Back in 1957 Dr Seuss produced his well-known children’s story, The Grinch. The Grinch is an unpleasant grouch… who lives alone. One of his characteristics is that he’s always out to spoil things. In a movie made from Dr Seuss’ book he particularly rages against Christmas. Lifting a Christmas tree over his head he declares. “I hate Christmas!”
Well, Dr Seuss was not the first one to write about someone who hated Christmas. A hundred years earlier Charles Dickens wrote the book, A Christmas Carol. In that story Ebenezer Scrooge also rages against Christmas.
At one point Scrooge says: “Christmas? Bah, Humbug. The only good thing about Christmas is that people have to borrow money from me to pay off their debts.
But the story of someone who hated Christmas didn’t begin with Dickens either. The original story about a Christmas hater is actually in the Bible. It’s a Christmas story… but one that we don’t often hear at Christmas.
In the Bible the one who hated Christmas was a dragon. Okay, you’re probably scratching your head and wondering what I’m talking about. Christmas stories usually have to do with angels and wise men. And if there are any animals in those stories they are sheep or cattle, not dragons. There are numerous other Christmas stories about Santa and elves. And if animals come into those stories at all then they are reindeer and not dragons. In the streets of our towns and cities you can find all kinds of themes in Christmas lighting. Nativity scenes are still readily seen. Santa and his elves and reindeer are everywhere and increasingly we see all kinds of Disney characters in Christmas lights. But if I was a betting man I’d bet that you have never seen a dragon in Christmas light… and I haven’t either.
Yet, the real Christmas story… the original Christmas story in the Bible, includes a dragon. This dragon didn’t want Christmas to come. He actually hated Christmas with a passion… because on Christmas day the Dragon-slayer was born. And dragons bitterly dislike dragon-slayers.
In your Bible you’ll find this Christmas story in the last book of the Bible. In that story a woman is about to give birth to a child. And this huge red dragon stands in front of her. He is eager to devour her baby as soon as it is born. Of course the good news is that the dragon couldn’t stop Christmas from happening. That story tells how the baby was born… born to rule the nations. And the child was snatched from the claws of the dragon and taken up to God. But that wasn’t the end of the story. Since the dragon could no longer molest and destroy that child, he was in great rage. And in his anger he went after the woman and the rest of her offspring.
That unusual Christmas story gives us a little glimpse behind the scenes of history. That dragon represents the Devil, who led mankind astray in Paradise. But God had promised that one day a descendant of the woman would slay the dragon. From history we know that that the Devil tried repeatedly to prevent Christmas. Story after story in the Bible relates the devil’s attempts to prevent the birth of the Christ child. The most notorious was his last vain attempt in Bethlehem. By stirring up King Herod, he had all boy babies under age-two slaughtered.
Today the Devil is still the dragon who doesn’t want Christmas celebrated. At least, not its true meaning! So increasingly nativity scenes are forbidden in shopping malls. And children can no longer sing Christian Christmas Carols in some schools. And he’ll still do his level best to stop you from embracing the real meaning of Christmas.
It’s wonderful, in this Christmas season, to be able to remind you that the dragon failed. Jesus Christ was born. And Jesus, by His death and resurrection, dealt the dragon a mortal blow. The devil will never recover – regardless of how much damage he still may do. Satan lost! Jesus won! That’s why the dragon hates Christmas and why Christians love it.
May the Dragon-slayer bless you with a wonderful Christmas.
John Westendorp