Christmas MythBusters!

(originally published in December 2012)

Now is the time of year when people all over our land pause to remember the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There is not necessarily anything wrong with taking time out to focus on a particular event recorded in the Bible, but the Christmas holiday is one that tends to get blown way out of proportion. At the Madisonville church of Christ, you will find that we do not make any special observance of the Christmas holiday, as part of our spiritual lives. There is no Christmas tree in the building, or any special decorations. We do not have any special worship services, pageants, or cantatas. That is because we honor the Savior on the first day of every week, in accord with the practices of our brethren in the ancient church (Acts 20:7). We choose not to “buy in” to the myths that have been perpetuated about Christmas, and we want to encourage others to do the same. That is why, in the this week’s edition of the church bulletin, I want to “bust” a few popularly held myths about Christmas.

Jesus Was Not Born on December 25

It is amazing to me that, in this age of unlimited access to information, so many people still believe that the 25th day of December is the birthday of Jesus. The simple fact of the matter is that we have no idea which, of all the days on the calendar, is the day upon which the Christ was born. Evidence found in the accounts of the birth of John the baptizer and Jesus suggest that He was born in either February or August; with August being the most favorable time of the year. How did December 25 become associated with the Lord’s birth? Tradition! In the fourth century, the church in Rome began an annual tradition of a special worship service, or “mass” to commemorate the birth of Christ. It was held on December 25, because of that date’s proximity to the winter solstice, which was a major pagan holy day. The date sometimes bounced around the calendar, and the tradition was sometimes neglected, but December 25 was the date that stuck—and it’s still with us, today.

The Wise Men Visited Jesus on the Night He Was Born

An iconic image of Christmas is the baby Jesus lying in a feedbox (“manger”), surrounded by Mary, Joseph, some shepherds, and the three wise men (with a “little drummer boy” thrown in for good measure). But the Bible says that the wise men visited Jesus in a “house,” and that Jesus was, by that time, a “young child” (Mat. 2:11). Some scholars suggest that it might have been days, weeks, or even months after the birth of Jesus. If the star that guided these ancient astronomers appeared on the night in which the Lord was born, it would have been a very long time before they could have made the arduous trek from “the east” (Matthew 2:1-2). It should also be noted that the Bible does not specify the number of wise men who came to see Jesus. It is assumed that there were three, because that was the number of gifts they brought (Matthew 2:11). How did people get so mixed up about this part of the story? Ignorance. People just don’t know what the Bible says. That’s how the Christmas holiday got started, in the first place.

Christians Are Supposed to Celebrate Christmas

There is not a single passage, anywhere in the New Testament, which compels Christians to make an annual observance of the birth of Jesus Christ. There is no evidence that the ancient church ever practiced anything more or less than a weekly offering of worship, in which the life, death and resurrection of Christ was celebrated. In fact, it seems that ancient Christians were not compelled to observe any annual holy days (Colossians 2:16).

Please don’t misunderstand me. I am not arguing that Christians should not make any kind of an observance of the Christmas holiday. I like to deck my halls, exchange gifts and spend time with family, just like everyone else, on December 25. The Bible gives me the option to do things like that, if I so choose (Romans 14:5). So, I have no problem at all wishing everyone who reads this a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I just do it with full knowledge of the facts—and I hope you will, too.