“And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pains and the agony of giving birth. And another sign appeared in heaven: behold, a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads seven diadems. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and cast them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, so that when she bore her child he might devour it. She gave birth to a male child, one who is to rule[a] all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days.
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon. And the dragon and his angels fought back, but he was defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him…
And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. But the woman was given the two wings of the great eagle so that she might fly from the serpent into the wilderness, to the place where she is to be nourished for a time, and times, and half a time. The serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, to sweep her away with a flood. But the earth came to the help of the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed the river that the dragon had poured from his mouth. Then the dragon became furious with the woman and went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, on those who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus…”
Rev. 12:1-9,13-17, ESV
Especially if you know little about apocalyptic literature, much of Revelation reads like a weird combination of a shape-shifting, impressionistic painting and a Transformers movie. Or maybe a bad drug trip (not that I speak from experience)! The main characters in the abbreviated drama above are:
- The woman– traditionally understood as the nation of Israel, the Virgin Mary, or the Church. Or, better yet, the people of God in general (new or spiritual Israel), a view that includes all three of the aforementioned options. In fact, if you’re a Christian, you are mentioned specifically at the end of the passage above (“the rest of her offspring”)
- The male child– Jesus
- The great, red dragon– Satan
As part of Holy Scripture, Revelation 12 is an important Christmas narrative. I’m really glad, however, that the dragon isn’t part of our manger scenes.
If it were, it would be impossible for us to do what Mary did and “quietly treasure” the amazing truths of Christmas in our hearts (Luke 2:19).
If it were, we might be overcome with fear, making it hard to experience “the male child” as Emmanuel—God with us (Matt. 1:23).
If it were, we might be tempted to doubt that Jesus really is the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6-7).
Indeed, because he is “the Prince of Peace” the dragon does not belong! And this is not because the dragon isn’t real. He is. In fact, the apostle Paul tells us not to be ignorant of his strategies:
- He hates and attacks quality relationships
- He throws gasoline on our sinful passions.
- And sadly, as many experience this time a year, he seeks to destroy hope in us by despair.[1]
Rev. 12 reminds us, however, that although Satan is alive and well, he is a defeated foe:
“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah, for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before God… But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony… Rejoice then, you heaven and those who dwell in them!” (10-12a)
The “now” I’ve italicized above reminds us that, as one commentator put it:
“It is at the time of Christ’s incarnation that the downfall of Satan, and of the coming of the kingdom of God and the authority of Christ, take place… For the Lamb has suffered the penalty of all the dragon’s accusations, and there remains ‘no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus’ (Rom. 8:1).”
Michael Wilcock, The Message of Revelation (IVP, 1975), 121.
Christmas is a time for celebrating that Jesus– the babe in the manger, the Lamb, the Son of God– is the Prince of Peace and has provided forgiveness of sins to all who come to him.
Yes, the dragon still makes war on the saints, but he does so as one whose time is short. Jesus, the Male Child, through his incarnation, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension has conquered the dragon. And that’s why, as our passage above says, we can join with heaven and “Rejoice!” or as As Luke 2:14 says, Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” (NRSV)
How can we know for sure that we have peace with God and that he looks on us favorably? Christmas offers us one of the best opportunities to answer that question with simplicity and clarity:
“He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.”
John 1:10-13, NRSV
This is good news, dear friends! I pray that you will be among those who accept and receive him with loving, grateful trust.
Merry Christmas!
[1] 2 Cor. 2:11 and I’m indebted to John Eldredge for this excellent 3-point description of Satan’s strategy.