Good Friday in December: Birth to Dying to Resurrection

Today is a sandwich kind of day. One of those days where you're not sure whether to look back or look forward.

Monday is our big NYE bash, so we don't want to start talking about all our plans for 2019, our "One Word" for the new year, or even all that we're thankful for that happened in 2018.

Then what good is this Friday for?

As I write this, it's dark and bleak outside. We're expecting rain and the temps will likely drop. Nobody wants to go out shopping because they've spent all their money. Everyone is still stuffed from all their Christmas goodies, the presents are all unwrapped and as Erica shared yesterday, the toys were either hits or misses, the clothes either fit or need to be returned, and the pie and cookies are winking from the sideboard, but we don't think we could hold another bite of anything... at least until lunch time.

And it's still dark and dreary outside. Bah-humbug!

Funny how exciting the promise of snow (well, not here in MS, but work with me...) is in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but not so much in those dark, rainy days between Christmas and New Year's Day. As I reflected on this odd time in between all the excitement of Christmas and the dawning of a new year, I'm reminded of the three days between the crucifixion and the resurrection.

For Christians, Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection is the most important week of our faith and the most momentous occasion in all of history because it paves the way for eternal salvation culminating in the Second Coming. Second to Jesus's crucifixion and resurrection is His birth. Here in Seekerville, we've just celebrated an entire month of Advent, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for that birth. But did you know that part of the description of Advent is also a celebration and reflection on His return at the Second Coming?

Mary's travails to give birth to her first child and the Son of God were probably the darkest moments of her young life. Who knows how long she was in labor? Could it have been three whole days? Perhaps. The three days that Jesus was in the tomb were dark and dreary for his disciples, who believed that all hope was lost. So it seems that the dark, dreary days after all the hoopla of our Christmas season might feel like a deflated balloon for some, but joy is coming and that makes this a Good Friday in December.

Christmas is not really about the presents or the festive lights or the gazillion family photos we all shared on Facebook on Christmas morning, although I enjoyed all of it just as much as anybody! It's about the babe that lay in a manger whose mother had to change his stinky diapers that probably started full force about the third day. It's about the man 33 (ironic?) years later who died on a cross and whose body decomposed for three days before the sun rose and He rose with it.

January 1st is coming. A New Year, a new beginning. But in the meantime, think about those few days right after Jesus's birth, about the uncertainty that a young mother and father were facing as they learned to take care of a newborn. Reflect on that same babe, Jesus, our Lord and Savior, lying in a tomb, waiting to be resurrected and reborn on Resurrection Sunday.

I think you'll find it's a Good Friday in December after all.

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