Believing The Unseen

Do you believe in Santa Claus? While the idea of Santa can seem strange for a discussion about Jesus it brings up a good point about our need for physical proof. Take almost any Christmas movie, and you will have children who believe in Santa Claus telling their parents that he is real. In some of these movies, it takes Santa appearing before the parents for them to believe. The 1994 Tim Allen movie, The Santa Claus, follows a man who is becoming Santa, even though only his son believes in him. No one in the story believes that the character is Santa, let alone believes in Santa. The character reveals himself as Santa to the other adults. After they physically see his appearance and his Santa qualities, then they believe as well. While Jesus is not a mythical character like Santa, this story shows a wider struggle: people in contemporary society can struggle to believe what they cannot see.