Christmas needs an extreme makeover -- Part Two

By Tom Kovach

(NOTE: All of the Bible references, unless otherwise noted, are from the New King James Version [NKJ], published by Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN.)

In Part One of this series, we saw that the modern celebration of Christmas bears little resemblance to a Biblical festival that is meant to honor the Son of God. We saw evidence from three disparate areas — Scripture, farming, and government — that the events of Jesus' birth must have happened in Spring, not in Winter. We saw that the modern celebration produces behavioral fruit that is radically different from that taught by Jesus. We also saw that the early Christians — the ones that modern churches claim they want to emulate — did not even begin to observe Christmas for the first two hundred years of Christianity. Even then, it took another hundred years for the festival to catch on. Compare that with the weekly remembrance of Jesus' Resurrection, which was already a regular feature of Christianity by the time the Book of Acts was written.

Why was noting the Nativity of Jesus seemingly unimportant to the early Christians? If it was not important early on, why and how did that change in later centuries? Is there any evidence to support the 25th of December as the proper date? If so, then how did the modern celebration fall so far away from focusing upon Jesus? If not, then aren't some changes necessary? Should we move the date of Christmas? Or, does Christmas need more than merely a date change? Does it need an extreme makeover? Or, has Christmas become so totally FUBAR ("fouled up beyond all recognition") that we should simply scrap the event altogether?

As we saw in Part One, there is overwhelming evidence that the birth of Jesus can be traced to not only a certain time of year, but also to a specific date on the Hebrew calendar. As the greatest prophet of God, according to Hebrew tradition, Jesus would have died on the same date that He was born. History records that he died on Passover. That date is entirely consistent with the Old Testament prophesies about Him, with Hebrew theology, and with Christian theology. And, as we saw in Part One, there is significant reason to believe that Jesus was conceived at the time of the Hebrew festival of Shavuot, which would have produced a birth at Passover. So, we know that the modern date is wrong. But, why? And, does the current date have any specific meaning of its own? If so, does that meaning honor God in any way?

As has been noted by many Christian authors for centuries, the setting of the Feast of the Nativity on the 25th of December is linked to the Roman Natalis invicti solis, "The birth-day of the unconquered Sun." But, why did the Romans feel that the sun was "unconquered," and what significance did that have to Christians? And, does celebrating on that day honor God, or mock Him? The answer might surprise you. My hope is that it will shock you ... into taking action!

Let me take a little side note here to explain why this topic has "caught fire" with me. I grew up in a home that was only "nominally" Christian, as did many modern Americans. As a result, like many others of my generation, I drifted away from God at the earliest opportunity. But, in 1975, at a training base in the Air Force, I had an experience that opened my eyes. Suddenly, the idea of God truly caring for individuals, instead of being only some cosmic rule-enforcer, became clear to me. (I discuss this in detail in "Passion for Proper Names.") After that, I wanted to get to know God — as one studies a friend, a hero, a role model, a commander. Over the years, I came to realize that many churches (even with the best of intentions) do things that actually mock God rather than honor Him. And, the two most prominent manifestations of this are Santa Claus (Satan Lucas) and the Easter (Ishtar) Bunny. Those two mythical creatures, in my opinion, lead more children away from God than drugs and gambling. Unraveling the lies spun by the cults of those idols requires deep research and commitment. Most of my columns, even about such technical subjects as Flight 800 and Flight 93, take about four to six hours each to write. By contrast, the research for this series took twelve days (plus a lifetime of examination to see how far we had drifted in the first place). So, please bear with me as we venture again into the deep end of the pool.

In pre-Christians times, the supreme god of the Assyrians (and others of the Mesopotamian Plain, including the Arabs) was their sun god. His name was Baal. Yes, this is the same Baal that is mentioned many times in the Old Testament. (His name is written 92 times in the Old Testament, but only once in the New Testament; and, that was in Romans 11:4, quoting God's discussion with Elijah in 1st Kings 19:18.) In terms of both Elijah's slaughter of the 450 prophets of Baal, and the seeming eradication of his mention after the birth of Jesus, it would appear that Baal had been conquered. (And, ultimately, he has.)

