse to give Him the pre-eminence He deserves. This is because they know that putting God first would mean putting themselves last. That they would have to live a life that pleases God and not themselves.

This in turn elicits in the unregenerate heart, an antipathy to Christianity. They may appear to know God and might even acknowledge Christ, but their hearts are still opposed to His message. Professing to be a God worshipper, Herod tried to please the Jews by renovating the Second Temple and the Temple Mount. In Matthew 2:8 he even lied to the magi that he too would come and worship the Child if His whereabouts were made known.

On the other hand, there are those who truly recognise the void in their lives, the depravity of their being and the futility of their living. It is often the despondent, the disdained and the disregarded that receive the good news with such open arms. They desire to know this saviour personally rather than just hear about Him. Like the shepherds, they hasten to come and see this Child (Luke 2:16) and begin to adore Him, to revere Him and to believe in Him.

The Reaction to Christmas

However, it’s one thing to claim to believe and another to truly believe.

It is recorded that this Herod the Great murdered several of his own children and his wife filled with jealousy and suspicion. If this vicious murderer slaughtered his own family in fear of losing his throne, how willingly would he have killed the innocent babe that lay in the manger. As a matter of fact, Herod would have soon traced and killed the Child if it wasn’t for God’s divine wisdom and providence, revealing unto Joseph Herod’s true intention.

Surprisingly, this is the condition that many are in, unbelievers and believers alike. They may acknowledge God, but they refuse to crown Him king over their lives. They do not want Christ to reign supreme. They do not want Him to “usurp” their priorities, their career, their passions. If they are genuine in their belief, they will have to destroy every idol crafted in their corrupt hearts in order to make room for the Son of God.

Therefore, their hearts are but set against Christ and his kingdom. Like Herod and the people, they despise the birth of Christ, they loathe it, they abhor it. Their animosity towards Christianity is not due to an intellectual problem as they claim it to be. For God is able to bring even the wisest of men to salvation. Matthew himself tells us about the wise men that brought marvelous gifts, who fell and worshipped the Child. God is able to show anyone, great and low their necessity of a divine king.  

How wonderful is it that the magi and the shepherds, two groups on opposite spectrums of society, needed only a glimpse of Christ (Luke 2:17) to bring them exceeding joy? They saw the way, the truth, the life. They tasted and saw that the Lord was good (Psalms 34:8). A mere sample of his divine nature was enough to set their whole hearts on fire for Christ and for His everlasting kingdom. Like the two men on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24 their hearts burned within them.

Our hearts should likewise burn with passion, joy and gratefulness whenever we hear the gospel, whenever we remember the work that Christ has done and is still doing, and whenever we read of Christ’s magnificent life and His tremendous teachings which all began with the nativity.

The Result

Herod went on in his reckless and futile pursuit of murdering the Child while the shepherds and the wise men were forever changed by their encounter. No doubt that God who began the good work in their hearts maintained it (Philippians 1:6). For the genuine believer, the flame that was lit when they understood the richness of the gospel, although may falter at times, is kept aflame by Christ till the end.

In the Pilgrim’s Progress, when the Interpreter explained to Christian that the fire burning against the wall was the Work of Grace that is wrought in the heart of believers, Satan was shown laboriously trying to extinguish it in vain while Christ was shown continually maintaining it with the Oil of His Grace. Just like the parable of the tares among the wheat, all shall be allowed to grow together until the harvest. Then the tares shall be gathered to be burnt in the furnace of God’s righteous wrath while the wheat shall enter the barn of God’s loving mercy (Matthew 13:30). Just as Christ was born in a humble manger when there was no room elsewhere, He is willing to make the hearts of the poorest, the vilest, the sincerest his abode.

How about you

There is one thing all human beings have in common. One thing that every person knows deep in their hearts. It is that we are all sinners. We are all dead. We are all in desperate need of help.

And here God appears in the scene. When all hope is lost, He sends His begotten Son to the world. To be born of a virgin. A perfect child, fully God, fully man. A Child that will lead a blameless life yet die an unjust death. The One who loved many but was not loved by all. Who showed compassion, only to be later betrayed. If there ever was a person who was born to die, it was Jesus.

In Mary’s womb His hands were formed to labor all his life and then to be pierced with nails. His head was shaped not to be befittingly crowned with a crown of gold, but to be derisively crowned with thorns. His feet were fashioned to tirelessly travel far and near to bring the gospel to needy people. His shoulders to carry the heavy cross. His arms to be tortuously hung for hours. His back to withstand the agonising weight of His ministry. He was forsaken so that we might never be forsaken. He bore the wrath of God that we ought to have born on the cross. He lived a perfect life so that we may trade our filthy rags for his glorious robe, our sins for his righteousness. He overcame death so that one day we would rise victorious alongside Him.   

My dear readers, the good news is only “good news” to them that know they are perishing and in need of a saviour. To them that realise they are dying and in need of a cure. To them that admit they are lost and in need of a deliverer. As Spurgeon remarked in his sermon on Isaiah 9:6 “This child is not born to you unless you are born to this child”, I plead with you to be born to this Child today.

I implore you to come adore this beautiful Child while there is still time, that you put all your trust on Christ while He is still approachable and that you grow to love Him while you still can, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength (Luke 10:27). Then and only then will you be able to partake of the same profound joy of the wise men and shepherds this Christmas and forever.