What’s the first word that comes to mind when you hear the word “Christmas?” For some, Christmas is a time of frustration, anxiety, and too much to do. For others, it brings sadness—holidays emphasize when someone is missing. For many, Christmas fosters two words we hear most at Christmastime: Joy and Peace. Joy, because Christmas is a day for memories and family. Peace, because the wintery season suggests hearth and home and warm traditions.

The true story of Christmas suggests something far greater. Woven throughout the story are two words we don’t often hear at Christmas—two words that are the heart and message of Christmas.

The words: “Fear not.”

Four times, an angel announced the coming of Christ. Three individuals were told not to fear before He came. When the announcement that He had come was given to shepherds, an angel, surrounded by the glory of the Lord, caused them to fall on their faces in fear. They, along with “all people” (Luke 2:10), were also told not to fear.

In the garden of Eden, fear entered the world the moment sin arrived. When Christ entered the world, He came to take away all fear; to give us a reason not to fear. God doesn’t give a spirit of fear (2 Timothy 1:7). But He is never indifferent to the fact that fear exists, and that it affects every one of us. Every “fear not” throughout Scripture is followed by a reason why we aren’t to fear.

Zacharias: “Your prayer is heard.”

Hebrews tells us that in Old Testament times, God spoke “at various times and in various ways” (Hebrews 1:1). But there came a time when God became silent. For 400 years. The words that broke that silence were the words: “Fear not,” spoken first to a faithful, elderly priest named Zacharias, who had prayed for years and had stopped praying for a son.

When the angel Gabriel appeared to Zacharias, he gave him a reason not to fear: “Your prayer is heard, and your wife Elisabeth will bear you a son” (Luke 1:13). In other words, God heard every prayer—the first time they prayed and the last time they asked for a son. None of their prayers had been forgotten. This is why they were not to be afraid.

The angel told Zacharias that their son would be the promised Forerunner who would “make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (v.17). This was something greater and far better than any prayer they had ever prayed.

The message of Christmas is “Fear not.”
Do not be afraid, because none of your prayers are forgotten,
and God always fulfills His promises.

Mary: “You have found favor with God.”

Next, the angel Gabriel was sent to Mary, “a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph” (Luke 2:27). The angel appeared to Mary and said, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women” (v.28). It would be understandable if this young girl had cowered in a corner, terrified by this angel’s presence. Instead, we’re told she was “troubled at his saying” and wondered why this greeting was spoken to her.

But the angel spoke again and said, “Fear not, Mary, for you have found favor with God” (v.30). He repeated this truth she didn’t know or believe about herself—she had found grace in the eyes of the Lord. This is why she wasn’t to be afraid.

Gabriel also told her that she would be the mother of the promised Savior, the Son of God—not Joseph’s or any other man’s son. By grace, she was going to give birth to the One through whom many would also find grace in the eyes of the Lord.

The message of Christmas is “Fear not.”
Do not be afraid, because along with Mary and because of her Son,
you have found favor with God.

Joseph: “With God nothing will be impossible.”

Before Gabriel left, Mary asked him how this would happen. She and Joseph were only betrothed to each other. She had never had relations with a man. Gabriel explained that she would conceive by the Holy Spirit. She, a virgin, would conceive—something humanly impossible. Something that had never happened before and has never happened since.

To confirm that this impossible thing would happen, Gabriel told Mary that her cousin Elisabeth was preparing to have a son, when that was also humanly impossible. Gabriel’s last words to Mary were, “With God nothing will be impossible” (v. 37).

Immediately, Mary left for Jerusalem and stayed with her cousin for the final three months of Elisabeth’s pregnancy. When Mary returned to Nazareth, she was “found with child”(Matt. 1:18), and this was the first Joseph knew anything about it. Joseph made the only obvious conclusion and considered breaking off the betrothal.

As Joseph thought about these things, Gabriel appeared to him in a dream and told him not to fear. He said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife.” And then he explained why: “for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 1:20,21). An impossible thing had happened. Joseph was being asked to believe this impossible thing and to act upon that belief.

Joseph did believe and took Mary as his wife, accepting the criticism this would bring, along with the responsibility of being the earthly father of a young child who wasn’t his. Because he believed, Joseph had the privilege of being the first person to see and touch God in human flesh. He walked by faith and named Him “Jesus,” as the angel told him to do—the name that means “Savior.”

The message of Christmas is “Fear not.”
Do not be afraid to believe that God did, and God can do the impossible.

Shepherds: “Unto you is born this day. . . a Savior.”

The night of Jesus’ birth, an angel also appeared to shepherds. His announcement has been called “the greatest news the world has ever heard.”

“Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid.” (Luke 2:8,9)

Not just an angel, but the “glory of the Lord shone around” these shepherds. Every time the “glory of the Lord” was shown to God’s people throughout the Old Testament, it was the manifestation of the presence of God among them. Many years had passed since this had happened. That night, the presence of God had come into the world, He was wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. The “glory of the Lord” that shone around these shepherds was evidence that this event had happened. It’s understandable why these shepherds were greatly afraid.

But the angel spoke these words, “Fear not.” His “tidings of great joy which will be to all people” was that a Savior had been born that night. These shepherds were keeping watch over a flock of sheep that were being prepared for sacrifice not many miles away. But this flock of sheep were going to be replaced by another flock of sheep. And another flock of sheep. Their blood would never completely take away sin.

The angel said a Savior had been born that night. The “Lamb of God.” The Final Sacrifice for sin. A baby replaced a flock. He came to save His people from their sins. And this is why they weren’t to be afraid.

The message of Christmas is “Fear not.”
Do not be afraid, because unto you was born that day a Savior.

Hebrews tells us that “in these last days” God has “spoken to us by His Son” (Hebrews 1:2). The message of His life, His death, and His resurrection are the same as the message of His birth.

“Fear not.”

Do not be afraid.

Bethany H.

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