A Weary World Rejoices

“Weary” is perhaps the word that most fittingly describes many of us at this time of year. Many are weary of the pressure Christmas brings. Some are weary of the divisiveness and the politicising that has engulfed our society. Others are weary of living under the expectations of others. There are many things that make us weary of living in this world. But before the coming of Christ there was a deep and besetting weariness that hung over the nation of Israel and the entire world. It was this idea that the poet, Placide Cappeau, expressed in the first verse of O Holy Night. He wrote:

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth;
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
‘Till he appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn;

What was this weariness that burdened the people who lived before the coming of Christ? In his letter to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul tells us that it was the weariness and bondage of law keeping. Those living at that time in covenant relationship with God did so within the rigours of the Mosaic law, with all its stringent details and ceremonial requirements. Every area of their lives was prescribed by God.

Just consider what life would be like if all that you wore, ate and did were governed by religious requirements. This was life before Christ under the Mosaic law. The extremely stringent laws, some may say oppressive, were designed by God to mark Israel as a people distinct from the rest of the nations (Lev 20:26).

However, by the time of our Lord many Jews had come to interpret obedience to the law as being the means of becoming right before God rather than by faith in God. This led to the Scribes and Pharisees introducing hundreds of extra laws which led to oppression and enslavement for the people and power for the leaders. It was indeed a weary task to be in covenant relationship with God.

But Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, shattered this idea by saying that

a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ … because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Gal 2:16).

Also, those Mosaic ceremonial laws that governed life were all now fulfilled in Jesus.

Paul explains that before the Lord’s coming, God’s people, through the law with all its abuses, were “enslaved to the elementary principles of the world” (Gal 4:3). “But”, Paul adds,

when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (vv. 4-5).

With the coming of Christ came the adoption as sons and daughters of God. Not because of law keeping or family lineage or anything else, but because of God’s sheer grace and mercy by sending His Son that we might become His sons. Now, by faith, we enjoy the fullness of the Spirit’s indwelling presence with us, expressed in the most intimate of terms: “Abba! Father!” (v. 6). No wonder Jesus said,

Among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he” (Matt 11:11).

John the Baptist had unrivaled privilege and status before Christ’s incarnation, but that was nothing compared to what God’s children experience today. Therefore, Paul says,

So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God” (v. 7).

In our weariness this Christmas, may the Lord press upon our hearts the exalted position we now have in Christ, through the Spirit, before our Father. And may we enjoy and live up to the privileges we have as we bear our new family image.