'TIS
THE SEASON
Colored
lights turn yards and houses into sparkling wonderlands. Brightly
lit tree lots fill the air with the scent of evergreen. Crowded
malls don store fronts with brilliant displays of red and green that
invite shoppers to see their seasonal wares. Children laugh and
squeal with excitement and anticipation as thoughts of Christmas fill
their little heads. Watching their excitement is contagious. And
so, there is a lightness in the hearts of adults as life somehow
seems to be a little more joyful.
In
some ways, don't we all wish that the rest of the year was a little
more like this time of year (perhaps without the crowded rush)?
Aren't we all reminded a little more of our youth at this time of
year? Why so? Because the "holiday" is geared to children
as gift-giving is primarily aimed at them. As pleasant as this all
may seem, Christmas didn't start out that way.
The
now-familiar plea is heard in most religious quarters to "put
Christ back into Christmas", as denominational "churches"
strive to curb the commercialization of what is viewed by many as a
religious holiday.
Some
would say that Christmas had its beginning two thousand years ago.
Such is taught throughout the religious world. "Churches"
have there cantatas and their nativity scenes as reminders of Jesus'
birth. To disclaim Christmas as a religious day is to bring
indignation on one as being a godless heathen.
In
truth, Christmas is found nowhere in scripture as a day set aside by
God for our observance nor do we find any example therein of any such
observation by the first century church.
In
Jesus' great commission to His apostles, He instructed them to "make
disciples of all nations" and then busy themselves in "teaching
them to observe all things that I have commanded you." (Mt.
28:19, 20) Does it not seem strange that Jesus never mentioned
within any of the four gospels, anything about commemorating His
birth? And is it not equally strange that in none of the rest
of the New Testament, is any mention made of observing Christ's
birth? It's not at all strange if you recognize that the scriptures'
silence on the matter gives testimony to the fact that Christmas is
not any part of the will of God. Peter said that "...His divine
power has given to us all
things that pertain to life and godliness,
through
the knowledge of Him who called us
by glory and virtue" (2 Pet. 1:3) Therefore, the conclusion
must be that since there is no knowledge of this observance within
His word, it does not "pertain to life and godliness."
Consider
the fact that Matthew, Mark and Luke each record Jesus' observance of
the Passover just prior to His arrest. In that observance, Jesus
instituted the memorial of His death for our sins. Jesus told His
apostles to "do this in remembrance of Me." (Lk. 22:19) In
obedience to Jesus' great commission, Paul reminded the church at
Corinth that, "I received from the Lord that which I also
delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He
was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it
and said, 'Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do
this in remembrance of Me.' In the same manner He also took the cup
after supper, saying, 'This cup is the new covenant in My blood.
This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.' For as
often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the
Lord's death till He comes." (1 Cor. 11:23-26)
Does
it not seem strange that Jesus gave such detailed instructions on
this observance known as the Lord's supper, and that He gave such
emphasis on our faithful "remembrance" of that for which it
commemorates, (namely, His death on the cross for our sins) and yet
we find not a word from His lips in regard to remembering His birth
by any kind of ceremony or holy day? What is equally ironic is the
fact that millions of people observe Christmas as a religious day and
will pack "churches" during this observance (some for the
only time during the year except perhaps for Easter) and yet the
majority of them fail to observe the Lord's death which is clearly
commanded.
There
is no mention of Christmas prior to 325 BC during the reign of
Constantine. It was at that time that the Catholic religion
established December 25th. as the observance of the birth of Christ.
It was called "Christmas" due to the fact that a Catholic
"mass" was called for in this commemoration of Christ's
birth. Hence, "Christ-mass." The date of this holy day
was chosen from the pagan festival which had earlier been established
by the Roman emperor Aurelian in 274 AD as the birthday of the
unconquered sun. So this holiday went from that of the birth of the
sun god to the the birth of the Son of God. This is a matter of
common history, but not of Divine revelation. The irony of all of
this is that "protestant" religions tenaciously embrace
this holiday as religious
in spite of the fact that its origin is in the very religion which
they "protest."
There
was a time in which it was appropriate for mankind to look to the
birth of Christ with such excitement. In fact, the theme of the
bible from Genesis 3:15 is "Christ is coming." (where God
pronounced to the serpent that the Seed of woman would bruise his
head and he would bruise His heel) That theme is reinforced in the
promise given to Abraham in Gen. 12:3 where God told him that "in
you all the families of the earth shall be blessed", pointing to
the coming of the Messiah. This theme of "Christ is coming"
continues throughout the Old Testament until you get to Matthew 1:18
where we read "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows:"
From there, the theme changes to "Christ has come" and
continues so until you get to Acts 1:9-11. There, we read where Jesus
ascends back into heaven and two angels proclaim to His apostles who
look on, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into
heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will
so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven." (Acts
1:11) At this point, the theme of the remainder of the New Testament
becomes "Christ is coming again" and ends with the words at
the conclusion of Revelation, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"
(Rev. 22:20)
In
our effort to glorify God, we must be faithful in doing so by His
authority. "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the
name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."
(Col. 3:17)
-
Gary V. Womack - December 25, 2005
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