The Cross as a Christmas Symbol

Several years ago, I was driving around admiring Christmas lights in our town. One house had a cross on the roof. I thought, What a strange thing.

Later, I got to thinking about it. The cross is really a symbol of Christmas. If it was not for the cross, the manger would be meaningless.

Secular commercialism has made Christmas the biggest day of the Christian calendar. We get a couple weeks off of school. We spent way too much money on gifts. Christmas has become the center of the Christian year.

The truth is that Passion Week/Easter is (or should be) the center the Christian year. The cross, not the manger, is the main symbol of Christianity. If Jesus does not die and raise again, we are doing a bunch of meaningless stuff. The virgin birth means nothing without the empty tomb.

We need to celebrate Christmas with one eye on the cross.