What does the North Pole have to do with Bethlehem? Why do I have a reindeer and an angel in my front yard right now? Why does the radio play “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town” and “Away In A Manger” back to back? What is the meaning of the magic of our secular Christmas? Why do children everywhere find it hard to sleep on Christmas Eve? What are they anticipating? The coming of Santa or the coming of Jesus? The answer is...yes.
In this (weird) episode, we do a deep dive into the unexpected parallels between the movie Elf and the story of the birth of Jesus in Luke's Gospel. In short, both are stories of blindness to what's right in front of you...and of how that blindness is healed. In Luke, the blindness has two distinct expressions: Rome (Buddy's Father) and Israel (Gimbels). Caesar is counting every person in the world, but he misses the one true king. Likewise, Buddy’s father is counting every dollar, but can't recognize his own son. Meanwhile, Israel has no room in the inn for its own Messiah. Likewise, Gimbel's “North Pole” has no room for an actual elf. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness cannot comprehend it.
Join us as Ross makes the case for Santa as a kind of John the Baptist of our modern Christmas (if you are willing to accept it). Special thanks to Jonathan Pageau for helping me think through many of the symbolic patterns of the Bible mentioned in this episode. Definitely check out his channel, The Symbolic World.
VB Fellows is a faith-based leadership development and apprenticeship program for recent college grads in Virginia Beach, VA. Our next deadline for applicants for next year’s class is January 15.
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