July 27, 2024
Virginia O'Hanlon's letter to the editor of The New York Sun in 1897 asked if Santa Claus is real, triggering a response from the newspaper declaring that, yes, there is a Santa Claus. What follows is a parody of that famous editorial declaring that, yes, there is a Jesus Christ.
Virginia,
Your friends are wrong who say, “There is no Jesus.” Some even say, “There is no God.” They say that because they have never seen Jesus in the flesh and because they are not willing to live a life like He modeled, written about in the four Gospels of the New Testament in the Holy Bible.
They cannot comprehend that God could become a human being and live a perfect life and be the benevolent, loving man that is Jesus. It is too much for them to accept that He is the Son of God and created the world and universe.
We are challenged to follow Him and be like Him, even if it is impossible to do that completely. They do not believe He died on a cross to save us from our sins and that God raised Him from the dead three days later to verify the saving effect of His death. Worst of all, they can never know the hope, joy and peace in life without giving their lives to Him.
Yes, Virginia, there is a Jesus Christ, just as sure as there is a you and me. No, you cannot see Him in bodily form, at least not yet, but you can see Him in the lives of those who trust in Him, love Him, and try to follow Him.
When you celebrate Christmas, you do so because Jesus was born in a manger and visited by shepherds who heard angels singing glory to Him. When you give and receive gifts, it is because “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have eternal life.”
Jesus is the greatest gift in history, great because He is the Savior of all who believe in Him. He came to save us from our sin. Like Wise Men who brought gifts to the child, Jesus, wise men and women still give gifts to family and friends because they want to show their love. God gave Jesus to show His love to us.
Jesus gave His life, dying for our sins on the cross, to show His love for us. He wants us to believe in Him and trust Him to be the LORD of our lives so that when we die, He will take us to heaven to live there with Him forever.
I close with the slightly altered, italicized words of editor Francis Pharcellus Church to Virginia O’Hanlon: “Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Jesus Christ! Thank God He lives, and He lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, He will continue to make glad the heart of childhood” and all who believe in Him.
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W. Dan Parker is a retired pastor from First Baptist Church in Stone Mountain, Ga.
