Christian Living

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Why do we celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth? The Holy Week from Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday (Easter) has long been observed and celebrated, as the resurrection of Christ is fundamental to the Christian faith. The Christmas holiday, however, has no biblical mandate or precedent and Jesus’ birth date is unknown. Could it be a (gasp) pagan ritual?

To be clear, there have been pagan celebrations in the month of December. Saturnalia, for example, named after the “deity” Saturn, was a pagan Roman holiday, a weeklong celebration between December 17-25. It observed the winter solstice when the daylight hours began to increase again. The observation included overindulgences in food, sex and alcohol.

The church, in an attempt to preempt the pagan holiday, began to celebrate the birth of Christ on December 25th, the date some in the church argued was the actual date of Jesus’ birth. In Judaism and early Christianity birth dates weren’t as significant as they are now. Few birthdays are mentioned in Scripture. According to Jewish historian Josephus "the law does not permit us to make festivals at the births of our children, and thereby afford occasion of drinking to excess"

There are critics who say that Christmas was not celebrated until the 18th century, but according to Dr. Richard P. Bucher, “there is evidence of the feast being celebrated in Egypt prior to 200 A.D.” and it “became customary in many places for Christians to celebrate both Christ's epiphany (the revelation of Christ’s identity) and his birth at the same time – a practice of the Armenian Church to this day.”

The church in Rome wanted to bring pagans into the Christian fold and during the medieval period some worldly practices crept in. It’s true that evergreen trees, mistletoe and the image of a pink cheeked, jolly ole elf, Santa Claus, made famous in old Coca Cola commercials, have dubious value in Christendom.

There was a real historical St Nicholas, although there isn’t a great deal of information about, the olive-complexioned Bishop of Myra (near modern Turkey). According to tradition, he was a kind, giving soul. The church celebrated an annual feast in his honor on December 6th. The real St. Nicholas was transformed into St. Nick or a fictitious, rotund Santa Claus who resides at the North Pole and distributes gifts to kids around the world who aren’t naughty in the early hours of Christmas.

For me, Christmas in its purest form is a mass for Christ. It’s not about debauchery or decadence. It’s not even about evergreen trees, mistletoe or exchanging lavish gifts. Christmas is a celebration of a miracle in Bethlehem about two thousand years ago when God (second person in the godhead) came to us in the form of a man born of a virgin woman to fulfill the Genesis 3:15 prophesy.

The angel of the Lord appeared to simple shepherds to announce the birth of the Lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world.

“ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” Luke 2:11-14

There’s nothing pagan about that and if we can celebrate our own birthdays and those of deceased presidents, we can certainly celebrate the birth of our Savior and King.

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