To us a Child is Born

Though Christmas isn't the true birthday of Jesus Christ, it's a day when people across the world ostensibly honor the Son of God and the King of Kings.

I say ostensibly because Christmas has morphed into just another empty holiday for many folks. Gifts are given and received, and a lot of food and alcohol is consumed. But Jesus Christ? He's just the innocent baby in a manger that made the holiday possible.

Actually, the early Catholic Church made Christmas possible in about the 4th century when that church combined a pagan festival called the Saturnalia with the birth of Christ. The Saturnalia was a celebration that paid homage to the Roman god Saturn who was honored from December 17-25 with raucous revelry, feasting, drinking and orgies.

Why did the Catholic Church change the Saturnalia to Christ's birthday? To attract the pagans into the church by allowing them to keep their traditions. The pagans were allowed to keep their annual end of year festival as long as they celebrated it as Christmas instead of the Saturnalia.

Is it wrong for Christians to celebrate Christmas? Not necessarily. But given the pagan roots of the holiday, why would they want to? When was Christ born? We don't know the exact date. Biblical scholars estimate that He was likely born in June or July of 1 B.C. But He wasn't born on December 25.

What's truly important about Christ's birth is that it fulfilled God's word revealed to His ancient prophets concerning the coming of the Jewish Messiah and Savior of the world. In the 8th century B.C., the prophet Isaiah wrote this: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (God with us)." (Isaiah 7:14)

The rabbis claim that the Hebrew language contains no word for a virgin. And they're correct. The Hebrew word that Isaiah used was almah which means fair maiden. Therefore, the rabbis claim that the gentiles intentionally misinterpreted that word to make it fit Christ.

However, the rabbis are wrong. In the 3rd century B.C., Egyptian King Ptolemy commissioned several Hebrew scholars to translate the Hebrew Pentateuch (bible) into the Septuagint so the gentiles could study the Hebrew scriptures. The scholars translated the Pentateuch into Greek which was the universal language of the ancient world at that time. And they translated almah into parthenos which is the Greek word for a virgin.

The Hebrew scholars knew the context of almah. And certainly, they had no idea who the Messiah was to be since He hadn't appeared yet. But they did know that Isaiah was referring to a virgin who would give birth to the Messiah. And that Messiah turned out to be Jesus Christ.

Christ's birthplace in Bethlehem was revealed by the prophet Micah in the 8th century B.C. Here's what he wrote: "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old,  from ancient times." (Micah 5:2)

However, far more important than Christ's birth was His life, ministry, death and resurrection. Christ came to reconcile the world back to God by becoming the ultimate sacrifice for sin that God's infinite justice demanded. No good works, adherence to religious traditions or the blood sacrifice of animals would suffice. 

Only the shed blood of a perfect, innocent man could pay the price. And Christ paid that ultimate price when He willingly offered Himself on Calvary's cross for the sins of the world. The prophet Isaiah wrote this: "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)  

How could the prophet have known in the 8th century B.C. that the Messiah would die for the sins of the world? He didn't know that. God revealed it to him. And Isaiah also revealed this: "Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities." (Isaiah 53:10-11)

Those passages reveal the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They were revealed nearly 800 years before Christ war born. They confirm that God is real; Jesus Christ is His Son and that "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13)

Those passages also reveal that there is only one way to salvation and eternal life, and that's by faith in Jesus Christ's death on the cross for your sins and His resurrection from the dead. There is no other way. No world religion, whether it's Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Shintoism, Universalism etc. can save anyone. Christ said this: "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Heavenly Father except through Me." (John 14:6)

And so, here's another scripture to celebrate Christmas with: "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this." (Isaiah 9:6-7)

Amen.