Christmas Articles

This is a quick list of articles I've written about things relating to Christmas or the holiday season:

Celebrating the Birth of Christ

Why December 25?

Misconceptions in the Christmas Story

The Census of Quirinius

The Eclipse of Herod and the Birth of Jesus*

Can I Eat This Turkey?



*I am presently rewriting these blog postings

Why December 25?

In my previous post, I talked about how we as Christians can truly celebrate Christ's birth--that it shouldn't be just an annual celebration but an every day one. There is nothing wrong with celebrating the birth of Christ on a particular day of the year so long as such a celebration or lack thereof is not made a requirement for justification (Romans 14:1-23). The Bible does not give a particular day as the date for the birth as it does for the death and resurrection of Christ (Passover, which occurs on Nisan 14 every year). But it is interesting how December 25 came to be considered Christ's birthday. Some believe December 25 was chosen to counter the early pagan winter solstice festivals, but while there may have been a little of that in the minds of the early Christians, December 25 was chosen because it was nine months after the spring equinox when they believed Jesus was conceived.

Fundamental to Christianity is the concept of God becoming man. The eyewitnesses to Christ, His disciples who later were the apostles, walked with Him and could testify that He was, in fact, a flesh and blood human being. He bled (John 19:34), He cried (John 11:35), He got tired (John 4:6), He sweat (Luke 22:44), He ate food (Matthew 9:11), He got thirsty (John 19:28), and endured everything else that human beings endure.

But as the church began to grow and spread out, it is undoubtedly so that people who had only heard of Jesus were curious about how He had come to the Earth. And certainly some were in the business of discrediting Christianity and coming up with ideas that Jesus did not really come in the flesh. We can see the growing interest of the early church in the birth of Christ by the number of details included in the gospel accounts as they were written.

Mark, the first written gospel account (ca. early 50s A.D.), does not mention the birth of Jesus at all, but the narrative does note that Jesus had a mother and brothers and a hometown of Nazareth (Mark 6:1-4). John, written next (my personal belief, in the late 50s A.D.), mentions the Word (the Christ) was with God and was God in the beginning, but the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:1-14). The gospel also notes that the people knew the Messiah would come from Bethlehem (John 7:42). Matthew wrote next (ca. 60-65 A.D.), giving the account of how Christ came to Earth and of Herod's wicked actions against Him. Luke, written lastly (ca. 65 A.D.), gives the most detailed account, telling us about not only Christ's birth but also about that of his cousin John.

It was not until the beginning of the 3rd Century that Christian commentators noted in their writings the growing interest in the time of Jesus' birth. Around A.D. 200, Clement of Alexadria (Egypt) mentioned the interest and noted a few different dates suggested in his day (and he preferred May 20 as the date of Christ's birth) but did not mention December 25 or any celebration associated with the birth of Christ.  Origen in Alexandria perhaps a few years later called the practice of celebrating birthdays 'pagan', indicating such a celebration for Christ was unheard of in his day.

It appears that Hippolytus, in his early 3rd Century work, Commentary on Daniel, was the first to advocate December 25 as the Anointed Jesus' birthday, but he was simply trying to work out the chronology of Daniel's prophecies. He believed Christ was conceived on the spring equinox, March 25, and concluded Jesus was born nine months later--December 25. About the same time Julius Africanus as well suggested that Jesus was born on December 25 while others, including Tertullian, believed Jesus was born and died on March 25.

By the late 3rd Century, Roman Emperor Aurelian brought the celebration of several pagan "savior gods" together under one celebration on one holy day--December 25. This further cemented this date as Christ's birth as Christians who were already celebrating Christ's birth that day undoubtedly saw this as a sign and stood up against paganism by declaring December 25 to be the date that the only begotten Son of God was born. By the mid-4th Century, Christ's birth was celebrated in spots on both December 25 and January 6. Writings from the end of the 4th Century show celebrations of the birth of Christ occurred in Constantinople, Rome, Antioch, Nyssa and Iconium. In the mid-5th Century, Sixtus III, the bishop of Rome, instituted a midnight mass the morning of the feast on December 25, and Leo I, his successor, expressed his desire to increase the importance of the feast.

In the 6th Century, Dionysius Exiguus was commissioned to extend the Alexandrian Easter tables as they were set to expire in a few years' time. He set the conception of Jesus on March 25, 753 years after the founding of Rome (1 B.C.), the birth of Jesus on December 25 of that same year, and noted his own year, the year of the consulship of Probius Junior, as anno domini (Year of Our Lord) 525--525 years after the nativity of Jesus. Byzantine Emperor Justinian soon after declared December 25 a legal holiday.

To the church from the 6th Century, March 25 was New Year's Day. In some spots, however, December 25 became the first day of the year. England and northern Europe began their year on December 25, and both Charlemagne (800) and William the Conqueror (1066/67)* were crowned on December 25, the first day of the year. By the time of Gregory (who implemented the Gregorian Calendar that we use today), New Year's Day had moved back to March 25, but, of course, December 25, continued with increasing pomp and circumstance to the present day.

There is evidence for and against December 25 being the actual birthday of Christ, but instead of getting all bent out of shape about whether or not December 25 should be celebrated as such, especially with Christmas trees and lights, and instead of getting upset and suing for our rights when the atheists want us to move our nativity scenes from public property, why don't we take this great opportunity, while the world is so focused on this time of year, to demonstrate the love of God through Jesus Christ to a broken and dying world. December 25 may not be the actual date for the birth of Christ, but it is still a day on which we can celebrate His birth.