The pagan Romans grew irritated by the staunch faith of the Christians, who refused to worship Caesar as a god. The faith of the Christians was, in a major case of "political blow-back," put on public display. The faithful would rather face a humiliating death — eaten by lions before a cheering crowd — than to renounce their faith in God through His Son Jesus the Christ. Ever-increasing tortures could not force the majority of Christians to renounce. By their faith, the Christians won over many of their fellow Romans. This was a true bother, and embarrassment, to the emperors whose political power was propped up by the perpetuation of their phony deification. The reign of the Caesars was threatened, and they had to do something.

Although the ancient Romans have influenced our modern American culture most openly and directly, it is notable that the Romans were influenced by the empires that came before them, and by the countries that they conquered. The Roman Empire sprawled across much of the globe, including major portions of the Middle East. Thus, the Romans were aware of the sun-worship of Assyria and Babylon, as well as that of the Greeks, in addition to their own. In the mind of the Romans, the worship of the sun had outlasted several great empires in different parts of the world. Therefore, surely, the sun could conquer a simple Jewish Carpenter — even if their own "divine emperor" could not. So, the Romans held the Festival of the Unconquerable Sun. (This was an expansion of, but separate from, the better-known Saturnalia.) They held it in the darkest time of the year: Winter Solstice. And, the drunkenness lasted for five days, but increased to seven days sometime after the rule of Caligula. (Notably, there are seven days between Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.) During that time, slaves were temporarily "emancipated," and given great liberties over their masters. (Thus, ensuring the feast's popularity with both the underclass, and with the "desperate housewives" of the ruling class. In modern times, with the cost of extravagant Christmas presents, it seems that children have temporary reign over their "masters" regarding the family budget.) By claiming the sun to be "unconquerable" the Romans thought that they would humiliate the Christians into thinking that theirs was a lost cause. (It didn't work. But, it did weaken some. That is how the idea of Christmas got started, and why it wrongly occurs at this time of year.) In the year 380, Saint John Chrysostom (Greek for "golden-mouthed" — a nickname that was bestowed upon him for his preaching skills) wrote that it had not yet been ten years since they had "heard about" the celebration of "this day" (Christmas) in a city that was one of the earliest seats of Christianity: Antioch. He went on to mock the Christians of the West for their supposed "knowledge" of the date of the birth of Jesus during the winter.

But, did the Feast of the Unconquerable Sun originate with the Romans? Or, did they get it from somewhere else? Festivals of sun-worship had been held by various cultures at about the time of the Winter Solstice for centuries prior. And, interestingly enough, the ancient Chaldeans (powerful priests of southern Mesopotamia, who had their own country before Babylon existed) had decreed a precise day for the birthday of their sun-god: the 25th day of the tenth month (December). And, the sun-god of that region was known as Baal before the time of the Israelite Exodus from Egypt. And, the word "Baal" translates "Lord" or "Master." (That is why, in Judges 8:33, it is written, "So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals [note the plural], and made Baal-Berith their god." There were many Baals. Baal-Berith was "Lord of the Covenant" [another mockery of God]. Baal-Zebub was "Lord of the Flies." etc. But, only one was known only by the name Baal: the sun lord.) Thus, the majority of modern Christians are celebrating "the birth of our Lord" on precisely the day when the enemies of God celebrated the birth of their lord. Worse yet, we are doing it in spite of all the significant evidence that our Lord Jesus was born months apart on the earthly calendar.

