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The Christian Essence of Christmas

To investigate the celebration of Christ further, I thought it prudent to start by gathering information about His birth in order to comprehend our Christmas traditions more clearly.

First, I decided it important to get a very brief understanding of the political and religious atmosphere of Israel where Jesus was born. It was a Jewish country and the only nation at that time that had grasped the concept of monotheism (having one god whom they called YHWH). Although they understood monotheism, many found it hard to practice and often reverted to idolatry. Other countries were polytheists (worshipping many gods) and they were later collectively called pagans, from the Latin ’paganus’.

All Jewish philosophies, religious beliefs, history and laws were passed down through the generations by word of mouth and later in scrolls. In 200CE (AD200) the Torah, which is the five books of Moses, was completed. (These are also the first five books of the Old Testament).

Before Jesus’ birth, the Roman Empire had conquered most of Europe and Israel was under Roman rule, under Caesar Augustus. The Romans were pagans, and unlike the Jews, worshipped many gods and idols and practiced archaic traditions, many of them quite barbaric.

The Jews greatly resented their Roman oppressors. Although the Jews were given religious freedom, they had to obey strict laws and pay heavy taxes to Rome. The Romans were also aggressive, forceful and very cruel and the Jews prayed constantly for deliverance from their rulers and tried to revolt against them several times.

Jesus was born amidst all this chaos in Bethlehem (though some scholars believe that it may have been Nazareth). He was a Jew, born of the royal line of David and died a Jew. It is interesting to note that He was never a Christian. This religion developed only after His death when His teachings spread through Europe, and eventually to all parts of the world by His disciples and followers.

Very little is known of the details of the momentous events surrounding Jesus’ birth, except for the recorded sources found in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke.

The Reality of Christmas

Facts about Jesus’ birth as recorded in Matthew 1:18 and Luke 1:26.

What the Bible tells us of the Nativity:

Matthew starts off by giving us the genealogy of Jesus - 42 generations. He then explains how the birth of Christ came about:

Mary was pledged to Joseph to be married, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy spirit. Joseph, being a righteous man, decided to marry Mary, so as not to expose her to disgrace and then divorce her quietly later. However, after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what was conceived in Mary was from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save people from their sins.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord said through the prophet:

“The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us.”

When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel commanded and took Mary home as his wife.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the time of King Herod, Magi (wise men) from the East came and asked where they could find the one who was born to be the king of the Jews, as they had come to worship him. They said that they had seen His star in the East and came to worship a new king.

When Herod heard this, he was disturbed and called together all his chief priests and teachers of the law and asked where the Christ was born. “In Bethlehem”, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written:

“But you, Bethlehem,

In the land of Judah,

are by no means last

among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a ruler

who will be the shepherd

of my people.”

So Herod secretly called the Magi and found out from them the exact time of the star’s appearance. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you have found him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king they went on their way and the star from the East went ahead of them and stopped over the place where the child was. They were overjoyed. When they reached the house they saw the child with his mother Mary and bowed down and worshipped him. They opened their treasures and presented them to Him - gold, incense and myrrh. Having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

When they had gone, an angel appeared to Joseph and warned him to escape with Mary and Jesus to Egypt.

Of the birth of Jesus, Luke 2:16 writes:

In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a censure should be taken of the entire Roman world. Everyone was required to return to their home town to register.

So Joseph went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the house of David, because he belonged to the house of David. He went to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.

While they were there, Mary gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room in the inn.

And there were shepherds living in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not to be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today, in the town of David, a Saviour has been born to you. He is Christ 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 hosts appeared with the angel, praising God, saying:

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth, peace to men

on whom His favour rests.”

When the angels left them and gone to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in a manger. When they had seen Him, they spread the word concerning what had been told about this child and all who heard it were amazed. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God.

On the 8th day, he was taken to be circumcised and given the name “Jesus”, as was the custom.

Luke did not record the journey to Egypt.

This is the reality and truth of Christmas. This is what Christians should celebrate, ‘Christ mass’ the celebration of Christ’s birth.

How many of us remember this in the midst of the mad shopping, the chaos of decorating homes, the cooking, the feasting and drinking, and all we believe Christmas to be? In the rush and stress of it all, it is very easy to forget why we are celebrating.

It is interesting to note that neither St. Matthew nor St. Luke found it important to record the actual date of Christ’s birth. Biblical scholars and even astronomers have tried to establish a date, but in vain.

Some writers point out that our accepted date is quite improbable. St. Luke describes the angels visiting shepherds tending their sheep in the fields at night. As 25 December falls in the middle of winter in Israel, it was unlikely and impractical for shepherds to have been outdoors in the fields with their flocks at that time. However, I discovered that mid winter is the key. It is the time of the winter solstice, which was a very important pagan festival.

Some writers have revealed the distressing fact that in their opinion, Christmas is nothing but a continuation of the winter solstice, only in another name. As a Christian, I find this a very distressing statement. The Bible warns us against heathen idolatry and worshipping, which often involves fertility rites and sexual licentiousness. One of the many quotes from Deuteronomy 6;14:

“Do not follow other gods, the gods of the people around you” (pagans).

Is it possible that we, too, are inadvertently continuing pagan traditions? To answer this disturbing question, I decided to take a brief glimpse of the facts concerning the winter solstice and pagan practices to see if they link up to our present day Christmas traditions.