It’s often called “the most
wonderful time of the year,” and with good reason. I love the holiday season.
It's all special to me: the giving and receiving, the time with family and
friends, and of course the food! I am thankful whenever and wherever any truth
about Jesus Christ is recognized. He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem, as a
matter of historical fact, and He is King of kings, Lord of lords!
As this time approaches each
year, I feel the need to respond to questions that people have asked me about
Christ and Christmas. There are so many different and confusing feelings, perspectives,
and preferences. Sincere, precious people have been taught or led to believe
conflicting things.
As people who try to stay as
close to the Word as possible, we need to determine what the Bible does and
does not teach. If we do not, then we may unintentionally perpetuate some
misconceptions. This blog post seems to me a helpful way to address these
matters.
I once met a man who told me
that he was named after one of the "three wise men." It happened at
Groot Drakenstein Correctional Centre, in the Western Cape of South Africa.
This former prison is famous for the fact that Nelson Mandela spent
the last three of his 27 years of his incarceration there. At a youth retreat where
I spoke in 2010, after the prison had been transformed into a type of lodge for
group gatherings, I met the caretaker. He told me confidently, “You know my
name because it is in the Bible. My name is Melchior. I go by ‘Mel.’ I am named
after one of the three wise men who came to see Jesus.”
The name “Melchior” and the
number "three" are not in the Bible.
A friend of ours, when she was
new to the church, told me, “I love the Bible story of the Little Drummer Boy
who played his drums by the manger the night Jesus was born.”
That little drummer boy is not
in the Bible, but just in a song.
A sister in Christ was surprised awhile back to see a note in her new study Bible that indicated correctly that the
Magi (often called “Wise Men”) did not bring their gifts to Jesus on His actual
birthday. They never came to the manger. Yet most “nativity scenes” place the
Magi beside the manger on the same night He was born.
These Magi ("wise
men") were not there on the night Jesus was born. These popular “nativity
scenes” contradict what the Bible says.
Once a sister asked me,
"Why doesn't 'our church' have a candlelight Christmas Eve service?" Others
have asked, “I saw a Facebook post that said, ‘Happy Birthday, Jesus! –
December 25.’ Is that Christ’s birthday? Are we wrong not to have a birthday
party for Him?”
The Bible does not indicate the
date of Jesus' birth. The early church did not celebrate it as a church event
or have a birthday party, either on December 25 or on any other date.
I am always interested in
knowing what the Bible actually teaches. What are the facts? And how did the
various man-made traditions about this or that get started and become so widely
accepted? Is it important for us to get the facts, as best we can, and to
separate fact from fiction? Can we do so, while respecting individual feelings
and opinions? I believe so. Are we nitpicking when we want to know every detail
that we can? I think not.
When I discuss matters such as
these I do not question anyone’s sincerity or honesty. There has to be value in
seeking just to determine the objective truth. Opinions and feelings are, well,
just that: opinions and feelings. I have mine; you have yours. If there are
facts that correct my opinions, I want to know about them. I’d like to assume
that other people feel the same way.
When it comes to Christ and
Christmas, the discussion can be especially touchy. People have so many
different emotions, backgrounds, and beliefs. Those who stick to facts can be
seen as cold, or even as majoring in minors. We certainly don’t want to dampen
anyone’s enthusiasm for the Lord or shout “Bah! Humbug!” to anyone who loves this special
season. However, since we are investigating facts about Christ, we
hope that our search regarding His birth has special value.
What are some of the facts?
● Fact: We do not know the number of
the wise men, whether three or otherwise.
We only know that they brought
three kinds of gifts –
gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
● Fact: We do not know the names of
the wise men.
It was much later that people assigned
them the names Caspar or Gaspar, Melchior, and Balthazar. See below for a
discussion of their origin.
● Fact: The Bible does not call
these men “kings,” as in, “We Three Kings of Orient Are.”
The “Magi” (from which word we
get “magic”) were a caste of Persian priests who observed the stars. They were
not merely “wise men” in the sense of counselors or advisers. So where and how
did these other ideas originate?
According to one source, “The Western tradition of the names of the Magi derive
from an early-6th-Century Greek manuscript, translated into the Latin Excerpta
Latina Barbari. The description seems to be of a mosaic of the magi,
possibly those at Ravenna. A pseudo-Bedan text, Collectanea or Excerpta et Collectanea, apparently
continues the tradition of three kings. The text is said to be from the
8th or 9th century, of Irish origin, and first found in a printed
edition of works ascribed (probably incorrectly) to St. Bede the Venerable at Basel in
1563.
● Fact: The Magi did not visit
Jesus on the night He was born.
Regardless of countless
“nativity scenes” that place the Magi at the scene of Christ’s birth, it was
not so. The sister in Christ mentioned above made this discovery while reading
about Matt 2:11, which notes that the Magi met Jesus when He was a “child”
living in a “house.” According to Matt 2:16, Jesus may have been as old as age
two when these men arrived.
● Fact: The Feast of Epiphany,
celebrated by many on January 6th each year to commemorate the Magi's visit,
was unknown to the early church.
This feast, along with Christmas
as a celebration of the birth of Christ, began much later than the first
century. According to the Greek Orthodox Diocese of America, “The celebrations
of Epiphany and Christmas, the writing of divine liturgies, the formulation of
faith in the Creed, and so many other incidents are permanent foundations which
took place during the 4th century and which developed as flowers springing from
roots which had existed beforehand.”
