Green but not the Grinch
Maybe “gourd” isn’t the best translation. But it’s what the King James says in Jonah 4:6 – “And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.”
Most modern translations translate the word for “gourd” as plant and note that the word probably refers to a castor oil plant. This plant was green, but it was no grinch. Its leaf would have provided shade for Jonah so that he could be delivered from the Assyrian heat. No doubt, a good thing!
Exceedingly Glad
Granted, Jonah wasn’t celebrating Christmas. In fact, we might even say he had his Advents a bit out of kilter. He was hoping that the 2nd Advent would precede the first! That is, Jonah desired the Lord to descend in fiery judgment upon the wicked city of Nineveh instead of coming tender Jesus, meek and mild and save them.
Now, the text says that the “gourd” made Jonah exceedingly glad. And that will be the segue to the Christmas story. This is the same concept (though not the same wording since one is in Hebrew and the other Greek) as Matthew 2:10 – “When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”
Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the “gourd” and the Magi were exceedingly glad because of the star that led them to Christ.
Bearing the Weight of Gladness
Human gladness always has an object to bear its weight. Whether it is rejoicing in the wife of one’s youth (Prov. 15:18-19), being glad in a good son (Prov. 15:20), or created objects like oil and perfume (Prov. 27:9).
Or in Jonah’s case, the “gourd.”
God has given mankind good things to be glad in. Created things do bring gladness to man’s heart and this in and of itself is not a bad thing. God knows how to give good gifts to His children.
But here is the problem: Created things cannot bear the full weight of lasting gladness. Sometimes spouses betray us. Or they eventually pass away. Sometimes children disappoint us. Sometimes created objects like oil and perfume run dry.
Sometimes “gourds” are here today and gone tomorrow (cf. Jonah 4:7). Sometimes the Christmas bonus turns out to be the jelly of the month club. Or, more seriously, the cancer comes back, or the couple remains childless, or family falls apart because of sin, or the list goes on and on in this fallen world.
For Jonah, the exceedingly gladness of the “gourd” led to him being angry enough to die (cf. Jonah 4:9) when his expectations weren’t met by Yahweh.
And herein is how the gourd steals Christmas…
But first,
Back to the Magi
The Magi had exceeding gladness too. The object of their gladness was the arrival of the King of the Jews. Their gladness found an appropriate outlet in the worship of Jesus (cf. Matthew 2:11).
The point is, when the object of our gladness is in something as fleeting as a “gourd” it can pretty quickly ruin our day, our Christmas, even our lives. But when the object of our gladness is in the only One who can bear up the fulness of our joy, our gladness will be lasting.
This is how the gourd steals Christmas. When we put our hope, expectation, joy, gladness, in created things. Family. Friends. Money. Feasting.
By the way, these are not bad things. These are things that at times God richly blesses His people with. If you have access to these created things this Christmas season, my counsel to you is to use them to celebrate! Feast. Sing. Gather. Give.
Yet, we must take heed. The gladness of Christmas does not depend upon these things. Family can pass away. Or they can choose to serve other gods. Friends may betray us. Money may run out. Food may meet a Biden economy. Even godly expectations and desires can fail to be met.
The gourd will steal Christmas is we put the hope of our gladness in these things. Presents, meals, gatherings, people. Again, good things. But if our joy ultimately rests, if it finds its end point, in these created things, we will at some point or another bet met with disappointment. No created object was meant to, nor does it have the ability to, bear up our ultimate and final gladness. Further, the Bible reminds us just how fleeting this life is and how quickly the created things of this life pass through our hands like water.
Instead, we must set our exceeding gladness in the One for whom our soul was made. In Christ our joy. In the One who is truly God and truly Man. Who was born of the Virgin Mary to fulfill all righteousness. To be obedient to God’s Law. And then who died for lawbreakers like you and I. Thieves. Liars. Sexually immoral. Idolaters. He took our sins in Himself and bore our punishment on the cross. He rose again bodily in victory over death, hell, and the grave. He ascended to the right hand of the Father and sits enthroned as King of kings and Lord of lords.
This King reconciles us to the Father by His sufficient work. The Holy Spirit unites us to the Son by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
The Good News of Christmas
This gospel is the good news of Christmas. Here is where our faith must rest. Christ alone.
It is okay to have godly desires for temporal things. It is okay to pray for and seek those things. In fact, I hope wherever you are that you have the opportunity to feast and to sing and to celebrate with friends and family. To be generous. To give and receive good gifts. To laugh.
But here is the point: Christmas is still good news even if you don’ have those things.
If you don’t have your expectations and desires met, you must not let the gourd steal Christmas. You must not let even godly desires for material or created things ultimately turn into ungodly anger because you are in a season where providence has given you something other than what you expected or desired.
Let us first and foremost rest again in the glorious news of God becoming man to rescue us from our sins. Let this be the gladness of our heart. Let this be our song in the night. Let this bring our souls the solace and contentment we need even when God takes away the gourd of comfort from us.
God rest yet merry, gentlemen. And ladies. And all who will find their exceeding joy and gladness in Christ our King.
Merry Christmas indeed.