Sitting here at the computer with snow gently falling outside the window and Christmas music on the stereo the Christmas spirit is tangible here in Spanish Fork, Utah. We hope the spirit of the Season is similarly evocative for you wherever you are.

Last week we wrote about why the Birth, the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ are so vital to the human family, the descendants of Adam and Eve---you and me, our ancestors and posterity. If there had been no Fall of Adam by which came death and separation from God who is our home, there would have been no Atonement by which comes life and restoration to the presence of God. . . . The Fall was downward, but forward, and, with the Atonement, becomes the central part of the whole plan of redemption and happiness.

That this doctrine was clearly understood to the ancients is shown in the word, "Hosanna", which the throng of people cried to welcome Him into the Holy City at the start of His final week. The word Hosanna means "O save us now!" and is from the Hebrew root word yasha, whence we get Savior, Jesus, Joshua. His family would have called Jesus, "Yeshua". . . . O save us now!---from what?! . . . from all the effects of the Fall which dominate our existence here below! As we saw last week, only One---the seed of the woman---was able to perform that rescue act.

We often get mixed up between Hosanna and Hallelujah, which means "Praise to Jehovah". Both words are expressions of devotion and adoration, but the doctrinal implication behind "Hosanna" is that Jesus is not only the King, the Lion of Judah, but also the Prince of Peace, the Lamb of God, the Savior of the world. It is important to understand this since clearly our salvation depends upon it.

The confusion between Hosanna and Hallelujah are not the only misunderstandings we perpetuate. . . . Let's look at some others:

We sing in the carol, The First Noel, that the shepherds "looked up and saw a star / Shining in the East beyond them far. . . ." Here we have mixed up the account in Luke chapter 2 and the account in Matthew chapter 2 where we see the wise men following the star from their Oriental homeland to find the Christ Child. Notice in Matthew 2 that these wise men did not come to the stable for the Birth. They came at least a year after the birth "into the house [not the stable], [where] they saw the young child [not the baby] with Mary his mother". There they opened their gifts, three in number, giving us the idea there were Three Wise Men, or "We Three Kings". There was likely a larger group of them than three, we don't know for sure. But far from being "Magi" (whence the word "magic") or astrologers (stargazers), they were without question holy scripture-knowing men filled with the spirit of prophecy, anxious to find and adore the new King. Wise men sought the Christ; wise men still do.

Back to the shepherds in the field. . . . What field? Migdal Eder, or the watchtower of the flock. They were watching over the flock that was destined for sacrifice in the temple the next day, Passover Day. Do you sense a deeper connection with our story than we had previously assumed? They did not follow a star! They followed the directions of an angel. Which angel? Gabriel, who is Noah, he who presided over the Earth at the flood, when the earth was baptized by water, himself a second Adam. Who were the two angels at the tomb of the Resurrection? Could they have been Michael and Gabriel, or Adam and Noah? When we see the teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith clearly, it is not hard to make this connection. Do you see how marvelously detailed our story is?---all pointing in One direction: the Divine Sonship and Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, and how we in the human family are to use that Atonement to gain salvation.

Gabriel announced to the shepherds, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David [Bethlehem] a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord," or in the shepherds own language: "Yeshua (Savior), Meshiach (Messiah or Christ) Adonai (the Lord). The hairs on their neck and arms would have stood up, electrified, at this language!

City of David is Bethlehem, which means House (Beth) of Bread (lechem), an appropriate place for the Bread of Life (see John chapter 6) to be born.

The stable: hardly a wooden European-style structure separate from the inn, and not a cave for privacy either, as we may think. There being no room for them in the inns (Joseph Smith Translation shows it is plural, suggesting they were turned away more than once), they were only able to huddle in the center of the quadrangle courtyard where the baggage and animals of the travelers were kept, a kind of stable, where "the poor mother in her distress crawled into a manger, among the litter that had been left by the cattle" (Brigham Young in Journal of Discourses, 3:323). The birth would have been more public than we might care to consider, not the secluded, private event we perhaps imagine from our traditions, and among the soiled straw.

Finally, back to our overarching theme, the big picture: the Fall necessitated and precipitated the Atonement. Recall these words from one of our Christmas carols: ". . . He'll come and make / The blessings flow / Far as the curse was found. . . ." What curse? The curse inherent in the Fall of Adam and of all his posterity (you and me).

Also, ". . . Peace on earth and mercy mild, / God and sinners reconciled! . . . Light and Life to all he brings, / Ris'n with healing in his wings. Mild he lays his glory by, / Born that man no more may die; / Born to raise the sons of earth, / Born to give them second birth." Do you plainly see Fall--Atonement?

Can we ask in closing, What is the true meaning of Christmas? . . . Again---like our Hosanna--Hallelujah confusion; like the shepherds not following a star, but an angel; like the Three Wise Men fable; like the stable misunderstanding---is it possible we have got the true meaning of Christmas a bit mixed up as well? . . . We most often say the true meaning of Christmas is giving. . . . I wish to dispute that in favor of confirming the doctrine: the true meaning of Christmas is receiving. . . . Receiving Him into our lives and souls. . . . "How silently, how silently / The wondrous gift is giv'n! / So God imparts to human hearts / The blessings of his heav'n. / No ear may hear his coming; / But in this world of sin, / Where meek souls will receive him, still / The dear Christ enters in".

The giving part has already been done, He is the gift: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, . . ." Our job now is to receive that gift. The gifts we give after receiving The Gift are of a different character and quality, and will reflect our having received Him.

"Rings and jewels are not gifts, but apologies for gifts; the only real gift is a portion of yourself", indeed the portion that has been changed forever through truly receiving Him.

God bless you all. There is far more yet to say on this most sacred of themes. Merry Christmas indeed, everybody!

Steve