● Fact: Numerous other “holy
days,” not mentioned or authorized in the New Testament, have been invented and
placed on the so-called “liturgical calendar.”
People who are quite familiar
with “Christmas” and “Easter” may not be aware that these are just two
examples. For a fuller list see:
Please take a close look at that
list. It’s fascinating. Should Christians today observe - as official church
events - these dates? Some are designated for “The Transfiguration,” “Ash
Wednesday,” “Lent,” “Presentation of Jesus in the Temple,” "Maundy
Thursday," “The Annunciation," etc.
Most evangelical believers
reject virtually all these events because they lack biblical authority. They do
not observe Ash Wednesday, for example, or the season of Lent which begins on
that day. Yet many choose to observe just Christmas and Easter, which
originated from the same traditional source as these others.
● Fact: We do not know the date,
the month, the season, or even the year of Christ’s birth.
One source notes: “Lacking any
scriptural pointers to Jesus’s birthday, early Christian teachers suggested
dates all over the calendar. Clement ... picked November 18. Hippolytus ...
figured Christ must have been born on a Wednesday ... An anonymous document[,]
believed to have been written in North Africa around A.D. 243, placed Jesus’s
birth on March 28” (Joseph L. Sheler, U.S. News & World Report, “In
Search of Christmas,” Dec. 23, 1996, p. 58).
● Fact: We do know how, when,
and why the developing Roman Catholic Church began celebrating Christ’s birth
and why their leaders chose December 25.
“But by the early fourth century, Church
leaders decided they needed a Christian alternative to rival popular solstice
celebrations. They chose December 25th as the date of Christ’s birth and held
the first recorded Feast of the Nativity in Rome in A.D.
336. Whether they did so intentionally or not, Church leaders directly
challenged a fellow up-start religion by placing the nativity on December 25th.
The Cult of Mithras celebrated the birth of their infant god of light on the
very same day.
“Church leaders may have also
had theological reasons for choosing the date of Dec. 25th. The Christian
historian Sextus Julius Africanus had identified the 25th as Christ’s nativity
more than a hundred years earlier. Chronographers reckoned that the world was
created on the spring equinox and four days later, on March 25th, light was
created. Since the existence of Jesus signaled a beginning of a new era, or new
creation, the Biblical chronographers assumed Jesus’ conception would have also
fallen on March 25th, placing his birth in December, nine months later.”
Did you
catch that? They even set a date for Jesus’ conception – March 25.
● Fact: Protestant leaders such
as John Calvin opposed Christmas as an annual official holy day celebrating the
birth of Christ.
The Presbyterian Heritage Center
notes, “Presbyterians
have not always celebrated Christmas. Separating themselves from the Roman
Catholic Church practices, Protestant Reformation leaders were generally
critical of the existing ‘feast and saint days’ of the Catholic Church.
“The celebration of Christmas became a point
of contention among many Protestants. Reformation leader Martin Luther
permitted the celebration of certain feast days, including Christmas. Other
reformers, including John Calvin and John Knox, preferred to worship only where
specifically commanded in the Bible.”
● Fact: Attendance at church
assemblies is higher for annual Christmas services than for the “regular”
every-Lord’s-Day services throughout the year.
On the one hand, some will say,
“Isn’t that great! At least these many people come to church once a year.
Perhaps something will be said or done at that time that will cause or encourage
them to become disciples of Christ!” Others will say, “We should give the same
emphasis to every Lord’s Day, and not perpetuate the notion that December 25 is somehow more holy or special than each Lord's Day throughout the year.”
● Fact: We are taught “as of
first importance” that Christ died for our sins, that He was buried, that He rose
again, and that He appeared. 1 Cor 15:1-8
Of course His birth is
significant and worthy of note! We should never minimize any of the events
connected with the coming and life of Christ. There are the prophecies, the
virgin birth, the miracles, the Sermon on the Mount, the parables, the
Transfiguration, and so much more. We should talk about, sing about, and think
about these events often. “Joy to the World” is a powerful hymn any time of the
year. Luke 2 is an inspiring passage to study in May as well as December. The
fact remains, however, that the first-century church was never taught to have an official
observance of any of these other events.
● Fact: There is only one
memorial celebration that Jesus specifically instituted.
1 Co 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also
delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took
bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body
which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it,
in remembrance of me.” 26 For as
often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death
until he comes.
Many people share the concern
that there is more emphasis given to a non-biblical observance – Christmas –
than there is given to the one biblical memorial that Jesus did authorize. If we put His specified instructions first we will gather at the Lord's table on the first day of every week.
It can be noted that, without
the birth (and other events), the death could not have occurred. Or that any
emphasis on Christ in December, even if it misstates the date of His birth, is
better than a purely secular commercial season. We can all be thankful – I
certainly am – for the mention of Christ in December.
But the facts remain. It’s the
blood that saves. It’s the cross that we commemorate. It’s simply the bread and
the cup. No lights. No hype. No glitz. No fanfare.
So, whatever else we do, let’s
meet at the table this Lord’s Day. His table. Every Lord’s Day. Because that’s
just what He asked us to do.
