Looking at the symbolism behind the “Piñata”, I found out that it was originally designed with 7 peaks, to represent the “7 sins”; it contained fruit to represent “the glory of God” that would fall on those who break it. This fun ritual is actually not far from the truth, because Jesus bore in his body ALL our sins (a little more than 7), and his body was beaten, battered, bruised and shattered with the rod of God’s justice, so His glory and ALL His blessings could fall in all of us. That is the Gospel of Grace!
Knowing that the spirit of the Grinch is trying to steal Christmas from our calendars and from our tables, I decided to translate a portion from last year’s article to celebrate today, which will give you a greater appreciation for this event.
Indeed, the Bible does not explicitly say “proclaim Jesus Birth”, as it tells us to proclaim his death, in the insitution of the Holy Communion (Luk. 22:19; 1 Cor. 11:24; Mat. 26:26-28; Mar. 14:22-25); however, Jesus birth implicitly proclaimed His death in many ways that you will find out here:
“The celebration of Jesus birth should NOT be overlooked, contrary to what some religious and non-religious leaders are promoting, regardless if He was born on December 25th or in September, as the chronology of the scripture suggests. His birth had the sole purpose of “dying for us”, so through His death He could bring us back to his Father.
His birth was announced with a bright star, which is of great significance to astronomers until our days.
It was also proclaimed by the angels of God at the sound of trumpets, which was the sound of REDEMPTION.
The gifts from the wise men announced his redemptive death: Gold: His Righteousness and Divinity; 
Incense: He would be our offering of sweet aroma to the Father; Myrrh: a bitter herb used in those days to annoint a body for burial. He would drink this bitter cup for all of us.
His place of birth, a manger, prophesized his death too; not only that, but it was also given as a SIGNAL:
And the signal recognized by the following : You will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth , lying in a manger Luke 2:12 NLT .
The Hebrew manger, which was used as a feeder of farm animals, was found not only in the stables, but in every home where they had farm animals for nourishment or transportation. How would they find a manger with the baby from Heaven in the whole Bethlehem?
A manger from the time of Jesus
Alfred Edersheim , in his book ” Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah ” explains that the place prophesized in Micah 4:8, called “Migdal Eder” ( Tower of the Flock) in Bethlehem Ephrata, where Jesus was born, was a place dedicated to raising sacrificial lambs at that time; therefore, since these sheep could not have neither defect nor blemish, nor wound nor laceration, they were wrapped in strips of cloth at birth, and placed in a manger like this, until they could calm down and walk to their mother for nourishment without causing themselves any damage.
For this reason, as these shepherds were familiar with this practice, as well as with this prophecy, when they heard the news from the Angels with the description of the baby wrapped in strips of cloth in a manger, they knew exactly where to find him, who would eventually become our Sacrificial Lamb.
The birth of Jesus would not have been recorded if it was not so relevant for us. It would have been hidden as it was the body of Moses, or as Jesus childhood years in Egypt. However, it was given as a SIGNAL, at least that’s what I read in Luke 2:12 . It was the fulfillment of many prophecies, like the one above recorded in Micah, to mention a few, or the one in Isaiah 9:6:
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
The whole world must know that THE WORD BECAME FLESH in the form of an
innocent baby, born to a virgin, which shows that he was not born of the will of man but of God ( John 1:13 ); a baby with Divine blood, “whose origins date back to the beginning, to the days of eternity” Micah 5:2 .
Our Jesus became flesh “exclusively” to be broken in our place, so he could make us “Whole”.
No wonder why this celebration has been hijacked, like everything that belonged to God, to dilute its significance and supernatural/divine meaning, shifting the attention towards fictional characters, or even towards humans, and stealing the glory from whom it belongs.
More sadly, this celebration is being gradually removed in some places, because it has become offensive, not only to unbelievers, but to some people among the “believers”, who would love to have it totally removed from our memory; the Gringe was able to steal Christmas for them. However, it is time that the significance of this event is brought back to proclaim the good news of salvation, while there is still time.”
We don’t necessarily celebrate Jesus birthday, because He is God Eternal, without
beginning or end! What we celebrate is the truth that the greatest gift of love was given to men: Our Eternal God became flesh in the form of a sweet innocent baby, so as a human, He could have jurisdiction over all humans and take our place, “not to make bad people good, but to make death people live” Joseph Prince.
The Giver of All Grace, the Savior of our life: spirit, body and soul, the giver of the New Covenant , where there is no more punishment nor damnation was born as a man.
Because of all the above, this celebration of His Grace must not fall under the condemnation of the Law. We do not celebrate because God demands it, which He would do under the Law. We celebrate because when we understand this kind of love, the Miracle of Christmas takes a new meaning, and produces in us a genuine act of worship, from the buttom of our greatful hearts, because this baby would be our ultimate offering; this means that there is no need to offer anything else for our justification and forgiveness. His payment has been accepted. No more animal sacrifices; no more offerings from our effort are required. We can love God and others because He loved us first. We can forgive others because He forgave us. We can give Him Praise with clean lips, and we do it not because He requires it anymore, but because we cannot help it.
This baby Jesus, knowing no sin, became sin so that we could become his righteousness in Him (2 Cor . 5:21). This baby that found no place to rest his head at birth, could rest his head when He died at the Cross for you and me. By His Grace and love for us He became poor, so that by his poverty we might be rich ( 2 Cor . 8:9).
The party has just began and a more excellent wine will soon be served during the Marriage of the Lamb, but while we are still on earth, let’s celebrate this event with joy, with glorious noise, lights and new song, so that everyone knows the kind of Gift that has been given to us.
Malu e Mele Kaliki Maka,
Shalom and Merry Christmas.
