“T’was the Night Before Christmas”

T’was the night before Christmas, and the world was a different place than the world we know. A tired Roman Empire, glutted with excess and debauchery, held a tenuous grasp from Spain to Asia Minor. Tyranny, slavery, injustice and poverty had come to dwell among the Jews, who reached their promised land but had lost their spiritual compass. A diligent search of the scriptures revealed that Messiah would come, and so, in the dark, barbaric night they waited – and prayed – and hoped, as they sharpened each point on the letters of law and smothered it’s soul with tradition. It was a tragedy – an unparalleled tragedy, that the ones who so diligently looked for Messiah were so blind and bound. They didn’t recognize Him when God delivered Messiah in a Bethlehem stable. Only 5.4 miles from the Temple where devout men cried for his appearance, Jesus was born. All of the teaching, all of the prophets, all that a seminary could offer in spiritual knowledge was at their fingertips. Yet the silent night of the soul continued in Israel while angels appeared to shepherds and wise men followed the star. T’was the night before Christmas, and Jerusalem slept, so close to the manger – so far from the Master.