There is a lot of debate around the origins of Christmas. Many Christians point out that Jesus probably wasn't born in December, and they would be right. The trouble is, we don't have conclusive evidence to mark his actual birth date, otherwise we would surely be celebrating his birthday on that date.
I found these interesting comments from Britannica.com, which I would like to add to the mix:
The actual observance of the day of Jesus’ birth was long in coming. In particular, during the first two centuries of Christianity there was strong opposition to recognizing birthdays of martyrs or, for that matter, of Jesus. Numerous Church Fathers offered sarcastic comments about the pagan custom of celebrating birthdays when, in fact, saints and martyrs should be honoured on the days of their martyrdom—their true “birthdays,” from the church’s perspective.
This is an interesting point and would mean that we could end up celebrating Jesus's birthday around the time of Easter. I do like the idea of our death as being the 'birth' of eternity, which would tie in with John's thoughts on being born again. However, Jesus didn't need a 2nd birth, as he was without sin, so this is also tricky.
In the end, I feel that we waste a lot of time and energy debating something that we can't solve with satisfactory answers. However, this doesn't stop us from pausing to remember the impact of the birth of Jesus. Surely the message of the 'Word made flesh' and the fact that Jesus lived and died for our sakes, should make all the difference?
What do you think?
"The Word became flesh and blood,
and moved into the neighbourhood.
We saw the glory with our own eyes,
the one-of-a-kind glory,
like Father, like Son,
Generous inside and out,
true from start to finish." - John 1:14
Living in Grace
D3LM3
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