‘Why celebrate Christmas if it’s not mentioned in the Bible?’ I spotted the question in a thread of comments underneath a sermon on Jesus’ birth.
To remove the white elephant in the room, we all have to admit that Christ more than likely was not born on Christmas day as we know it (… but surely on his birthday :)).
Christmas was not celebrated by the Early Church, as far as history can tell (and also as far as the internet allows me to research it). It came about as a tradition established during the Roman Emperor Constantin in 336 A.D. Its specific date of December 25th was established by Pope Julius I a few years after. So, he’ll get to be our ‘scapegoat’ for this specific date.
Some good folk struggle with churches celebrating Christ’s birth on this date for a multi-faceted reason. First of all, because around December 25th pagan religions celebrated the Solstice (the shortest day of the year) worshipping the sun for being victorious over the darkness of night (prolonging daylight). Also, for a practical reason, because winters are too cold for Shepherds to hang out in the fields.
On the other hand, we have to admit that there are a number of less pagan reasons for choosing it on this day. Some may point to the close coincidence of Hanukkah (the Jewish Festival of Lights). Others think its a nine-month count from Annunciation Day, March 25th. (When the angel announced to Mary that she’s the chosen one to birth Jesus.) Although our Jewish friend pointed wisely that this specific date “was calculated backwards after Christmas Day had already been decided on as Christ’s birthday.”
Actually, there’s strong basis for sticking with theories that Jesus’ birth was in the Spring, or in the Fall. I won’t get into all the fun details of that because I don’t want for us to get lost fighting numbers on a calendar.
The rumour that early Christians took over pagan celebrations, is true. But, shouldn’t we stop disputing if that was all right, and start celebrating that Christ-followers turned a Festival of Sun into the Festival of the only Son.
We turned weird chanting around henges into beautiful carols surrounding the Messiah’s cradle. And we made it a world-wide deal. Sure, you might argue that some reduce it to gift-exchanges and carols about ‘three ships sailing into Bethlehem’ (… while there’s no port leading to the nativity scene).
Yes. Some people are uninformed. Others refuse to hear the truth. Our job is to evangelize. Christmas to me is the bridge to share with my buddhist friend, as we exchange gifts, the real story behind the man-made traditions.
So, ‘Why celebrate Christmas if it’s not mentioned in the Bible?’
I’ll carbon-copy the brilliant words of Ian Paul, an English theologian “The main point of Christmas is not chronology but theology. ”
Jesus’ birthday is so worth celebrating in the winter, spring, and fall. Christmas means celebrating Easter twice.
I’m not saying you should follow our family’s tradition: plopping a fake fir tree, held by the-too-many gifts at the bottom of it, neighboring a pretend-youtube fireplace. That’s a matter of conviction.
But, let’s get busy. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” I say, let’s look for more pagan traditions to take over and turn them into Christ masses (services) to sow, water, or harvest the Good News of God Incarnate.