That was too much for Festus. He interrupted with a shout: “Paul, you’re crazy! You’ve read too many books, spent too much time staring off into space! Get a grip on yourself, get back in the real world!” But Paul stood his ground. “With all respect, Festus, Your Honor, I’m not crazy. I’m both accurate and sane in what I’m saying…You must realize that this wasn’t done behind the scenes.”
(Acts 26:24-27 MSG)
I never cease to be amazed at the amount of attention Santa Claus gets around this time of year, even though it’s not his birthday and he’s just a fairy tale. Sadly, the world gladly supports the idea of the man in the red suit, who flies around to deliver presents, than of “the Word [who] became human and made his home among us” (John 1:14 NLT). Christians are viewed as being crazy for believing in the virgin birth and the incarnation. In today’s passage, the apostle Paul was accused of being out of his mind for believing in the death and resurrection of Jesus. But Paul did what all of us should do when we’re accused of believing in a fairy tale – he “stood his ground.” After all, what we believe in “wasn’t done behind the scenes,” it truly happened. Take comfort in knowing that unlike Santa Claus, the Christmas story in the Bible is not a fairy tale.
The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God.
C.S. Lewis
Rising with the Son 