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Sep 16, 2025 18:00pm

Walking Through Luke: The Magic of Christmas Outside December

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Is it Christmas yet?

There’s something special about Christmastime. As believers, we recognize it as a time of celebration that God sent His Son into the world, but even outside that unique blessing, there is no denying that there’s something special about the holiday season. Some would say that it’s overcommercialized, focused on getting material objects and spending ridiculous pocketloads of cash. And to be fair, that can certainly be true.

But ever since childhood, Christmas has been a magical time for me. It’s not just getting presents. I certainly loved all the toys, but that wasn’t the only source of joy. Everything just seems better, somehow. The music. The lights. The imagery of snow and night skies in deep blue above blankets of white. The Nativity scenes. The sweaters, scarves, and knit hats. The puff of fog in the air when you breathe out on a cold night. The vibrant reds and greens. The holiday parties. The cookies and candy. The ham. I could go on and on.

At my house, we prepare for the coming holidays with an almost giddy anticipation. The Christmas tree is usually up a week or so before Thanksgiving. And even though we prepare early, it never seems to last long enough. Once you hit the day after Thanksgiving, the Christmas season rolls by so fast you barely have time to blink, and you just hope there’s time to make some lasting memories in the crazy hustle. And then it’s over, and the tree has to come down, and the house goes back to looking the way it does the other ten and a half months out of the year. The magic is temporary, but while it’s around, it is so electric, most people can’t help but be energized by it.

The word “magic” is one we might tend to shy away from as Christians, especially as it pertains to biblical context. It gets conflated with witchcraft, and we fear implying a connection between the secular concept of magic and the biblical miracles that come from God. However, while “miraculous” is a good word to describe the unfolding of the Christmas story, I do think it is suitable to say it was also magical. Magical in the way a child perceives magic: with bright-eyed, innocent wonder.

It all started when Mary—the cousin of Elizabeth, who as I discussed in my previous article, had already had a miraculous experience of her own—received a visit from an angel. Not just any angel. Gabriel, the same messenger who had presented Zechariah with the news of his own impending fatherhood. Though Mary was a single woman who had never had a physical relationship with a man, Gabriel told her that she would conceive a child, and that “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).

Mary was astonished, excited, and probably a little fearful. She took a trip to visit her cousin Elizabeth, which is when the next miracle happened: from Elizabeth’s womb, the baby John recognized the presence of Jesus in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:44). Mary wrote her own song of praise in that moment—a beautiful segment of Scripture we have come to know as the Magnificat (Luke 1:46–55). For all the uncertainties ahead of her, Mary felt humbled and blessed that God had chosen to favor her.

She anticipated Jesus’ arrival. As, I’m sure, those around her who recognized the nature of her miracle did, as well. Zechariah and Elizabeth. Joseph, her soon-to-be husband. And, eventually, others who would come to understand the miracle that was the birth of Christ: shepherds (Luke 2:8–18), a man named Simeon (Luke 2:25), and a prophetess named Anna (Luke 2:36), among others.

The birth of Jesus was a miracle. And, yes, with wonder in our eyes, we might call it magical. It was a once-in-history event, a moving of God’s power that has not been replicated and never will be. He sent His Son to incarnate as a human being. Jesus, God Himself, debased Himself to get down in the mud and grime with humanity because He loved us so much. He was laid in a feeding trough for His first bed and raised in anonymity. He lived a life of simplicity and humility, driving toward the day His ministry could begin.

Mary anticipated His coming. She was excited for the way God would move in the world, and that He was using her as a vessel to accomplish it. Do we have that same anticipation? I’m not talking about anticipating the Christmas season anymore. Are we anticipating what God is going to do in the world? He is still at work, and we are His instruments. Have we become so jaded by the state of the world that we have lost sight of the magic? Like Mary, we have been chosen to carry the Savior into the world. Not as His parent, but as disciples. We are messengers and fulfillers of His kingdom.

Are you excited to see God at work? Are you ready to carry out your part of the work yourself? To humble yourself as Mary did and say, “I am a servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38)? If you are, you have a unique opportunity—to make the world a better place, and to bring His kingdom into the present.

And that’s a gift as magical as Christmas.