(Diesen Text haben wir am Samstag in Form von Weihnachtskarten ausgegeben. In erster Linie um zu erklären, warum Weihnachten ein so wichtiges Fest ist. Natürlich gab’s die Karte auch und vor allem in Schwedisch, aber ich nehme mal an, die meisten von Euch ziehen die englische Variante dann doch vor, oder?
Most of the best stories have heroes, don’t they? The kind of heroes that save those desperately needing help. The Christmas story is no different. It’s the story of a couple far from home needing help – a place to stay for the night. In fact, it was an emergency because the woman was about to give birth.
Interestingly enough, the hero of the story is not the person who finds them a place. Other characters in the story, like shepherds and others visiting the couple, aren’t the heroes as well. The real hero of the Christmas story is actually the baby. But how? How can a baby be a hero?
Christians believe that the baby born that night was a special person promised for thousands of years called the Messiah. Everyone thought he was going to be a mighty warrior or a king. It was predicted that the Messiah would save the people from all their troubles. No one expected him to come as a baby first.
Christians believe that the baby born that night – the Messiah – was a person named Jesus, not just a person sent from God but actually God’s son. They believe that he grew up to be a hero. Not in the traditional sense, using his superpowers to help the needy. Instead, he refused to use his superpowers and gave his own life for those who desperately needed help.
That’s why Christians celebrate the Christmas story. That night an unlikely hero was born in the midst of extraordinary circumstances. It was the just the beginning of a wonderful story that today is still being told.
Want to know more? You can read the story or see it in film.