Christ Has Come--The War Is Over

December 25th, 1914: the Great War had only been raging for several months, yet many thought the war was supposed to have been over. What’s more, the weather leading up to Christmas had been especially bad, with late season rains causing water levels in trenches and subsequent cases of trench foot to rise. However, the night before, on Christmas Eve, a small miracle happened. The rain finally stopped, and the trenches were able to drain. For many young soldiers who were experiencing their first Christmas away from home, it was enough to lift their spirits to song. Starting with the Germans singing Silent Night, the soldiers sang carols back and forth throughout the night to one another.

That morning, on Christmas Day, the sun dawned and that silent night continued into day. What happened next has been recorded in countless journals, letters home, and eyewitness accounts. In many places along the front lines, soldiers began to cautiously emerge from the trenches and met one another in no-man’s-land–the barren, unoccupied land between the two dug-in armies. These men exchanged handshakes, stories, gifts, prisoners, and even allowed one another to retrieve wounded comrades and bury the dead. Allegedly, in more than one instance, a soccer game broke out between the two enemies. Unsurprisingly, these men were reluctant to return to combat the next day. In some places, the truce lasted for several days. In others, the men had to be reassigned to different places along the front line in order to face a new, anonymous enemy, with whom they had not become friends that fateful Christmas Day of 1914.

Despite the ugliness of war, I think this story beautifully captures the essence of Christmas. Dead in our sin, humanity was at war with ourselves, with one another, and with God. Yet, one night–however improbably–God was born to a virgin peasant girl in an agricultural village in rural Judea. According to the multitude of the heavenly host who were praising God that night, His birth meant “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

Christmas, then, is an unshakeable, historical fact–one that demonstrably produces peace and goodwill among men like it did in 1914. Yet sometimes the holiday season can feel anything but peaceful. Furthermore, some claim there is a war on Christmas. These reports, in my experience, are greatly exaggerated. I have no doubt that corporations will attempt to remove any mention of Christ in order to appeal to the broadest possible spectrum of customers. I also recognize that doing so might seem like a slight to us as Christians. They are erasing the name of our Savior, and the entire purpose of Christmas, after all.

However, I don’t find this a compelling reason to take up arms, especially since Jesus’ coming is meant to bring peace and good will to the earth. It is difficult to propagate peace when we perceive the person on the other end of our cup of coffee is fundamentally out to undermine Christmas. I think they aren’t. More importantly, they can’t. Christ has come. The war is over. No commercial recognition will change that or increase the joy of those who have come to know Him as Lord and Savior.

But what we may risk in being combative (or even just distracted!) this Christmas season is an opportunity for a Christmas Truce of 2025. Imagine the risk those first soldiers took in popping their heads up over the trench over 100 years ago. For some of us, popping in to check on a neighbor might feel similarly threatening. Or calling on a perpetually Scrooge-like loved one. Or offering to help a beleaguered coworker with their holiday preparations. Pursuing peace is risky business, after all. But peace is also the very reason that Christ has come into the world, and invited us to spread to a weary world without hope.

May God’s peace be upon you all this Christmas.