Bridges for Peace Wishes You a Blessed Christmas

December 24, 2024

by: Ilse Strauss ~ Bridges for Peace

Tuesday, 24 December 2024 | Tomorrow, Christians around the world will celebrate the birth of Jesus (Yeshua) on Christmas.

Even though there are many theories about the time of Jesus’ birth and the exact date is not known, the Christmas season is a time set aside to marvel and rejoice at the awe and wonder of an almighty God setting in motion His plan for the salvation of humanity.

For Christians living in Jerusalem, the Christmas story takes on a new sense of realism. I am writing these words to you from a spot located no more than a few minutes away from Bethlehem. The prophet Micah (5:2) was the first to promise that the Messiah would be born in the little backwater of a Jewish community near Jerusalem. And then, nearly 750 years later, God fulfilled that promise—and lifted the sleepy shepherds’ village into the annals of Christianity—when Mary gave birth to Jesus in a manger somewhere in Bethlehem. It was here that a choir of angels sang the glad tidings of His birth to a group of shepherds and they left their flocks to become the first to worship Immanuel on earth. And it was here that all male babies under the age of two were slaughtered on Herod’s command because the evil king feared being dethroned.

In past years, thousands of Christians from around the world have made it a Christmas Eve tradition to visit Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, the place where Jesus’ birth has been memoralized for centuries. This year may be different as fewer tourists and pilgrims alike have come to Israel. But Bethlehem is no less significant.

As we celebrate Christmas this year, we remember that Jesus was born to bring a great light into utter darkness at a particularly difficult time in Jewish history, a time of Roman oppression and subjugation. That light and hope of His birth and what it entails continue to be the guiding beacon in the hearts of Christians today.

As many Christians commemorate the birth of Jesus on Wednesday, Jewish people around the world will light the first candle on their hanukkiah (nine-branched candelabra) to celebrate the beginning of Hanukkah (Festival of Lights).

Although usually Christmas and Hanukkah fall roughly around the same time, this year the two celebrations coincide on the exact date. In years when this does not occur, the variance in timing is due to the use of two different calendars. The Jewish people celebrate the feasts according to the biblical calendar, which is based on a lunar cycle. The eight-day festival of Hanukkah starts on the 25th of the ninth biblical month, called Kislev. The date for Christmas, on the other hand, is determined according to the solar-based Gregorian calendar. Since these two calendars do not line up, the two feasts do not always overlap.

The Bridges for Peace family would like to wish you and your loved ones a Christmas season filled with celebration, joy and the light of God’s presence. May the hope that Jesus brought into the world with Him continue to burn brightly in our hearts—during the festive season and beyond.

We will be taking a break from our daily news stories over the holidays. Our regular news updates from Israel will resume on Wednesday, January 1, 2025.

Posted on December 24, 2024

Source: (Bridges for Peace, December 24, 2024)

Photo Credit: Sharon Mollerus/Flickr.com

Photo License: Flickr