The light and joy of Christmas are hollow if we sever the link between Bethlehem and Golgotha. “The cross he bore for me, for you.” In this first advent, he came not in judgment but mercy. He did this for you. Christmas is for you only because his life was for you, and his death was for you, and his triumphant resurrection on the other side was for you. “Nails, spears shall pierce him through” doesn’t ruin Christmas. It gives the season its power.
