Christmas Characters

With the Christmas Season in full swing, now is the time to start focusing on the Christmas story. However, we should dig a little deeper into the lives of the different individuals participating in the greatest announcement the world would ever receive. As you look at these characters, I hope you will also realize that, as Christians, we have a part in the story of what the world needs to hear. That is the true meaning of Christmas and the greatest gift that is free for all.

Caesar Augustus:

Caesar Augustus was the Roman Emperor at the time, and is yet the latest in a line of pagan rulers still used by God, despite being far from Him. If you know Roman culture, no one that ruled was more important than Caesar. In many instances, the Caesars were thought to be like a god, not only to the people, but to themselves as well. But at the exact time of Christ’s arrival, Caesar declared that everyone should be registered and the Jews had to return to their places of birth to be registered, much like our census occurs today. Thankfully, today when we go through a census every ten years, we do not have to travel, but instead just stay where we live. Imagine, though, that you had to pack up and go on a trip for many miles; the only problem you had was walking on your own two legs. The distance to travel is 90 miles. Also, as we will discover later, Mary, your soon-to-be spouse, is pregnant. While Caesar wanted to know how many people were in the land, God was just moving his chosen people to the exact place He needed them to be, fulfilling all the prophecies the prophets had told the Israelites would happen.

The Shepherds:

The shepherds were the least likely heroes in the story. During this time, they were the lowest class of citizens, even though their role was vital to the worship in which the Israelites participated. You see, the shepherds would take care of the lambs, which would later be the sacrifices for the atonement for the sins of the people. While their outward appearances would many times be less desirable, they were tolerated at best. The thing is, a shepherd many years prior rose to become the greatest king they ever had: David. However, like many other instances, things are forgotten, and only certain pieces are remembered. If you would ask a Jew about David, they would tell you that He was their greatest king, but when you ask about his shepherding days, there would be very little they would discuss. It is fitting, however, that when the Messiah came, God would use shepherds yet again to bring the hearts and minds of His people to Him. When the message of the arrival of the Messiah was proclaimed by them, as the Scripture says in Luke 2, the people marveled at those things told by the shepherds. The thought of the people would have likely been the question of why such an important message would be given by such a lowly person. The question that perhaps is implied is, “why not?” The Lord clearly, as seen in His decision to task the shepherds with this message, did not have a problem with their status. Rather, He brings to attention that this message was for all, regardless of station.

Joseph:

Interestingly, this is one person we know very little about, yet his role was extremely important in the arrival of the Messiah. After recently asking Mary for her hand in marriage, Joseph is presented with a major problem for the relationship. In this culture, if you were found to be with child before your wedding, you were an outcast from your people, and your family would be disgraced and banned from many places. Because of this, Joseph was in a very difficult situation; if he was not the father, would his eventual bride be faithful to him, or should he end this now? While the culture allowed Mary to be put to death, Joseph thought that, while he loved her, he would just make a quiet exit and not cause any shame to her or even to himself. However, we see that Joseph, in a dream, listened to and followed God to accept Mary as his wife because the Messiah would be coming through Mary. I am sure this young couple probably had many evil glances or was even talked about in the open or behind their backs. The thing of importance is that Joseph, as his home's leader, followed and obeyed God.

Mary:

When we look at the life of Mary, we see that she had a huge part in the ministry of Christ. Not only as a young person do we see her willingness to do the will of God, but in several cases, we see that she put others first, which would be something that would appear in Christ’s ministry later. Her willingness to help starts off with her helping an elderly cousin, Elizabeth, with her pregnancy, while being pregnant herself. And like Joseph, she would have received a lot of ridicule from her culture for being pregnant before marriage, but she was willing to endure the shame for those that truly didn’t know the rest of the story. The second is her willingness to follow Joseph to Bethlehem for the 90-mile walk, again, while pregnant. While this would have been extremely difficult for her, she was willing to do what God asked of her. When the birth of the Messiah came, her motherly instincts kicked in. Then, imagine having the responsibility of nurturing the Messiah and watching Him grow and become the man who would eventually show the true reason for His coming: to redeem mankind from their sins. During Christ’s ministry, we see that she still helped out others. At the same time, she loved Christ as her own son and her Messiah simultaneously. She also grieved as a mother would for her son, at the cross, while accepting a final request to give back to God what was given to her. When we look at the nature of Mary, we see that she was willing to serve despite the cost.

Angels:

One of the few times that we see in Scripture a glimpse of what happens in heaven continually is the worship of God with an enormous group of beings. While we only know of a few of them that came as a messenger to deliver news from God, we do see a time when multitudes came to deliver His words. When it came time for the Messiah to be born, a multitude sang words that would be utilized in a song that would continue for centuries later: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” These individuals came to deliver a message that God requested, and they immediately did so. The worship that they sang was something continual, regardless of where they were. For Christians, we too must have the spirit of worship not confined to just one place. Worship in its various forms is something that should be prevalent everywhere we go.

Innkeeper:

Perhaps one of the most misunderstood characters in the story, the innkeeper gets a bad reputation that is not deserved. You have to remember that during this time of travel, many people were entering the city, looking for a place to stay so that they could fulfill the decree made by Caesar. Imagine an event in your town so big that your population would be ten times its normal number. You would have needed more resources to meet this increase, and more time to prepare for this great influx of people. I am sure there were many “no vacancies,” and people were scrambling to find anywhere to rest their legs from the countless miles traveled. But the innkeeper, seeing Mary with child, gave the only thing he had left: the place where the animals were kept. While there is much debate about what this area might have looked like, the important aspect to notice is, that while it was not much to look at, it was all the innkeeper had and he was willing to allow them a temporary place to rest out of the elements. Based on Luke 2, we can presume that the end of the pregnancy was near, and so the innkeeper had a great deal of passion and concern for the well-being of this couple, as they were experiencing a great challenge. As Christians, we may be called to give what we have, even though it isn’t much. However, it may be exactly what God needs us to give at that time.

When we think about the Christmas story, there are several individuals that would normally not get attention, but without them, the story would be very difficult to tell. From a ruler who did not know the prophecies or follow God and was still used by God to implement the foundation for the Messiah to come, to a lowly shepherd who no one thought was important, we see that class has nothing to do with how you are used by God. From a young woman blessed with a tremendous task taken by faith, to a man who is trying to do right but met with an unexpected roadblock to his path, we see that the Lord can use whomever He will at any point in their lives. The key with all these individuals is that God has used them for a specific purpose in life. Today, God is still using people to serve Him by faith regardless of what man might think is possible. When we put our trust in Him, great things can occur that could be a historical event that will be remembered for many years or something seemingly insignificant. During this Christmas time, allow God to use you for His purposes and seek Him.