By Larry Shurilla
I have a Christmas story to tell, retell actually. Growing up, I was always drawn to the wonderful stories surrounding the birth of Jesus: the extreme humility of a manger bed for a King, the desperation of His father, Joseph to find a room for His mother Mary’s labor to begin, guided wise men, earthly shepherds, and the triumphant song of a host of angels. More than magical, to me, these stories were sacred. When I was about 19 years of age, I first heard another story of Christmas. Let me share it with you now. The Night as Bright as Day!
The story begins in the ancient Americas with two distinct factions living on the land: the Nephites-descendants of a man named Nephi, and the Lamanites-descendants of his brother, Laman. The Nephites, generally, were believers in the coming of Christ and the Lamanites, largely, did not. As prophets do, one Samuel, a Lamanite who believed in the impending coming of the Messiah, stood upon a wall and exhorted all wickedness to end and proclaimed for the people to prepare for the coming of the Christ!
Samuel prophesied:
“Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name.
“And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day.
Therefore, there shall be one day and a night and a day, as if it were one day and there were no night; and this shall be unto you for a sign; for ye shall know of the rising of the sun and also of its setting; therefore they shall know of a surety that there shall be two days and a night; nevertheless the night shall not be darkened; and it shall be the night before he is born.
“And behold, there shall a new star arise, such an one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you.” (Helaman 14:2-5, The Book of Mormon-Another Testament of Jesus Christ)
It’s not often that a timetable is given for a miracle to happen. To the more wicked and unbelieving factions of the Nephites, from the moment of Samuel’s prophecy onward, the sign clock began to tick.
When the time drew near for this sign to occur or not, the evil faction of the Nephites convinced the government of their day to impose a law on the believers in the coming of Christ:
“ Now it came to pass that there was a day set apart by the unbelievers, that all those who believed in those traditions should be put to death except the sign should come to pass, which had been given by Samuel the prophet.” (3 Nephi 1:9)
Fearing for his people, another prophet, a descendent of the original Nephi, bowed down in mighty prayer all the day long before the mortal law was to be imposed, begging the Lord to save those who so faithfully awaited His coming. The Lord answered Nephi’s prayer:
“Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets.” (3 Nephi 1:13)
At the time of the setting of the sun, the glory of the Lord was made manifest and the prophecy of Samuel was fulfilled:
“And it came to pass that the words which came unto Nephi were fulfilled, according as they had been spoken; for behold, at the going down of the sun there was no darkness; and the people began to be astonished because there was no darkness when the night came.
“And there were many, who had not believed the words of the prophets, who fell to the earth and became as if they were dead, for they knew that the great plan of destruction which they had laid for those who believed in the words of the prophets had been frustrated; for the sign which had been given was already at hand.
“And they began to know that the Son of God must shortly appear; yea, in fine, all the people upon the face of the whole earth from the west to the east, both in the land north and in the land south, were so exceedingly astonished that they fell to the earth.
“For they knew that the prophets had testified of these things for many years, and that the sign which had been given was already at hand; and they began to fear because of their iniquity and their unbelief.
“And it came to pass that there was no darkness in all that night, but it was as light as though it was mid-day. And it came to pass that the sun did rise in the morning again, according to its proper order; and they knew that it was the day that the Lord should be born, because of the sign which had been given.
“And it had come to pass, yea, all things, every whit, according to the words of the prophets.
“And it came to pass also that a new star did appear, according to the word.”
(3 Nephi 1:15-21)
A Night as Bright as Day! Could there be a more appropriate sign of the coming of the Son of God to the earth than a night wherein all darkness was dispelled? The baby Jesus brought the light of His Gospel to the earth, to a stable, even as a single candle illuminates a darkened room. His room was now the earth and darkness retreated to the shadows forevermore.
There is my Christmas story. Have you ever heard of it before? A story any member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is well familiar with and holds dear. Could it have really happened? A Night as Bright as Day?! Or is this just another tale of Christmas? I, for one, choose to believe and for me, each Christmas Eve shines ever brighter.
Merry Christmas Friends! May your days be merry and truly bright, as bright as that wonderful night! May the love and light Mary felt when she first gazed into her baby’s eyes shine brightly in you and yours, this Christmas and always.
