The birth of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke is more than a simple narrative. It is the theological statement of the Christian faith that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah and the very Son of God.
Now there is more here than the Grinch who stole Christmas. There is a deep-seated antagonism against the place of religious expression in the public forum. We began as a land to which people fled in order to practice their religion openly. However, for some, the remembrance of our nation’s religious patrimony is anathema.
After Adam and Eve sinned, God did not become impatient and immediately wipe them from the face of the earth. “The Lord is full of compassion, slow to anger” (Ps. 145:8). God’s slowness to anger is His patience; His mercy translated into deed.