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Why didnt God invent Christmas?
by that I mean, why didn’t God tell us to observe the day of Jesus’ birth as a Holiday or a day of Commemoration? Clearly the Lord has set aside several days of the year as Feast days and Days of remembrance, fasting, celebration and the like. Much of the content on this website is about the seven Feasts of the Lord, their seasons, celebration, and meaning for us. I find it curious that this day is not ever mentioned or even recommended as a day of celebration or remembrance for the Church.
Before I go on, I want to make it clear that I do not believe that the practice of keeping Christmas is “illegal” or sinful. There are those who point to the some of the pollution and mixture that is associated with the origins of this holiday and the materialism, greed, and love of mammon that is associated with its celebration in the USA, and they say – basically – “See it is ALL Evil, there is nothing Good in it, nothing of God, so we should reject Christmas, the pagan trees, and on and on….”
But if mixture alone is the problem, how could any of us gather in our church fellowships and call it the “House of God”? How can we sing hymns, read the perfect words of the Covenant and then listen to and perhaps participate in (God forbid) gossip, or slander and accuse one another, or perhaps denigrate unbelievers (often called “aliens” in the Old Covenant) for being what they are, namely they are “Strangers” to the Covenants of promise. We often think of them as the problem (the Thieves, Murders, Lovers of Self, Etc.) when actually they are the people that the Lord came to rescue. Jesus said that HE did not come for the “well”, but the sick. You see the spirit of Pharisee-ism (?) is a slippery and deceptive thing that is constantly seeking to slip into our thoughts and our definitions about what is “right” and “wrong” as far as looks, habits, culture, and such. I do not advocate that Sin is acceptable, but I do advocate that we must keep a spirit of Humility, reverence toward God, and an attitude of reconciliation and correction that brings Healing toward other people.
If your family gathers for Christmas and you all give gifts, but I do not, that should not be something that causes division; neither should it be the measure of our holiness or the purity of our hearts toward God. These are customs that can have real merit, and we are certainly free to establish family and/or community customs to bring this marvelous historical event to our memory. I am not here to argue the origins of Christmas, or engage in a “What we should and should not do” list for our customs and holidays.
But I DO find it curious that the season of Christmas that is huge in the Church – pageants, outreach events, charitable drives, singing, feasting, gift giving…even higher attendance stats for our meetings – is not ever mentioned or suggested as an event in the Bible, the Book of the Covenant.
So I say again – Why didn’t God invent Christmas?
Can you see my puzzled look? I am wondering, trying to figure out why I am thinking so differently from God. It doesn’t make sense to me.
Isn’t this the event that divided Time? – We have BC, before Christ and AD, or After Christ, so it seems reasonable to mark out the day that time was (and still is) divided.
Or perhaps I am missing something?
Let’s take a closer Look….
Sometimes you can find out a lot in scripture by what scripture says, that is by what is clearly spoken or described. On the other hand, you can also find out a lot in scripture by what it does NOT say about a matter. The absence of words can speak volumes as well.
Here’s some of what I found concerning Christmas.
No one knows which day of the year Jesus was born
It is a well known fact that December 25 was NOT the day Jesus was born. This day was decided by Emperor Constantine over 350 years after His life on earth.
How Christmas Day Was Decided: In 360 A.D. Emperor Constantine, follower of Mithras, converted to Christianity after seeing a vision of a cross of light against the sun with a sign that said By this sign shall you conquer. He conquered Rome, established Christianity as the state religion, and declared December 25 th the birthday of Christ. In 567 A.D. the Council of Tours declared the Twelve Days of Christmas from Christmas to Epiphany (December 25th to January 6th) festival time and made the birth and baptism of Jesus Christ a single celebration. Christmas Day was not an official Roman holiday until Charlemagne became emperor in 800 A.D. Until this point the year of the founding of Rome was the dividing line of all history and had been for a thousand years. Charlemagne had the new dating method put into effect in the East and West. (1, 2) http://www.tartanplace.com/christmas/xmashistory/constantineconvert.html
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December 25 th coincides with the Winter Solstice and has its origins in the Roman practice of Saturnalia, a week long pagan festival.
Jesus Never tells or even asks anyone to commemorate the day of his birth as a man.
Proverbs 25:2 says,”It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a thing.” [Deut 29:29; Rom 11:33.] Amplified Bible. Only two (Matthew and Mark) of the four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) even record the events concerning the birth of Jesus. No one knows the exact day that Jesus was born, but we do know that …
… the day of His birth was important to Heaven!
