Hope At Christmas

Today, Christians all over the world, mark the birth of Jesus Christ whose coming into the world, a little over 2,000 years ago, was foretold by prophets hundreds of years earlier. The prophesies to the Jewish nation about the coming of a messiah was embraced more by the biblical gentiles and their modern day brethren spread around the world.

Christmas is an important celebration in Christendom as the commencement of the journey towards the salvation of mankind. Jesus Christ who is believed by the faithful as the Son God, the second person of the Holy Trinity, came on a redemption mission and to give the saved the hope of eternal life.

His lowly birth in a manger in Bethlehem (in present day Palestine) and his preachments about repentance and salvation were unlike the expectation of the Jews who were expecting the Christ, a warrior-king, who would liberate them from the Roman authorities ruling over them at the time.

So when Christ came in a humble package and went about declaring a new kingdom of Heaven, and calling people to book a place in that kingdom by living a life of holiness, abandoning the evil ways of the world and focusing on “things that are above”, many in his community could not relate to it at the time.

However, during his short earthly ministry, he planted the seeds of his salvific mission in his disciples who carried on His work after his crucifixion and death.Today, of the eight billion world population, there are over 2.6 billion Christians (followers of Christ) and constitute the largest faith group in the world.

Christmas is celebrated all over the world in gaiety, joy, sharing of love and exchange of greetings and reconnection with loved ones. Many countries declare it as a public holiday in order to allow the people mark the occasion with their loved ones. And some take advantage of the season to extend charity to the less privileged. Coming toward the year’s end, it is also a time a lot of people travel for tourism or to celebrate with their loved ones.

World and religious leaders usually send out messages of hope, peace and sacrifice and ask the people not only to live out the message but also emulate the exemplary life of Christ.

In Nigeria, the message of hope that Christ brings resonates most appropriately with its large population which practically lives in the hope of a future turnaround in their country’s and personal circumstances. With economic hardship confronting most Nigerians due to decades of bad governance, a time like Christmas is a good time to remind themselves that all hope is not lost. And just like the Jewish nation endured for long under occupation and exile and emerged as one of the strongest nations in the world, Nigeria can emerge from its present circumstances and become the country of their founding father’s dreams.

However, to get to that point, as a newspaper, we urge Nigerians, the leaders and the led, to imbibe Christ’s lifestyle underpinned by humility, simplicity, hardwork, compassion, love and sacrifice for the good of others. He did not just preach these values; he lived them out daily and transmitted same to his disciples.

As the world celebrates this Christmas, we call for prayers for peace to return to the birthplace of Christ following the outbreak of war in Palestine between Israel and Hamas which is causing massive deaths, destruction and human suffering among people caught up in the hostilities. We also urge the international community to work more for peace in the region, both in the short and the long term.

We call attention to the fact Jesus Christ has a claim to both Israel because he is a Jew and Palestine because His birthplace was in Bethlehem.

The two groups owe themselves a duty to co-exist in peace and respect for the rights and wellbeing of each other. That’s the only way to break this recurring cycle of wars and violence.

And as Nigerians join the rest of the world to mark this day, we urge them to remain vigilant and cautious in their movements and activities because it is also a time that undesirable elements take advantage of the season to cause harm and misery to persons and their properties. With robberies and kidnapping-for-ransom still security concerns, those moving to different locations need to take measures not to become victims.