“Maranatha” is often translated as “our Lord comes,” which is as unfortunate as reducing Christmas to Jesus’ birthday party. This Aramaic word captures “three times zones” that Jesus came, He’s here, and He’s coming again.

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol famously illustrates these three “time zones” through the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future. He narrates the Christian vision that even the most Scrooge-like person among us can experience a change of heart. Dickens offers a compel...