At Christmas, we celebrate the birthday of Jesus with a focus on the baby and the circumstances of his birth. There is a bigger picture, one that we as adults should be focusing on. As with any other birthday celebrations, it is not really about how Jesus came to be born or the circumstances of his birth. It is essentially about celebrating the man, the kind of person he was. The gospel writers used the customary ways of their times to emphasise the significance of this event (e.g. the virgin birth of the Emperor Augustus). They searched the Hebrew Scriptures for references to show that this was part of Gods plan for his people (fulfilment of prophecy). They used the symbolic and metaphoric language of their day (angels and visions).
of simple interpretations of scripture
and too-comfortable lifestyles.