The Dragon at Christmas
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Without question, Christmas is my favorite holiday. The lights, the smells, family time, and waves of nostalgia all combine to create overflowing gratitude in my heart. I usually begin playing Christmas music in our home as early as mid-October. I know, I know…maybe I need counseling. And in addition to all that, the real story of Christmas—the birth of Jesus—still inspires me with awe and hope and purpose.
We know a few things about that first Christmas, the long awaited coming of our Savior. God became a human, born of a teenage virgin. His plan had been unfolding for centuries. Even before the foundation of the world. It was necessary for Christ to come. Jesus would ultimately move from the cradle to the cross and become the sin-satisfying sacrifice for every person. This was God’s design.
When I was a boy during the Christmas season, our home always had a nativity set prominently displayed as a reminder of Jesus’ birth. Later as a parent and now a grandparent, that tradition continues, even by placing nativity sets in more than one room of our house.
With wonder in their eyes, children in our family have stared intently at the figures gathered around the manger—an angel, shepherds, wise men, and maybe a donkey or camel. Then there’s Joseph and Mary. And Jesus, the focal point of every nativity.
Children seem instinctively drawn to the baby Jesus. Most nativity sets feature a removable Jesus which means it’s easy to lose Jesus. Jesus is usually the first thing children reach for when eyeing those figures depicting the first Christmas. So, we’ve searched our house more than once for the missing Jesus. One year, we found Jesus in the back of a toy dump truck but no worse for the wear.
The dragon is part of the unvarnished Christmas story that rarely gets told. It’s a story that reaches far into the past and stretches infinitely into the future.
But the typical nativity scene is missing one prominent figure who was present that first Christmas—a red dragon. The dragon is part of the unvarnished Christmas story that rarely gets told. It’s a story that reaches far into the past and stretches infinitely into the future.
The disciple John records a vision given to him by Jesus. We know it as the book of Revelation in the Bible. Revelation tells us of a great cosmic battle. We also discover that the red dragon is the Devil. John describes the battle between the Devil and his demons versus the archangel Michael and the good angels (Rev. 12:7-9):
7 Then there was war in heaven. Michael and the angels under his command fought the dragon and his angels. 8 And the dragon lost the battle and was forced out of heaven. 9 This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the Devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.
Here John gives us some details about the great uprising in heaven—the rebellion when Lucifer attempted to usurp God. And from the prophet Isaiah we discover that Lucifer boasted, “I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…I will be like the Most High” (Isa. 14:13-14).
The events in Revelation are not always chronological. John records an unfolding vision that moves like a kaleidoscope rather than a timeline. At the very beginning of Revelation 12, John first mentions the red dragon along with a woman who is pregnant with a child (Rev. 12:1-4).
The plot is intense. Notice the dragon intends to destroy the child and thereby derail God’s plan. Here’s how John described what happened (Rev. 12:4b-5):
4…And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born. 5 She bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron. And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.
As the vision unfolds, we realize the Child is Jesus. The woman “bore a male Child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.” This prediction about the Child reveals a clear connection to the Christ from Psalm 2, a messianic psalm. Then the vision fast-forwards from the birth of Jesus to His ascension as Jesus is “caught up to God and His throne.”
The Devil knew enough of God’s plan to stand ready to devour the Child when He was born. But God’s plans are unstoppable.
The Devil knew enough of God’s plan to stand ready to devour the Child when He was born. But God’s plans are unstoppable. His purposes will ultimately be accomplished perfectly and completely. All glory to God in the highest.
The story of Christmas is bigger than you might have ever imagined. It’s a story about Jesus but it’s also a story about you and me and all people. The story of Christmas is a story about a battle that was fought in the heavenlies eons ago. And in ages past, God put in motion a plan to redeem humanity and rescue you from your own sin and the powers of darkness. Why? Because He loves you. Through Jesus, God fought for you to the death, before you were even born. Jesus took your sin on Himself on a criminal’s cross. He died instead of you. Your substitute. And now, through faith in Jesus, you get real life and receive a promise that you’ll live with Him forever.
