Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, 1914, in the trenches of World War I, something extraordinary happened: German and British soldiers independently began singing Christmas carols across the barbed wire. First the Germans lit candles along their trench. Then both sides were singing 'Stille Nacht' — Silent Night. Then men climbed out of the trenches and met in No Man's Land. They exchanged food, cigarettes, buttons, and small gifts. They played football in the snow. For one night, the killing stopped. The news spread across the entire Western Front. It became known as the Christmas Truce. The announcement that the angels made — 'a Savior has been born' — produced, even in the worst imaginable context, a pause of peace.

Luke 2:11 is the angel's announcement — the proclamation that Israel had been waiting for through centuries of prophecy and longing. Three names in three words: Savior (soter — the one who rescues from danger, from sin, from death), Christ (Christos — the anointed one, the Messiah), the Lord (Kyrios — the one who has supreme authority, who in the Septuagint is always the name of God). Savior, Messiah, Lord — past, present, and future significance all compressed into the one birth. Tonight, let the announcement land as if for the first time: He is born. He is born for you. The Savior, the Messiah, the Lord. All of what you need.