Don’t you wonder, however, why God chose not to reveal the day of his son’s birth? Also, why do we not read of Jesus, his apostles or the early church observing the day?
Perhaps God is keeping the focus consistent with what he had said through Solomon, “A good name is better than a good ointment, and the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth”……. And also, “The end of a matter is better than its beginning”, Ecclesiastes 7:1 & 8 respectively.
If I may offer some possibilities regarding three points from the above…..
A good name? – We are given a name at birth, but we make our “name” by how we live. Jesus said of himself, “… but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me”, John 14:31.
Jesus did not begin making his name, so to speak, while on earth. In another place he said, “Truly, truly I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am”, John 8:58. Jesus rightly takes ownership of his father’s name, “I Am” revealing that he has been working since before time to do us good. This infinitely powerful and authoritative name he recalls from history also is projected into the future as it is at the name of Jesus that every knee will bow (Philippians 2:10).
Our “death-day” is better than our birthday? – With our limited perspective we celebrate births and mourn deaths. At birth, however, a pure soul is introduced into a world, which will eventually separate it from God.
Death, however, has become our escape from this fallen world into the glory of God. From God’s perspective, the day a saint dies is a homecoming! Death is therefore better than birth, just as Jesus death was the very reason for his birth (see Hebrews 2:14-18). We ought to take the view of Jesus as he seemed to rebuke his apostles in saying, “If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I”, John 14:28.
The end of a thing is better than the beginning? – Of course a good beginning means nothing if the end is not good. As implied above, the “ending” is where the glory of Christ shines brightest, as we get a glimpse of our weak, mortal, perishable, dishonored bodies being changed into immortal, imperishable, glorious bodies raised in power according to 1st Corinthians 15:42-43. This is our victory in Christ that will only be totally realized through death when we are reunited with our creator and savior.
Yes, I love Christmas with all of its wonderful traditions. But I love it mostly because it reminds us of Jesus’ victory and therefore our own through him. Christmas was the beginning of Jesus walk as one of us, but the cross and resurrection are the glorious conclusion of him and his father working out our salvation. That blessed little baby grew up, and we must grow with him.