Amelia Church of Christ - Christian Church in Amelia, OH near Cincinnati in Clermont County

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is watching A Charlie Brown Christmas. Of all the Christmas specials that air every year, Charlie Brown is the gold standard. But this Christmas classic almost didn’t happen.

When the bigwigs at CBS saw a rough cut of A Charlie Brown Christmas in November of 1965, they hated it. They said that it moved to slowly. It was just too different from anything that had ever been on TV before. There was no laugh track. Real children provided the voices of the characters instead of adult actors. There was a swinging jazz score by Vince Guaraldi that would never work for a children’s program.

Worst of all, one of the main characters, Linus, quoted directly from the Bible book of Luke near the end of the program. Lee Mendelson told Charles Schultz, “Look, you can’t read from the Bible on network television.”

As Bill Nichols later wrote, “Good grief, were they wrong.” When A Charlie Brown Christmas first aired in 1965, almost 50% of the nation’s viewers watched it. It was viewed by 15.4 million people, making it the second highest rated show of the entire week. (The top show was Bonanza, in case you care.) The CBS execs ate their words, and followed Charlie Brown all the way to the bank.

I’ve always appreciated how Peanuts creator, Charles Schultz, stood his ground. They told him to drop the jazz score in favor of something more kid-friendly. He said no. He wouldn’t dumb it down, and instead he introduced an entire new generation to jazz music.

They told him to use adult actors instead of children for the character’s voices. He said no. He knew it would be more authentic if children provided all the voices.

They told him to speed up the script. He said no. He kept the simple, slow pace intact.

They told him to leave out the Bible. He said no. It sounds a bit cliché, but Charles Schultz knew “the reason for the season.” There was no way that he was doing a Christmas special and leaving Jesus out of it.

At every turn, the CBS execs tried to change Charles Schultz vision for A Charlie Brown Christmas. And at every turn, Schultz dug in his heels and wouldn’t budge.

We used this Scripture throughout our Taking Back Christmas series. Isaiah 7:14 – “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14, NIV)

I’ve often wondered about the conversations that happened behind the scenes when God unleashed His plan. When God told the angels, “Here is the plan: Immanuel.”

“Immanuel? What does that mean?”

“Immanuel means God with us.”

“God with us? You mean…you’re going to go to them? Father, you can’t mean it?”

“Yes, I mean it.”

“Have you seen the shape the world is in? It is so dark. It has been so overrun by evil. It is full of violence and terror and heartbreak and sin. Father, you are holy. You can’t go there.”

“I am holy, but I am also loving. I have to go there.”

“Father, isn’t there any other way?”

“No. This is the way. I will go to them. I will be Immanuel.”

This was God’s vision, God’s plan, to love us. To redeem us. To save us. I imagine that it had to seem ludicrous to the angels, because honestly, it seems ludicrous to me.

It is so illogical that a holy God would bother with such a broken world. It makes no sense that God would involve Himself with us at all.

Beyond anything that is logical, God became Immanuel. God with us. Instead of us trying to work our way up to God…God came down to us.

He experienced every hardship and cruelty that our world has to offer. He chose to experience it, not from afar, but up close and personal.

That’s because nothing and nobody would sway Him from His vision. His vision of forgiveness. His vision of grace. His vision of restoring the broken relationship we had with Him.

Immanuel is a lot more than just a theological term. Immanuel is the only hope that we have. Immanuel is a God who would allow nothing to stand between Him and us. If that meant coming to our world, He would do it. If that meant growing up dirt poor, He would do it. If that meant living the life of a homeless nomad, He would do it. If that meant being betrayed by a friend, He would do it. If that meant being arrested, tried, and convicted for nothing, He would do it. If that meant being mocked, beaten, and killed, He would do it.

Immanuel means that, not only would He do it, but He did do it. He did it all because nothing would deter Him from His vision of being with you and me. Now, and for the rest of eternity.

Immanuel. God…with us.

Mike Edmisten

Tags: Christmas, incarnation, Jesus