Christmas and Christ

Unfortunately, for many people who identify themselves as Christians, December 25 is about the only day of the year where they even acknowledge the name of Jesus Christ. How sad.

What's also sad is the fact that December 25 isn't the true birthday of Jesus Christ. That date was assigned to the Messiah's birth sometime during the 4th Century A.D. when the early Catholic Church decided to combine the Saturnalia with the birth of Jesus Christ.

The Saturnalia was a pagan festival celebrated in honor of the Roman god Saturn. The fledgling Catholic Church got the idea that it could attract many new members by changing the name of the pagan celebration to the Mass of Christ or Christmas.

Stephen Nissenbaum, a professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, writes: "In return for ensuring massive observance of the anniversary of the Savior’s birth by assigning it to this resonant date, the Church for its part tacitly agreed to allow the holiday to be celebrated more or less the way it had always been. The earliest Christmas holidays were celebrated by drinking, sexual indulgence, singing naked in the streets (a precursor of modern caroling), etc."
http://www.simpletoremember.com/vitals/Christmas

Not exactly the way you'd expect our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to be honored. And yet, that's where Christmas came from.

What day was Christ actually born on? We don't know. However, based on Luke's gospel, we can get a good idea of the approximate time. Luke mentions that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary "in the sixth month" (Luke 1:26) to inform her that she would give birth to the Messiah.

The sixth month on the Hebrew calendar coincides with August-September on the Gregorian calendar that we follow. Assuming (and this is merely an assumption) that Mary conceived shortly thereafter, Christ would've been born the following May or June. But again, we don't know.

However, what we do know, based on Luke's account, was that Christ couldn't have been born in late December. First of all, Emperor Caesar Augustus ordered a census to be taken of the Roman world at that time. (Luke 2:1-3)

That meant that all Roman citizens--including Joseph and Mary--had to return to their hometowns to be counted. Caesar Augustus never would've ordered the census in late December because that was during the rainy season that muddied the ancient roads and made travel practically impossible.

Secondly, Luke recounts that God's angels appeared to several shepherds to announce the birth of Christ. (Luke 2:8-20) According to Luke, the shepherds "were living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night." (Luke 2:8) No doubt, the shepherds were in the fields at night to guard against poachers, predatory animals and sheep that tried to wander off.

But the shepherds weren't in the fields at night during the month of December. It was too cold and wet. So again, Luke's account betrays the December 25th narrative.

And so, Jesus Christ wasn't born on December 25. Is it wrong then for the world to celebrate Christmas?

Yes and no. Yes from the standpoint that December 25 is not the historical birthday of Christ and shouldn't be promoted as such. And no from the standpoint that folks should celebrate the Messiah's birth because Christ's appearance in the world forever changed the course of human history. Christ said this: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16)

It's more important to celebrate the life, ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ than it is to hold a birthday celebration for the Messiah on a day that's not his birthday. And sadly, for millions of people across the world, Christmas is nothing but a commercial holiday fueled by greed and lust for material things. They couldn't care less about Christ.

Concerning the celebration and worship of Christ, the apostle Paul said it best: "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4) Or, as the Psalmist wrote about 1,000 years before Christ was born: "Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." (Psalm 118:1)

Will the world celebrate Christmas when Christ comes back? That's unlikely. Jesus Christ is all about truth and love. He's not about falsehood. And He will never lend His name to something that is rooted in paganism, no matter how much it's promoted as a Christian holiday.