There are several angelic visitations associated with the conception and birth of Jesus. Mary has a visit ---- and she says, “Let it be done according to your word”. Joseph has a visit where an angel tells him not to expose Mary as an adulteress because the child she bears is conceived of the Holy Spirit. The shepherds of Bethlehem got a major visitation of heavenly hosts on the night of the Messiah’s birth that shattered the night sky and sent them off towards the town to find Him. The Eastern Mystics were lead by a “star”, probably a particular configuration of stars and planets, to travel hundreds or thousands of miles to find the “King of the Jews”.
There are several prophetic dreams associated with the birth of Jesus.
The Eastern Mystic were told in a dream to NOT return to Herod, but to go directly home after finding Jesus in Bethlehem. And Joseph was told in a dream to escape to Egypt from Herod’s scourge of infanticide when he learned of the birth of Jesus. So there is certainly a lot of supernatural intervention concerning this historical event, but we are not given the exact day.
The Shepherds – a curious choice for witnesses!
Shepherds at that time and in Jewish society were not allowed to give testimony in court or at the temple because they were considered unclean and unreliable. Because of the demands of shepherding, they were often unable to keep the ceremonial laws of purity.
It is likely that the shepherds that were “watching their flocks by night” were watching their flocks by night because it was lambing season and they were “on call 24/7” to help with troublesome births. The shepherds around Bethlehem (meaning “the House of Bread) raised most of the Passover lambs that were to be slaughtered during the Passover season at Jerusalem. Raising Passover lambs had become an agricultural specialty of sorts. These were the men who received the news of the birth of Jesus Christ, our Passover Lamb First!
Why these shepherds?
I believe that God was beginning to announce the fulfillment of the “type” or Representation of His Promised Son (which were the very lambs that these shepherds were helping to birth) to the Reality - the Lamb slain since the foundations of the world – that is, the actual manifestation and birth of his Son, Jesus as a baby.
The priesthood was corrupt, the office High Priest degenerated into an office of avarice and greed. The leaders were not really looking towards the Messiah, truly “the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches” choked the word of God’s promises and it had little effect on these people. The Kingdom of God was poorly represented by the established religious authorities.
And in the middle of all that, He came. And God revealed His promise to the Shepherds with a HUGE outbreak of Angelic praise and explosion! In essence they declared – “Come and see the REAL LAMB, Right Now, Right HERE in Bethlehem, Right where you are now!! ITS REAL, He is Real, HE’s really here, you can see him now, you can Touch the Messiah in a stable!!.... Can you imagine that! They actually heard angels and they were not crazy. They went to see and they SAW him.
I could go on and on, but you get the idea.
Luke 2:16-20
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen which were just as they had been told. NIV
But No one believed the Shepherds
Even two years later, no one in Jerusalem seemed to know that Messiah was living close by.
Matt 2:1-3
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him.
New International Version
Herod went to the Jewish leaders to get the story, and they had no idea that Jesus was living only 10 miles from the temple in Bethlehem.
Consider these scriptures:
Why was this not common knowledge? – Why didn’t everyone know that the Messiah was being raised up very near Jerusalem?
Isa 53:1
Who has believed our message?
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
New International Version
John 12:37-38
Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
"Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?"
New International Version
Jesus own natural brothers never really believed him to be the Messiah while they lived and grew up with Him (John 7:5)
Rom 10:16-20
But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our message?" Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ. But I ask: Did they not hear? Of course they did:
"Their voice has gone out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world."
Again I ask: Did Israel not understand? First, Moses says,
"I will make you envious by those who are not a nation;
I will make you angry by a nation that has no understanding."
And Isaiah boldly says,
"I was found by those who did not seek me;
I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me." NIV
Now consider a few who recognized Jesus right away
Simeon and Anna recognized Jesus at his circumcision (only eight days from birth AND AT the temple) (Luke 2:25-28) –
Anna- Luke 2:37 She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. NIV
Simeon - Luke 2:25-27 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. NIV
So we can’t blame the corrupted Temple practice for hiding the Messiah because here are two individuals who were constantly at the Temple and as soon a Jesus is brought, they see and recognize Him. The High priests did not see Him, the Law abiding Sadducees did not see him, the Torah enhancing Pharisees did not see Him, the nameless priest hauling wood for the altar missed him, and the priest counting the widows donations missed him as well…. Apparently they all managed to ignore or not hear or see the joy and satisfaction that Anna and Simeon experienced that day.
