Effectively celebrating Christ’s birth and God’s goodness by ignoring the ‘Pharisees’

(Psalm 96: 1-5; Lamentation 3:22-26)
Psalm 96: 1-5: “O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth … For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.”

Lamentations 3:22-26: “It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his companions fail not … It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.”

It takes a man with the deepest understanding of who God is, to appreciate why some people made it mandatory to give thanks to God and to celebrate His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Just like Judas Iscariot, who because of greed and zealousness towards evil, so, also are many critics arising, proffering reasons, why Christ’s birth should not be celebrated on a chosen date. This class of people will not suggest positive things or make good recommendations on that, which will help humanity and fellow human beings, but they are quick to dilute the positive impact graciously made or suggested by others.

They will neither think of the way to help the less privileged nor put themselves in the position of sacrificing for others. They are excellent at picking faults from the good intentions of positive thinkers. This is what Judas Iscariot as well as the Pharisees were known for. They tried to belittle the good mind of the woman that poured alabaster box of ointment on Jesus Christ.

According to Luke 7:36-50, this was a woman, whom the bible described as a ‘sinner’, but despite that sinfulness tag, she came with a good mind to anoint Jesus Christ with an expensive ointment. In this her godly state of mind to celebrate Christ, the Pharisees overlooked the good mind of the woman, but decided to focus on the tag of ‘sinner’ on her, as if they themselves were saints. However, this woman would not yield to their evil intentions and belittlement of her in the presence of people who obviously might have been encouraged by her good step, but she decided to forge ahead. Her not yielding to the discouragement of these faultfinders earned her salvation from the throne of mercy. “And he said to the woman, thy faith hath saved thee, go in peace” (verse 50).
According to John 12:1-8. Mary, the sister of Lazarus was mentioned. This was a woman whose brother was raised from the dead and she was of the opinion that nothing could be too small to appreciate the Messiah. She therefore, brought an expensive pound of ointment of spikenard to anoint Jesus Christ. However, Judas Iscariot came up with his own school of thought, as to why that woman should have thought of ‘the poor’ and not her ‘wastefulness’ of the expensive ointment on Jesus Christ. The events thereafter, where there was a plot to kill Lazarus, so as to deny people from believing in Jesus Christ (John 12: 9-11 of) and the betrayal of Jesus Christ, by Lazarus, exposed the hidden mind of Judas Iscariot, as not a lover of the poor, but one with evil heart against good works.

The similar attitude of the Pharisees and Judas Iscariot, has been the trend from the world, to undermine the good works of people. Rather than appreciate good works these Pharisees and Judas Iscariot would prefer to see the opposite. They in the house of God, our offices and at different levels of our lives. Just like Satan, who backed up his claims with scriptural quote, while tempting Jesus Christ, they too, will always back up their assertions with documentary evidences.