* December 25 was the first day of the year 1067, but William immediately moved New Year's Day to January 1, meaning 1066, according to the English of his day, had two December 25's in it.

Celebrating the Birth of Christ

Believe it or not, there is no passage in the New Testament in which we can find an instance of the early church celebrating the birth of Christ annually. What we do see, however, is the gradual revealing in writing the specifics of His birth, and by 70 A. D. the two accounts of His birth were recorded in Scripture. The Holy Spirit saw fit to leave in obscurity the date of Christ's birth, leading many conservatively-minded Christians to believe it is wrong to celebrate the event on December 25. If you are curious how December 25 was chosen as Christ's birthday, please read my article, "Why December 25?"

Yet thanks to Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, the whole world hears for one month the concept of God becoming flesh and dwelling among us--one of the most important events in human history (remember Philippians 1:18--whether or not December is even Christ's birth month, Christ is still preached, and we as Christians should rejoice with Paul). It would be ideal, for the gospel's sake, if that message was not drowned out by the massive amount of materialistic commercialism and self-centric attitudes--the exact opposite of the message of Christ's birth--so visible during the last month of the calendar year. It's nice to display that skillfully-carved nativity scene complete with the electric-powered twinkling star above it, but how often during the season do we actually just sit down and contemplate the meaning of the birth of Jesus? How often do we turn off the Christmas movies and music, open the Bible and read the accounts of the birth of Jesus and think about its application for us today?

After studying this for the holiday season, it became very clear to me that a) the birth of the Anointed Jesus is cause for tremendous celebration and a Christian has the freedom in Christ to celebrate it in faith regardless of what anyone else thinks or believes, and b) such a celebration was not meant to be just a one day thing but every day--not in the gift-giving as we know Christmas to be but in understanding that Christ's birth begins the example He came to bring to apply and live out in our own lives.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that all who believe in Him would not perish but would have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
John 3:16-17

How does Scripture say God approached this broken, sin-infested world? If God sent His Son to condemn, Christ would have come with conquering armies to destroy it. No, Christ was sent to save the world, and that began with His birth as a helpless human baby. A lot of the time we think of Christ giving Himself just in His death, but He gave His whole life as well. He gave up His godhood and emptied Himself, becoming fully human for our benefit (Philippians 2:7) in order to give us an example to follow (1 Peter 2:21). He did this to make us into a people who are zealous for good works (Titus 2:14). Through love, He invested blood, sweat and tears in people and gave people a true sense of worth.

And it all started with His coming to Earth as a baby: helpless, hated by the pretend-king of Judea, and completely dependent on His Father and His earthly parents. He came as a baby so that in every instance of His life, in every instance of the example He came to give, He could stand with the helpless, the hated, and the rejected and say, "I am one of you!" This is the good message of the Anointed Jesus.



How often does the world see these things among the followers of Jesus at any point in the year? Often there is condemnation from a distance without sitting down and getting to know people and their struggles. We look down on people and call others "wrong" while we set ourselves up as right, even though sin is just as great in our own lives. Often we miss the point of Christ's birth and His call for His followers to become little children (Matthew 18:3; John 3:3).

Our pride--our desire to control the world around us, to be our own gods and to get what we want at the expense of everyone else, to look down on others and think of ourselves as better than others, to save ourselves and make a name for ourselves--this is what separates us from God. It's why the world is so broken and chaotic. In being born again, we give up all this as Christ gave up His divinity to become human--we deny ourselves and place our trust and reliance in Christ (John 3:13-15; Matthew 16:24). Turning from our self-centric ways, we as Christians have met Him in the water and submitted to the crucifixion of our old selves, a burial and the resurrection unto new life as new creations in Christ, trusting in the salvation provided by God through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:3-7, 22-23). We no longer walk in the law that says we must fend for ourselves, fit a certain social standard, or "eat or be eaten". We walk in the law of faith that says we don't have to labor to earn the love of God or the approval of men. God already loved us before we came to love Him (Romans 5:1-10; 1 John 4:10; John 3:16) and we walk free in reliance on God, preaching a message not of condemnation but of God's love and desire that none perish but all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). We gladly extend the gift of God (Romans 6:23), the gift of the Son (John 17:3), and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) to the broken world around us that God desperately wants to heal.



There is nothing wrong at all with a person in faith celebrating annually the birth of Christ as long as that person does not mandate it necessary for justification. Likewise, no person or group should forbid a personal celebration of the birth (Romans 14:1-23). But I don't think the birth of Christ was ever meant to be just an annual celebration or else the Bible would have given us a date to celebrate. Instead, the birth of Christ was meant to be a daily celebration of the gift given to mankind. It is not about giving toys, candy or material things as if we are mimicking the magi. It is not about decorating trees or about what we give of our money (nothing about Christianity has ever been about giving just of our money). It is all about the example Jesus initiated with His birth and the call for His followers to declare in our every day actions that Jesus really is LORD (Revelation 19:16), that God really is LOVE (1 John 4:8), and that this love is extended through the followers of Jesus--those who have become like little children--to the hopeless, the depressed, the oppressed, the enslaved, the trampled, the mistreated, the lonely, and those of every other walk of life. Only in this do we truly celebrate the birth of the only begotten Son of God.