W HAT WE USUALLY MEAN BY “ SPIRIT” is Something vague, evanescent, intangible, almost indefinable. We speak of “ school spirit,” “ team spirit,” “national spirit,” and the like; and, not the least of all, of the “Christmas spirit.” We have deep and delightful asso ciations with that phrase: it evokes gladness, generosity, graciousness, and good will. Every normal individual enjoys Christmas, from the little child whose sparkling eyes reflect the lights of the Christmas tree to old age, sharing the light and laughter of Yuletide from his comfortable seat by the fireside. What is the Scriptural standard for the Christmas spirit, showing us its real scope and meaning? I wonder if the admonition contained in Philippians 2:5 is not the answer: “ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” What was this mind, or attitude, which characterized the Lord Jesus, and which should mark our lives in indelible fashion ? The spirit of Christ mas may be summarized in one word, familiar in every day conversation, but unfamiliar to us in living reality: humility. Bethlehem’s manger bore many marks of humility. The situation itself was a very lowly one. Granted that the standards of living at that time were not nearly as high as those that now exist in the United States, and possibly much like those that prevail in primitive places in the world, nevertheless, it must be conceded that the manger was a most inferior location. The poor est of people had better shelter than that which was provided for domestic animals. Nevertheless, under cir cumstances so unpropitious and into a place so unpre tentious, there came into this world the Prince of Glory. Mary and Joseph were themselves examples of humility. To be sure, their ancestry was regal; but that Davidic lineage long since had been obscured. It may be difficult for us to understand how descendants of a royal line could find themselves in such modest cir
cumstances as did Mary and Joseph in Nazareth, until we reflect upon the fact that in our own day there are members of nobility pursuing the most ordinary of occupations, because in the course of the world wars they have lost their high places. There is no record that the line of David reassumed its place of leadership after the remnant returned from the Babylonian captivity, more than four hundred years before the birth of Christ. In those long generations, it is altogether pos sible that no one paid any attention to a claim of direct descent from King David. Suffice it to say that Mary and Joseph were regarded as peasants from an obscure village in Galilee. Nazareth was not noted for its cul ture and erudition; rather, a contemporary would ask, “ Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” For that matter, Bethlehem in that day was no busy metropolis whose fame was known far and wide. To be sure, it was in the land of Judea, and not in “Galilee of the Gentiles,” as was Nazareth. The prophet Micah had commented upon this fact, “ But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah” (Micah 5 :2 ). We know a great deal about Beth lehem because it was the home of David; but in the day of Christ’s nativity, Bethlehem was just a wide place in the road. Who paid any attention to two weary travellers from Nazareth to Bethlehem? To their contemporaries they were nobodies. It was just as true then as now that if they had been persons of distinction some place would have been found for them. The visitors to the manger on that first Christmas Eve were also humble people: poor shepherds from the rocky hillsides of Bethlehem. Followers of that pastoral occupation were by no means plutocrats; on the con trary, they were “ the forgotten men” of their day. One recalls that centuries hefore that Christmas night, there had come to Bethlehem the prophet of God to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be king of Israel, but the lad he
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THE KING'S BUSINESS
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