The Christmas / Easter Connection

I’m not a big collector but I do some collecting. One of the things I collect (come to think of it, it could be the only thing I collect!) is quotes. And of course, I have my favorites. And one of my all-time, absolute favorite quotes about Christmas happens to also be a quote about Easter.

Now, I know that some people don’t appreciate us drawing a connection between the two. Some people like to think of Christmas as being all about sentiment and void of any real content. Others like to think of the content of the Christmas message as a nice story about a baby being born while Easter is a story of brutal torture and death on the one hand and the impossible legend of resurrection on the other.

Well, that is where my favorite Christmas/Easter quote comes in. It is a quote from James Packer found in his book ‘Knowing God’ and here it is:

“It is not strange that He, the author of life, should rise from the dead. If He was truly God the Son, it is much more startling that He should die than that He should rise again. ‘Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies’, wrote Wesley; but there is no comparable mystery in the Immortal’s resurrection. And if the immortal Son of God did really submit to taste death, it is not strange that such a death should have saving significance for a doomed race. Once we grant that Jesus was divine, it becomes unreasonable to find difficulty in any of this; it is all of a piece, and hangs together completely. The incarnation is an unfathomable mystery, but it makes sense of everything else the New Testament contains.” J I Packer in ‘Knowing God’

And there you have it. The incarnation (God becoming man in the birth of Jesus Christ) is an unfathomable mystery, but it makes sense of everything else the NT contains. That says it so well doesn’t it. So, if we really believe the biblical testimony of the virgin birth of Christ, then the atoning death and victorious resurrection of Christ (and His second coming I might add) present no difficulty at all.

This makes Christmas a pretty big celebration doesn’t it! I know that a lot of Christians say we shouldn’t be putting so much emphasis on Christmas (some say none) and that it’s Easter that we should really be focused on. But when we come to understand how the identity of Christ makes His death sufficient for all and His resurrection the only justifiable outcome, then we really begin to appreciate the real significance of His birth. It all hinges on the truth of who He is. And when you read through the gospels, that is in fact the central issue that keeps coming up. Remember Jesus asking the disciples … “Who do men say I am? … Who do you say I am?... And then of course, there are those immensely clear words from the lips of Jesus, “Unless you believe I am He, you will die in your sins.”

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and they will call Him ‘Emmanuel’, which means ‘GOD WITH US’.” Matthew 1:23

“Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; He is CHRIST THE LORD.”
Luke 2:11

“THE WORD BECAME FLESH and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14