Reflections on the Holy Scripture

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The holiday of Christmas, usually celebrated on December 25, is a day designated to commemorate the birth of Jesus. Pagan influences have altered the typical traditions of Christmas as well as its original foundation. See Christmas. Christmas is a day of worldwide celebration being celebrated in most parts of the world on December 25. Christmas is often associated with presents, music, festivity, food, evergreen trees, and the fellow in red, Santa Claus1. Though most of these celebratory traditions are pagan in origin, Christmas is based off of a major Christian event: the birth of Jesus Christ. Indeed, though not historically representative of the actual birth date of Jesus, it is on December 25 that we as Christians commemorate His birth.

The Nativity

Main Page: The Nativity

The The Nativity is the common name given to the historical event of the birth of Jesus and all that the Bible portrays it as. See The Nativity. Nativity is the name given to the historical account of Jesus's birth. In short, Jesus was born to a young, virgin girl named Mary who at the time was betrothed to a man named Joseph. The Holy Spirit allowed Mary to give birth to Jesus with her being a virgin so that Jesus may fulfill the countless Old Testament prophecies that predict His coming. After dedication to God on Mary's and Joseph's part, Jesus was born in Bethlehem under a star. Afterward, angels made the birth aware to some shepherds, and they went to greet Him. And sometime after that, wise men came and presented Him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

In all, the Nativity is the true reason we celebrate Christmas: Jesus was God and became flesh so that He may live as the perfect sacrifice for our sins and ultimately save us from its punishment and presence. God's ultimate love was shown in how He would come down and experience all that we experience, and because of His life, we can now have salvation and be with Him eternally. Amen!

Birthday of Jesus

Christmas is officially recognized to be on the 25th of December. Since the time that this was established, it has been generally assumed that this date is Jesus's birthday. However, this is probably not His true day of birth for many reasons, among them:

  • The Shepherds of Luke 2:8-20 were tending to their sheep out in the field, which is unlikely in the winter time.
  • At the time, Mary and Joseph were traveling to Bethlehem for a census being conducted by Rome (which would help explain all the filled inns). This would not be conducted in the winter, since that would make the journey too difficult.

So why was December 25 chosen? The day was chosen as an attempt by early church in 440AD to marry Christian religion and Roman tradition. Coincidentally, it would seem, the Roman holiday of Saturnalia, a pagan tradition, happens around the winter solstice, or from December 20 to the 25. Saturnalia was a Roman holiday of celebration which included the exchanging of gifts, as is normal tradition during Christmas.a

Jesus's true birthday probably happened sometime in autumn. Accounts by historical accountants of the time, such as Tertullian and Iraneus, record Jesus's birth relative to the reigns of known rulers such as Augustus and Cleopatra. Such comparisons suggest that Jesus was born around 2 BC. Furthermore, records of the birth of John the Baptist suggest that John was born around Passover, which is around April. Since the Bible records that Mary conceived when John's mother was six months pregnant (Luke 1:36-45), Jesus's birthdate could be roughly placed around late September or early October.b

Regardless, there is no law requiring we celebrate Jesus's birthday on the exact day He was born, otherwise the date would have been given to us. Rather, we should convene with other Christians to celebrate His birth and His coming to earth for our salvation at the designated time, never faltering to remember the true meaning of Christmas.

References

a. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/~grout/encyclopaedia_romana/calendar/saturnalia.html
b. http://144000.net/english/when_was_jesus_born.htm

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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