We have recently had a Federal Election, and for South Australia there was the X factor in the form of Nick Xenophon who was standing for a seat in the Senate. What will that mean for SA and Australia now that he is in? We shall soon find out.
At Christmas time we focus on another X factor – Xmas, as some write it, and so I wish to reflect on this X factor for a few minutes.
There are two things that come to my mind in this context. The first is that X is the unknown, and the second is that the X in the Greek language is the equivalent of “Ch” in English.
The Unknown
In maths X is the unknown. Using it instead of Christ in the word Christmas seems to infer that Christ is likewise the unknown, even unknowable, maybe even the distant unknown.
Perhaps it is convenient for some to take the name of Christ out of the word Christmas because of their unbelief in Christ as the Son of God who came to be the Saviour of the world. Maybe it reflects an ignorance of the origins of the Christian faith – that the Christmas account is integral to Christianity.
This is reflected in the following story: “Just a few days before Christmas two ladies stood looking into a department store window at a large display of the manger scene with clay figures of the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the wise men, and the animals. Disgustedly, one lady said, “Look at that, the church trying to hone in on Christmas!”
But then I think of Paul in Athens discovering numerous altars with the inscription, “To an Unknown God.” Because what they thought of as unknown was intimately known to Paul, he proceeded to preach Christ to them (Acts 17:22-31). This is a tremendous example to all Christ followers this Christmas.
A Letter in the Greek Alphabet
When the word “Christ” is written in the Greek language, their letter representing “Ch” is written as an “X.” So it is that X may well represent an abbreviation of the name “Christ,” and instead of Him being the unknown, He is truly known and knowable.
So we see that X marks “the spot,” who in this case is Christ Himself, the known God who lived among us in human flesh. In this He was God with skin on; God in Christ come to earth to give humanity the understanding that God does understand and identify with our human plight – our suffering, our sickness, our sinfulness and our selfishness.
May we at this Christmas celebrate the God who has made Himself known through Jesus, the one who is both known and knowable. May Christ to us be the one we preach to those who have built their altars to their own, “Unknown God.” May the X factor in your Christmas truly be Christ, the Son of the Living God, the one who is the Saviour of the world – eternally!
DWT
