For many of us, if there is ever a time for a therapist, Christmas is it! The pressures of the present, memories of the past, and the weight of the future are often more than we can navigate on our own. So common is this Christmas theme that even Charles Dickens scripted a guide, Jacob Marley, for his famous “humbug,” Scrooge. If even nineteenth-century fictional characters needed therapy during Christmas, what chance do we have of navigating the “most wonderful time of the year” on our own today?

We don’t.

We’re not supposed to.

Isaiah 9:6 gives four titles for the coming Messiah, and one of those is “Wonderful Counselor.” Even before his birth, Jesus is prophesied as giving not just advice but awe-inspiring advice. That’s a pretty tall order for a fetus, but he goes on to do precisely that as recorded in the Gospels. 

Me, Jesus, and Jacob Marley

While not apparent at first glance, there are a few commonalities between the Messiah and Jacob Marley that we can unwrap and use to lead us into a more profound understanding of Christ as our counselor. 

• Both are beyond the grave.
  Jacob Marley is Scrooge’s deceased business partner who returns, seven years later, as a ghost to help him avoid a dismal future. But, as a ghost, Marley has little power. He is eternally bound in the symbolic chains of greed, can’t control his visibility, and must “wander through the world.” Similarly, Christ lived, died, and returned. However, not just as a ghost dropping by for a nerve-rattling bedtime story. He rose again as living flesh and blood, proving that not even death is beyond the power of Christ. (Acts 2:24) If He can conquer death, He can handle whatever you’re wrestling. “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; he delivers them from their troubles.” (Psalm 34:17)  

• Both utilize supernatural therapy techniques.
  Marley heralds the three ghosts of Christmas who transport Scrooge into the past, present, and future to show him the whole picture of his greedy, selfish life choices. Christ, too, had no problem expertly using powerful visual illustrations, such as the feeding of the five thousand (John 6:1-15) and the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-45), or employing compelling stories such as the numerous parables to reach peoples’ hearts and minds. While Marley’s supernatural efforts only worked on Scrooge, Jesus could know and minister to everyone, as seen with the woman at the well (John 4:1-40) and Nathanael (John 1:47). And Christ didn’t need to call for three spirits. Only one. The Holy Spirit, who has the power to know and minister to each of us 6 billion people individually. (John 14:16-17)  
• Both usher in hope.
  Each, Christ and Marley, come to bring hope. Marley says, “I am here tonight to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate.” Scrooge later asks if the ghosts are that hope, and Marley says yes. However, in the greatest story of all time, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Jesus is the hope. And, unlike both Jacob Marley and the three ghosts of Christmas, Christ is a living hope that is still with us today in all our moments and not merely summoned by a ringing bell or a chiming clock. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…” (1 Peter 1:3)

If we are willing to listen for the rattling chains of otherworldly guidance, we too can come out of the dark and into the light like Scrooge. Not just to “honor Christmas all year long,” but to live in the past, present, and future of the One who is the God of Christmas and our ever-present, loving supernatural therapist.

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