Don’t get me wrong, I like shadows and all, but they have their limits. A shadow might reveal someone’s shape, their presence or what they’re doing, but not too much beyond that. You can’t see someone’s facial expression from their shadow, or the colour of their eyes. You can’t give a shadow a hug or carry on a conversation. It’s just a bit tough to really get to know a shadow. So if I came home from work tomorrow night and found my children playing in the living room, I would be a bit concerned if all they were interested in was my shadow; if all they wanted was to look at my shadow, wrestle with my shadow, talk to my shadow.
I think I’d call out to them with open arms and say, “Hey! I’m right here. There’s a person on the end of that shadow. Come to me. Come and be with me.”
In the second chapter of Colossians, the Apostle Paul says this about the Feasts and Festivals that the Jewish people were celebrating: “[they] are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.” The word picture is beautiful. The Old Testament is full of feasts and festivals (God is not afraid of a good party), but Paul is saying that the feasts themselves were not the whole point. They were a shadow, but the substance is Jesus Christ. The feasts were meant to speak of the coming Messiah and to prepare hearts to receive Him. But then He came and so few truly did receive Him.
You can almost hear Him say, “Hey! I’m right here. There’s a person on the end of that shadow. Come to Me. Come and be with Me.”
Every year at Christmas, we invest heavily in the celebration. Throughout the month of December, we spend time, energy and money so that we can give the perfect gift, in a perfect setting, with a perfect meal at a perfect Christmas. And every January, we feel let down and disappointed that despite all our efforts and all our new stuff, things are much the same for us as they have always been. I wonder if Jesus would say the same thing to us as Paul said to the Jews. That the celebration of Christmas is a shadow, a beautiful shadow, but a shadow nonetheless; that there is something so much more. Maybe we ache and strive for all the blessings of the Christmas season – the gifts, the rest, the family time – because in reality we ache for Him.
There’s a person on the end of the Christmas shadow. His name is Jesus. And because He came as a baby, lived a perfect life, died for the sins of the world and rose again, we can be let in on all the promise of the Christmas season but in a much deeper and more eternal way. We can receive the greatest gift ever given, be brought into the family of God and receive rest, real rest for our souls.
In all of the wonder and joy of the Christmas season. Amidst all of the longing and hope, may we all turn from the beautiful shadow of feast and celebration long enough to see the beautiful Christ bending low with open arms to say, “Hey! I’m right here. Come to Me. Come and be with Me.”
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