Christmas is often imagined as gentle, quiet, and unchallenging. When we think of Christmas we think of things like soft light, familiar hymns, and peaceful scenes. And indeed, there is real comfort and joy in the birth of Christ. Yet the Church, in her wisdom, places before us today a text that refuses to let Christmas remain sentimental.
Simeon takes the Child Jesus into his arms and blesses God, but then he speaks words that cut sharply against a merely cozy Christmas: “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed … so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
A light for revelation and a sword for the heart. The same Child who brings consolation to Israel also brings division. The same Christ who saves also judges. The same Gospel that comforts the broken also exposes the proud. Christmas does not merely soothe; it reveals.
Find out more in this sermon from St. John's Lutheran Church of Oakes, ND!
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