Darcy Watkins – December 1, 2024
What is the significance of Christmas bells? Bells originate from Chinese culture circa 3000 BC. They made their way into European culture much later. They appeared to serve much the same purpose as the ram’s horn (sometimes translated into “trumpets” in the scriptures). Ram’s horns (or trumpets) were well suited to the mobile nomadic cultures of the ancient middle east and small villages lacking permanent infrastructure. Bells became more suited for use in larger villages, towns and cities, places with more permanent edifices. Bell tolling still appears today as part of church tradition, including funerals.
When my dad died years back, the hardest part of the funeral, the part that hit me like a brick to the gut, was when they carried the casket out and the bell tolled in the background. Something about the sound of the bell just hit me. I couldn’t keep it in. At that point, tears gushed out. The bell tolled that one from among us, had passed away from life as we know it to the unseen and unknown of what we refer to as the afterlife, that which we can only apprehend in terms such as hope and faith.
But Christmas Bells are different. They toll great joy and peace for all of us. They toll that death has lost its sting. This foresees the great final funeral, where we see death itself, in the casket being carried out the door. Hence, we celebrate with great joy in the triumph of God over death which had hereto separated us from Him. We chime Christmas bells and sing Christmas carols to herald the advent, the birth of Christ.
“Tolling” in this context can be likened to declaring a statute of limitations. In legal tort, a statute of limitations refers to an expiry date on a committed crime, after which if charges have not been laid against the suspect, the suspect is free for good. The birth of Jesus Christ brought forth a statute of limitations affecting the power of death over us. This was realized with His resurrection as Jesus became the first born from death to eternal life. This is why we also pray “Come Lord Jesus” looking forward to the second advent, the return of Christ in His glory. But today we rest in the hope of resurrection, having faith, knowing we will rise us up just as He arose, free for good.
This hope gives us great joy, strength to face the hardships of life and to make impact on the world of darkness in which we live; we prevail as light. We have this strength in Christ as penned in Acts 17:28 “…in Him we live and move and have our being…”. So let us celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ who challenged and conquered death on its own terms, after which He gave the keys of this victory to us, the church.
I pray that you have a joyful and blessed Christmas and happy holidays. And for your enjoyment, here is my recording of Ding Dong Merrily On High.