by from the Christmas Candlelight Service, December 21, 2025
For the past month, we’ve explored miracle births in Scripture: Abraham and Sarah’s Isaac, Manoah’s Samson, Hannah’s Samuel, and Zechariah and Elizabeth’s John the Baptist. Tonight, we arrive at the culmination of them all: Jesus.
What’s in a Name?
Names carry profound meaning. The name we know as “Jesus” comes from the Hebrew Yehoshua, or Joshua, meaning “the Lord delivers.” Just as Joshua brought Israel into the promised land, Jesus would fulfill an even greater mission, delivering all of God’s people into eternal life.
Jesus is the fulfillment of every story we’ve studied. Through Isaac, God turned sorrow into laughter. Through Samson (“little light”), God sent light into Israel’s darkest times. Through Samuel, God showed He hears individual prayers. Through John, God demonstrated His grace. And now, through Jesus, God delivers His people.
Beyond the Figurines
We’ve all seen nativity sets. Maybe you grew up with one in your home. These days, you can find minimalist versions: simple wooden blocks, glass figures, even Lego sets. Some people arrange Coke cans labeled Jose, Maria, and Jesus. I’ve even seen one made entirely of random action figures, complete with Darth Vader and a T-Rex.
But I wonder if we’ve become too comfortable with this idyllic scene. Too familiar with the precious figurines that sanitize the raw reality of what happened that night.
The Real Nativity
American painter Gary Melchers captured something profound in his work The Nativity. It shows the humanity and struggle of that moment. Mary, young and exhausted after giving birth without medical help, without a proper room, with only Joseph beside her. Joseph’s furrowed brow reveals his contemplation: What is happening? What do I do next? I can’t even provide a comfortable setting for my wife and this baby entrusted to me by God.
This wasn’t a peaceful, glowing scene. This was a young couple alone in the dark, in a strange city, with a newborn baby placed in a feeding trough because there was nowhere else to put him. The streets outside were empty. No one to help. Then, eventually, smelly shepherds showed up after being rallied by angels.
This is the reality: Jesus was fully human, born of a woman who endured all the pain of pregnancy and childbirth. Alone in the dark. And these were the people God chose to raise His son, the Messiah.
The Names Tell the Story
Look at the names: Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. These aren’t coincidental.
Joseph shares his name with the Old Testament Joseph who was sold into slavery and ended up in Egypt, eventually becoming second in command of the nation. Mary’s name comes from Miriam, Moses’ sister, who helped lead God’s people out of Egypt but died in the wilderness. And Jesus takes his name from Joshua, the one who finally brought God’s people into the promised land.
Right there in that manger, you have the entire story of God delivering His people, played out in a husband, wife, and newborn baby.
Mary knew her Bible. She understood these connections. She recognized that in this baby boy, God was fulfilling promises that began with Abraham, promises that all nations would be blessed through his offspring.
The Darkest Night
It’s fitting that we celebrate this on the winter solstice, the longest night of the year, the darkest stretch of darkness we’ll experience. From this point forward, the days gradually grow longer. More light, every single day.
On the darkest night of the year, we celebrate the Light of the World stepping into that darkness.
Isaiah prophesied it: “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. On those living in the land of darkness, a child is born for us, a son given to us… He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”
Mary Consoles Eve
There’s a beautiful artwork by Sister Grace Remington called “Mary Consoles Eve.” It imagines Mary, pregnant with Jesus, meeting Eve across the boundaries of time and space. Eve, who carried the guilt and shame of introducing sin into God’s creation, receives comfort from Mary, who carries the solution.
God had promised Eve that one of her offspring would defeat the serpent. Jesus was that promised deliverer.
As Paul wrote in Romans: “There’s a great difference between Adam’s sin and God’s gracious gift. For the sin of one man, Adam, brought death to many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and his gift of forgiveness to many through this other man, Jesus Christ.”
The Ultimate Gift
Notice how often Paul uses the word “gift.” We’re about to give and receive gifts this week. But the greatest gift has already been given: “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”
That gift, laid in that manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes, guaranteed our salvation and eternal life with God. No strings attached. Free for the taking.
The shadow of the cross loomed over that manger from the beginning. Jesus knew what awaited Him. But that death would bring life for all of us.
Let’s read John 3:16 together: “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
The light is coming. Receive God’s gift.
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Daniel N. Lee 
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