The Bible's Other Christmas Narrative - from the heavenly point of view
Whether you are a big fan of the book of Revelation, ambivalent, or even a little skittish – you just must see this version of the Christmas story! It is nestled right in the middle of the book, chapter 12.
The chapter is small, its 17 verses do not fill one page of the Bible I am using right now; yet it is filled with action and intrigue. That is the goal of the book (and apocalyptic literature) – action, elaborate costuming, and distracting scenes. It is written in code! Revelation was written during a time that Christians suffered horrible persecution; they needed encouragement that their enemies would not be able to decipher.
As you and I pay attention for keys to the code, we will find ourselves understanding a powerful narrative about the Eternal One, our Savior and our own lives. So, let’s dig in! Do me a favor, read the chapter straight through a couple of times, to familiarize yourself. Expect wild action and a lot of questions to flood your mind, it’s ok.
Now that you are familiar with the content of chapter 12, let’s review the plot: A woman is pregnant and about to give birth when, suddenly, a huge dragon positions himself to devour the child. Immediately, heaven snatches the baby from the jaws and the woman is protected.
In the next scene, we find the dragon in combat in heaven – he probably chased the boy there – but he is soundly defeated and thrown out, down to earth. As heaven thrills and shouts about the victory, the dragon (or serpent, they tend to switch places) attacks the woman in an innovative manner; but it does no good! Thwarted, he gives up on the woman and goes after her other kids.
Got it?
Hang with me here, and we will take it apart and examine some of the pieces. Start with the cast:
1. Who is the woman? I’m not sure totally. Her original role is played by Mary, but that kind of moves around as the play unfolds. The big thing is this – Don’t stress about the woman, she is safe!
2. Who is the baby? That’s simple, and the iron scepter tips us (Psalm 2; Revelation 2:26; 19:15; 11-21) It’s Jesus! We’ll come back to the Christmas story in a minute.
3. Who is the dragon? We have a code key handed to us in 12:9. It is Satan, the rebel, leader of fallen angels, earth’s great deceiver and our spiritual enemy.
4. Who else has roles in these scenes? Michael and his angels fight the battle in heaven. God is in heaven and involved with the ultimate triumph. WE ARE IN THE SCENE – who is described in verse 17? Those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus – does that sound like you
Do you see the life of Christ and Christmas spelled out here? It is definitely a high level, abbreviated version. The boy is born, the dragon tried to kill him, but he was quickly removed from the scene and taken to heaven. Whew! Did that happen? Yes, we know some of the specifics in between, still that is exactly what happened.
Ok, but who is the woman? Please, don’t obsess about her, she is quite safe.
Rather, let’s take a deep look at our spiritual enemy. “If you want to win a war, know your enemy and know yourself” (Sun Tzu). Satan throws himself into opposition of everything that God endorses. He wants to bring shame to God. He tried to kill little Jesus by using a government official. He tried to take over heaven. He actively accuses Christians of sin and failure before God’s throne. And now, he is warring against those faithful to our Lord.
This chapter is also an ode to the devil’s failures: Baby Jesus is safe, the woman evaded his grasp in a safe place, he was defeated in battle and driven out of heaven, the woman was kept safe and unharmed when he sent a flood her way. He was thwarted at every turn! He is frustrated, angry, desperate (knows his time is short) and he is after you and me!
The name Satan means “accuser.” It’s one of his major pastimes. A quick aside: when believers accuse their brothers and sisters, who are they imitating? The devil is also intensely occupied deceiving the world (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4; Acts 26:17, 18). And he’s after us!
Yes, it can be intimidating; however, we have especially useful weapons and tactics; heaven recites them in chapter 12. “They overcame him …” The “they” refers to us, not angels because the blood of the Lamb is for us (Hebrews 2:14-18).
We have the blood of Christ. He stars as the Lamb in Revelation and his blood (sacrifice) is referenced in relationship to our lives more than once. (1:5,6; 5:9, 10; 7:14). Jesus bought us and purified us with his blood. For that reason, Satan’s accusations are futile.
We have the word of our testimony. We can tell others what Jesus has done for us and how much he means to us. We can exhibit faithfulness to Jesus in the face of trials and persecution – people notice.
We have the greatest knowledge of all, death can’t stop us, nor can it terrorize us. Those who have committed to the Lordship of Christ understand that we are to be faithful unto death. If a person is not afraid to die, no one can truly control them.
I am not trying to awe you with my grasp of Revelation; rather, I am laying out for you, from heaven’s perspective, the reality of the spiritual conflict in which you and I are forced to participate.
Whether you have been aware or not, this is our reality. We have a powerful, desperate spiritual enemy who is coming after us. He uses people (and governments) to do his bidding. He accuses us to God and often to our own hearts. He is ruthless and vile. He hates our Lord Jesus. AND HIS DEFEAT IS CERTAIN.
Don’t duck and hide. Instead, let’s focus intently on the value of Christ’s sacrifice for us! Let’s boldly tell people what we know about Jesus (don’t tell them how bad they are, tell them what Jesus means to you). Let’s major in faithfulness. And let’s meditate on the reality that our Lord promised persecution, will walk with us through it, and welcome us home.
Never forget, Christmas = God with us.