The Lord's Christmas is also a “Mary Christmas”

“To know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge” (Eph.3:19).

Our beloved,

It was a tremenduous sacrifice for Jesus to die for us on Golgotha, to accept the risk of becoming a corpse; but He was not the only one to do so. Many others have gone to death for the glory of God.

At Christmas we celebrate a much greater sacrifice: Christ, God from eternity, through whom the universe was created, who reigned eternally in glory and had the love of countless angels, emptied Himself of divine attributes and became a powerless babe.

The omnipresent One was now confined to a manger in a stable, and even more: He was bodily confined in swaddling clothes, so that He could not even move His tiny limbs.

His mother Mary, a pure and holy girl, fed Him at her breast, cared for Him, and together with Joseph saved His life by fleeing to Egypt.

During the holiday season we greet each other with a “Merry Christmas!” Earlier Christians used to greet one another with a “Mary Christmas”, a Christmas remembering Mary, in which we too can care for children in dire need.

Who knows how many of them might be God’s elect, saints, future kings in heaven? All babes carry the image of God.

What facilities did the virgin Mary have to wash little Jesus? All the oceans and seas were created by Him, but there was no water to bathe Him when He was tiny, just as there was no water to assuage His thirst when He hung on the cross. His suffering began long before Golgotha.

Children’s Fingers Cut Off

Hungry miners have overthrown the Communist government of Romania a few years ago but those who replaced it were again Communists.They were replaced at the government level by democrats but unfortunately at the local management level, Communists are still there and used to block any political, moral and economic improvement in Romania.

For example, the Uniate people receive back only a few from their 2,500 churches, cathedrals, schools, cemeteries... They celebrate still in the public places, in the streets, in any weather, their celebrations. The children are often under starvation and illness. They often have nightmares. They will bear for the rest of their lives the scars of so many tragic events they lived. They need food and signs of love.

Two Kinds of Knowledge

At Christmas, let us adore Jesus and the love by which He became man. This love passes knowledge, yet Paul writes that it can be known. How can the unknowable be known?
In Hebrew and Greek, the original languages of the Bible, the word “to know” has two meanings: to understand and to unite in ardent love. Therefore it is written, “Adam knew Eve and she conceived a boy” (Genesis 4:1).

Love can know what is unknowable to reason. This love does not stop at Jesus but embraces all babes who are cold and hungry.

Aid Going into Sure Hands

Not all aid given to Eastern Europe governments reaches the population. Much is stolen. The same is true of some official church leaders. Faithful Russian Orthodox priests advise us to send nothing to their Patriarchy, which collaborated with Communists.

From Eastern Europe we send truckloads full of tons of food, medicine, clothing, Gospels, in Russia, Ukraine, Romaina, Albania. We go directly to trustworthy priests whom we have known for years in underground work under terror.

Our Canadian office ships medicine to them. You may mark your donations accordingly for the children of Eastern Europe.

When you make plans to give Christmas gifts, remember them. We thank you in advance for your concern and generosity.

May our knowledge of Jesus not be mere head knowledge but passionate love, which recognizes in every hungry child the face of the Beloved. May our love know the unknowable!

Martyrs are a Strange Breed

It may seem strange for a father whose child escaped a massacre and had at least a slim chance to save his life to call him back to die with the family. We all involve our children in the results of our sins: quarrels, divorce, gambling, drinking and so on. They all suffer lifelong for what they have done. But saints are often reproached if they make their children suffer because of their stand for Christ, which happens as often as Christians are jailed or killed for their faith.

Sufferers for Christ are a breed apart. They know the unknowable. Stephen, the first martyr, saw heaven opened and Jesus beckoning him to come. Why should he not desire his child to be with him? This is the feeling of Christians under persecution.

Jesus’ death on the cross caused deep sadness for His holy mother. He knew that her heart would be pierced by a sword. Should He have avoided the cross in order to save her pain?

Christmas is a good time for meditation on this thought. We celebrate at Christmas the One who, at a tremenduous cost, brought life and love and truth to this earth.

Thank you for all your support and prayers.

A “Merry Christmas!”

Richard Wurmbrand