As if the above were not bad enough, it gets worse. The ancient Sabeans of Arabia worshipped the moon instead of the sun. And, their priests had a specific date for their worship of their Lord Moon: the 24th of December! Now, we can see why some modern cultures debate over whether to celebrate Christmas Eve or Christmas Day; and, why many modern people simply spend both in idleness and drunkenness. But, wait, there's more. As the Arabs developed a separate identity and culture after the fall of Babylon, they retained much of the Mesopotamian Pantheon. That is, until one Arab began to preach a form of monotheism. He united the various Arab tribes by pushing aside all other pagan Arab gods, and focusing all their worship upon one: Allah, the moon-god. (As I wrote in my analysis of terrorists' motives, "Louder Than Words," the root cause of terrorism is that "their god is at war with our God.") So, as we now see, Christians waste their time by attempting to worship God the Father and God the Son on the feast-days of god the Sun and god the Moon! I cannot fathom how angry God must be over this.

Christians have a bad habit of caving in to the surrounding (anti-God) culture on matters such as this. Somehow, we have become convinced that "those dead rituals" don't really matter. But, they do. How would you feel if all your friends and relatives intentionally celebrated your birthday on a completely different day — the birthday of your staunchest enemy?! Unfortunately, we do almost the same thing with the celebration of Jesus' triumphant Resurrection. We call that day by the name of another of God's enemies. As I wrote in "Passion for Proper Names," the word "Easter" comes from the name of the Babylonian fertility goddess: Ishtar. And, unfortunately, this is not a new phenomenon. In the year 230, Tertullian lamented, "...oh, how much more faithful are the heathen to their religion, who take special care to adopt no solemnity from the Christians." I feel that same lament as I watch our culture, especially at Christmas.

God knows that we are weak. But, he inspires us to greater things. And, even God lamented the fact that His people longed for festivals that mocked him. "Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light; as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned with his hand against the wall, and a serpent bit him. Is not the day of the Lord darkness, and not light, and gloom with no brightness in it?" (Amos 5:18-20) When we recall that the word "Baal" is translated "Lord," then this passage takes on a new — and very current — meaning. The time of the Winter Solstice — the day of the "lord of the sun" — is a time of "darkness, and not light." And, wouldn't God the Father be angry about this defilement of the honoring of God the Son? ("as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him...") And, if we're celebrating without Christ, then — regardless of the time of year — isn't the defiled Christmas a day of "...gloom with no brightness in it"?

And, if Jesus was born and died on the same day, then wouldn't the celebration of Passover become even more joyous by commemorating the birth of Jesus? (Imagine the joy as Jews and Christians truly reconcile worldwide!) Nowhere does the New Testament say that we are to stop celebrating the Hebrew festivals. Jesus said, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." By having both His conception and birth on Hebrew festivals, Jesus demonstrated that He would be the fulfillment of all the Old Testament prophesies. So, we Christians (especially Messianic Jews) can celebrate Jesus' birth by celebrating the Passover. Clearly, in the birth of our salvation, the eternal death of sin "has passed over us." And, in the Feast of Unleavened Bread that immediately follows Passover, we also celebrate His Resurrection — which occurred during that feast. The traditional Hebrew meal blessing now takes on a deeper meaning in light of this parallel. "Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the earth." During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the power of God brought forth the Bread of Life that had been buried in the earth. Now, that is a good cause for a weeklong celebration!

One of my hopes is that this series of columns can be used to build bridges between Jews and Christians. In the early days, not only were most of the Christians also Jews, but also Acts Chapter 15 demonstrates that the very first major doctrinal council was about whether Gentiles would need to become Jews first, in order to become Christians! How far we have fallen. And, how glad I am that the Messianic Jewish community has steadfastly developed and maintained an identity that bridges the gap.