So on the “Real” Christmas it is plain to see that only a few recognized or would believe Jesus even if they saw Him, or were told about Him. The same is true today. And even though the religious leadership was corrupted, He came anyway, exactly as the scriptures said. And all those who were looking or willing to hear got to see Him. This includes some heathen mystics from another country that did not attend regular synagogue or pay the regular temple tax. This is also still true today.
If not Jesus’ “birthday”, then what IS the day that the Lord tells us to remember?
The day the Lord tells Israel to remember is Passover.
TAKE A LAMB
Exodus 12:1-4 The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. NIV
TAKE THE LAMB AS FOOD INTO YOUR OWN BODY
Ex 12:6-8 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. NIV
REMEMBER THE DAY YOU DID THIS FOREVER
Ex 12:14 "This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the LORD--a lasting ordinance. NIV
THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF YOUR DAYS!
Ex 12:1-2 Now the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying,2 "This month shall be your beginning of months; it shall be the first month of the year to you NKJV
This is the Real “ Christmas”!!
It is the Day we believe, receive, and take into the core of our being the Body and the Blood of God’s atoning provision found in the Lamb of God (John 1:29) , Jesus, the Anointed One.
Christmas - Christ – Anointed One: Mass – death. I realize that the word does not appear in scripture, but the word “Christmas” in our English language is composed of two parts – “Christ” means “anointed one”, and “mass” means “death”. In the root meanings of these elements I can see the clues to what I perceive as the true “Christmas” day.
God tells us to remember the day that we place the Blood of the Lamb over the doorposts of our dwelling. This is the same day that we are delivered from the power and the bondage of Egypt (representing Sin). We are to remember the day that WE TAKE IT. Historically, all of Israel had a day, the 14 th of Aviv when they collectively “took a lamb for a house” and appropriated God’s provision to save them. In their case they literally ate the lamb. Jesus told his disciples at the last meal they shared, “This is my body, take it and eat it.”(Matthew 26:26) But now, the provision has already been made, Jesus gave his life as a ransom for all, there is no further payment required. Only appropriation of the provision, only believing, yielding over anything and all things that are in place of and in opposition to that One provision of God to deliver us.
Christmas is the day we are saved, more accurately it is the day that our saving or our salvation begins. It is the day when the Messiah’s death becomes our death to sin and we walk out of our old life into the new life provided by the life (blood) of the Messiah that is poured out for us. Now I did not enter into the Kingdom of God on the same day as you (most likely), but the provision for my life was always there. The day I surrendered is the day that the death (mass) of the Messiah Jesus (Christ) became effective in my life and I was delivered. When December 25 th comes, that is the day I see, that is the event that I remember.
I have the picture of this little babe, this small living reality of God’s covenant word actually birthing and having a physical reality within my Heart. It does not look like a child, but it is child-like in that it is not a threatening or forbidding thing, but it is full of a form of Life that has never been in my Heart up until this day, this Christmas within. The words of John the Baptist ring true… “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). And so has my life gone. The Kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21); your body is His temple (1 Corinthians 3:16) He is Holy and powerful and His temple must and will be transformed into His image. That is a powerful and awesome progression!
And much like Herod, everything that was in charge of my life up until that time wanted to kill the child. Kill this manifestation of the Word of God in my being, but I was and am still being protected and delivered from Death into Life by the Faithfulness of the Father who constantly watches over His Word (in me) to see that it accomplishes what it was sent to do (Isaiah 55:11).
If you do not have a day like that in your life, you have no Christmas. As far as I am concerned; you have gift giving, traditions, a little “do-good” event or two, but nothing of any real value.
I firmly believe that God did not place a day on the calendar for the birth of the boy Jesus – as supernatural and important as that day was and is –because the day of our receiving Jesus Life poured out for us : THAT gift is far and above more important to Him.
It is so important that he says, “Let this day be to you as the beginning of days!”
Let’s start your life all over, forget the former things and look forward to what is ahead.
With that understood, we can easily add these scriptures to our favorite Christmas verses.
Jeremiah 31:31-37
1 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD.
33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD."I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD, 'because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
35 This is what the LORD says,
he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar--the LORD Almighty is his name:
36 "Only if these decrees vanish from my sight, "declares the LORD, "will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me."
37 This is what the LORD says:
"Only if the heavens above can be measured
and the foundations of the earth below be searched out
will I reject all the descendants of Israel
because of all they have done,"
declares the LORD.
New International Version
Ezek 36:24-29
For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God.
New King James Version
And that is a Merry Christmas indeed!!
