There are three New Testament writers who tell the Christmas story. Luke tells about the birth of Jesus from Mary’s point of view, while Matthew’s gospel gives Joseph’s point of view. And then there’s John, whose accounts of Jesus’ birth are found not only in his gospel, but also in his apocalyptic text called Revelation.
John was one of Jesus’ closest friends, and he was probably the youngest of the twelve disciples. Some scholars have indicated that John may have been as young as fourteen years of age when Jesus called him to leave his fishing job behind and learn how to “fish for people” (Matthew 4:19). John was the only disciple brave enough to show his support for Jesus as the Roman soldiers crucified him. As John stood next to Mary near the cross, Jesus told his young friend to care for her as though she was his own mother. Then, Jesus looked at Mary, and told her to care for John as though he was her own son (John 19:26-27).
John was also the only apostle to not die a martyr’s death (except for Judas Iscariot, who took his own life). The Roman emperors Nero and Domitian picked off all the others, including John’s big brother, James, who was beheaded in public by King Herod. It’s believed that John was arrested and tortured in front of thousands of Romans in the Coliseum, where they dipped his body in boiling oil to the delight of the bloodthirsty crowds.
Somehow, John managed to survive, but those were dark days. By the time he sat down to write his Gospel and the Revelation between 80 and 90 AD, he sat in exile on the island of Patmos. The other apostles were dead and gone, along with most of his family, and it’s safe to assume that Mary was gone by that time as well.
Well into his seventies, and probably months away from his deathbed, John wanted to make sure his story lived on. After everything he’d seen and experienced, you might expect John to write something dark and depressing, but you’d be wrong. Here, for example, is how John explained Christmas:
John 1:1-5 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.
Do these sound like the words of a defeated man? No, this man is claiming victory. Why? Because even though the Roman Empire had more money than God and the biggest military in the world, and even though their emperors had tried to take out Jesus and his ragamuffin band of fishermen and prostitutes, the darkness of Rome could not overcome Jesus. And by the time John put pen to parchment scroll, there were more than 40 churches meeting throughout the Empire where thousands of people gathered to call Jesus their King instead of Caesar, and Heaven their Kingdom instead of Rome.
I’d give anything to have been a fly on the wall as Mary grew old in John’s house, to hear their stories, to get their perspective on Christmas. Mary in particular, and John to a lesser extent, were privy to the invisible reality of Christmas. While most people think of the first Christmas as two new parents adoring their perfect baby, Mary and John knew that Jesus’ birth amounted to God declaring war on Evil. That’s why John’s version of the Christmas story is so vastly different from the stories found in Matthew and Luke. And things get even stranger when we look at John’s spiritual version of the events surrounding Jesus’ birth, as described in Revelation 12.
Revelation 12:1-4 – “A great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. The dragon stood near the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron.”
This is how Christmas really looked according to John. Obviously, this means that if your Nativity scene at home doesn’t have a seven-headed dragon in it, you’re not doing it right. Matthew’s gospel knew that King Herod wanted to kill Mary’s baby, but John knew that Satan, in the form of a dragon, stood by that silent night, desperately waiting to kill the Son of God.
But the light shines in the Darkness, and the Darkness could not overcome it.
I like to imagine Mary and John sitting together as the mother of God grew old, reminiscing about everything they’d experienced. They’d survived the worst. The Kingdom of God was on the move, and hundreds more people were becoming Christians every day. Roman soldiers were beginning to convert. The Roman Empire was showing signs of decay.
I like to imagine Jesus’ mom smiling as she pondered in her heart the sublime irony of billions of people celebrating her baby’s birthday long after the whole world has forgotten when the great kings of Rome were born.
I like to imagine John chuckling to himself when he remembered how God destroyed the fiery Dragon of Hell – not with a legion of fiery angels, but with a baby. A helpless, vulnerable infant, whose parents were naive teenagers and whose first bodyguards tended sheep for a living.
Before the saga unfolded, the angel told young Mary “His Kingdom shall have no end” (Luke 1:33), and it’s true. The Kingdom of Jesus outlived Rome and every kingdom since, and it will outlive America and every other nation that comes along after it.
The message of Christmas is that God’s Kingdom has come in Christ Jesus, and sooner or later, God’s Kingdom always prevails. By the end of their lives, Mary and John had learned to laugh in the face of darkness and death because, in the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, they had seen God slay the Dragon of Hell with their own eyes.
Perhaps this year hasn’t been easy for you. Maybe this is your first Christmas without a loved one you lost this year. Or perhaps you’re anxious about the state of affairs in the world, the state of affairs in your home, or even in your own heart. Maybe you hate your job, or you’ve been harboring a lie that is sure to break the heart of someone you care about.
I’ll never be the kind of pastor who tells you that you have nothing to worry about. Most of the stuff that keeps you up at night is legitimately worrisome. But I also want you to experience the real meaning of Christmas this year, because I believe Jesus came to make it possible for you to overcome whatever darkness you’re in right now. Jesus came so you can laugh in the face of every dragon and demon from hell. He came to set you free. And even though it seems unlikely, your worst fears don’t stand a chance against the Light of Christmas.
Of his Kingdom there will be no end, and by the grace of God, you have a place in His kingdom.
