A Great Movie For Christmas

photo by vmiramontes
While channel surfing the other night we stopped when we found The Nativity Story playing on TNT. We had seen the movie before (last year?), but I was reminded just how terrific a movie it is for sharing the Christmas story from the Gospel of Luke. While it’s not 100% accurate to the story in Scripture (the Magi didn’t actually show up until Jesus was a little older, probably when he was a toddler), the movie marvelously depicted how the story could have taken place.

Watching Mary deliver the baby, knowing that she was giving birth to the Messiah, brought this mother to tears. What an unimaginable honor, and yet with what grace and strength she must have had to bear the public shame that came with bearing a child out of wedlock.

And I thought Joseph’s most poignant line in the whole movie came as he and Mary were discussing what they thought their child, the Son of God, was going to be like growing up. Looking slightly overwhelmed at the thought, he said, “I wonder if I’ll be able to teach Him anything.”

The Nativity Story is a wonderful way to bring meaning to the Christmas season. Rent it from the video store, borrow it from the library (or maybe your church will have a copy of it in their library), but find a way of watching this well-made movie to help your child visualize the Christmas story from Luke. Even if you’ve seen it before, it’s well worth watching again.

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