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Why there is Christmas ?
For Christians , Christmas is beyond the ordinary and joyous celebration. It is a very special event and calls for a very special celebration. This event will never occur again in history, God became flesh and dwelt among His creation! Jesus was sent for an eternal purpose! That is to reconcile men to God through His redemptive work on the cross of Calvary.
The day Jesus was born, there was a celebration.Luke 2:10,11 the angel announced, "Fear not behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy...for unto us is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour who is Christ the Lord!" The heavenly choir singing, "glory to God in the Highest!" The sheperd worshipped!
The time he was born, birthday celebration was not known instead, the date of death was well celebrated, making it a memorable event. Eventually, birthday celebration became a popular among the famous. If you remember, in the NT John the Baptist was beheaded during the birthday party of Herod. The pagan world celebrated birthdays especially their gods and goddesses
like "Natalis Solis Invicti"( birthday of the unconquerable Sun-Mithras ) the ancient persian god of light and the sun which usually celebrated in a ritual of offering a bull as a sacrifice. ( Mithraism ).
When birthday celebration became very popular between 249 AD, Bible Scholars researched on the precise month and date when the angel said " For unto you is born this day..." But because the Bible is silent with its day and month, Bible scholars have given different dates for consideration. December 25, January 1,6 March 25 and May 20 respectively. The Puritans in
England, when against the suggested dates because none of them appeared in the Bible. The dates were suppressed.
Several years later, the city folks started to celebrate "The Feast of the Nativity of Jesus." The celebration challenged the pagan celebration of Mithraism. The Nativity of the Sun god. Christianity imparted three truths in regards to the celebration: Who the Lord Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His power to mold the heart of the believer. The celebration spread from
Rome ( 245 AD ), Antioch ( 374 AD ), Constantinople ( 380 AD ), Alexandria ( 430 AD ), and Jerusalem about ( 500 AD ).
Before the early of 349 AD, Pope Julius of officially ordered December 25 as the legitimate date for Jesus´birth. Also pronounced the occasion in two combined words. Christ and Mass. Mass for Christ - in shorth , Christmas. At that time, Islam invaded the Christian and Pagan territories through their teaching and by sword. Pope Julius feared the Muslims´opportunistic and
drastic move, he made such a spiritual emphasis of this great celebration to the pagan folks and divert the object of worship rather than the goddess Sun Mithras, to Jesus Christ instead.
Merril Tenny commented regarding this matter and said: "The assimilation of such practice was an effort to transform the practice and to absorb the believing pagans" ( emphasis ). Then someone expressed that the practice was as is, pagan ever. Again Tenney concluded"...Yet many Christians contend...Christmas no longer has pagan connotations but has provide an opportunity
for worship and witness"( Tenney, Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible ).
In order to become confortable for those who come from Mithraism ( converted ) so as to encourage others not to join the Muslims, Julius had ways and means to recollect the birth of Jesus - Christmas. Firstly to praise and worship, give glory and honor to Jesus not to Mithras. Secondly, giving offers to God and gift to others. Thirdly, expression of peace and goodwill to men.
Christmas was not remembered for the past four centuries. It was only introduced worldwide and secularized to celebrate about the 19th century.
Although confirmation of the exact date of the Messiah´s birth is nowhere, it is not enough to conceal how valuable that day is to the Christians. Hence, Christians might therefore re-echo and spread the good news from angel with great delight ( Luke 2:10 )"For unto us is born this day in the city of David a Saviour who is Christ Lord!
Merry Christmas !
Bro. Rey Inigo ( VCF-Elder )
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