Let's take a brief sidetrack here. Some scholars have argued for centuries about the "three days" between the Crucifixion and the Resurrection of Jesus. My understanding is that the "three days" are actually calculated from the afternoon of Holy Thursday. How can this be? "Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father...." (John 13:1) Thus, the descent of Jesus into "the heart of the earth" (Matthew 12:40) actually began before the Last Supper. The "heart of the earth" was not only a literal place (being buried in the ground), but also a figurative place (of humiliation, loneliness, and rejection). Using the same verse, we see that Jesus predicted "three days and three nights," not three "evenings and mornings" (the language of Genesis). The order of time had been changed. Interestingly, in Ephesians 5:14-16, Christians are commanded to "awake from sleep" (as did Peter, James, and John), "arise from the dead" (separate ourselves from sin), and to be busy "redeeming the time, because the days are evil." By first declaring a change in the order of time, and then fulfilling His prediction, Jesus redeemed even time itself from sin. If we can see that He redeemed time, then is it any wonder that He also redeemed the Earth — starting with the Garden of Eden, as I wrote in Part One?

And, having looked adventurously across time and space in the pursuit of honoring The Way, The Truth, and The Life (John 14:6), how can any of us return to a culture that is willing to "come to blows" over such trivia as Tickle-Me-Elmo or the words removed from a department store commercial?

"what shall I do"?

Having seen that our society has strayed so far from God's Word and from His principles, what shall we do to correct the situation? The answer can be viewed from three perspectives. All are necessary.

The first perspective is the individual perspective. Each person must decide to personally honor God, regardless of what anyone else — even other family members — should decide to do. The second is a family perspective, which starts with leadership. The father is the spiritual "priest of the home," although our modern culture has usurped religious duties from the fathers to the mothers. Fathers must regain their rightful role — first by memorizing Scripture, instead of sports statistics. Then, fathers must establish meaningful rituals within their homes, so that children will have a solid foundation. The family will then be better equipped to resist the outside culture. Some practical, simple, back-to-basics tips have recently been published by another MND commentator.

The final perspective is that of the church as a whole. All too often in our modern culture, the church is busy adopting — instead of refuting — the ways of the world. How many churches want to have "marketing strategies" to boost their membership! Instead, they should have right worship and sound doctrine. ("Preach it, and they will come.") Until our churches develop enough internal fortitude to toss out Jack O'Lantern, Santa, and the Ishtar Bunny — never to return — we can't even think about influencing the culture around us. Bringing those idols into our churches is not "cute," it is disgusting and blasphemous! We need to return to "being about our Father's business" — and stop worrying about the fact that Mrs. Fussbudget will be offended, or that Mrs. Busybody will stop donating! Pastors need to start worrying about being rejected on Judgment Day (surprise, it will happen to some), rather than at the next parish golf tournament.

reclaiming some ground

Until such time as an extreme makeover of Christmas can be accomplished (including moving it to Passover), there are some practical things that Christians can do to make the event Christ-centered, instead of "me"-centered. My suggestion is that modern Christians, especially in America, start adopting some of the centuries-old customs that have been used in Russia. Even under Communist domination, the Christians of Russia refused to change the name of the first day of the week from Voskresseniye (Resurrection Day). Try passing that resolution in a modern city hall.

Here is the text of an e-mail that I recently sent to a minister about this same topic. The customs are Christ-honoring, whether I'm "merry" or not.

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During most of the year, when Russians meet, the first person says, "Glory to Jesus Christ." The second person responds, "Glory (to Him) forever." (This is prompted by the Scripture that tells us to "test the spirits.")

During the season that we call Advent (the 40 days before Christmas), the greeting changes. The first person says, "Christ is born!" (sharing the good news, as the angels did) The second person replies, "(Let us) Glorify Him!" (as the shepherds did)

On Christmas Eve, the youngest child (that can walk and talk) is given a special duty. That child stands at the window, faces the East, and watches for the first star. When the star appears, that is the signal that the festivities begin. (Because, when His Star appeared, it was the signal that our salvation began.)

On the calendar of the Orthodox Church, there is (in theory) no "Christmas." (However, some parishes in America have succumbed to worldly pressures.) Instead, the official name is: "The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord, and God, and Savior, Jesus Christ." (The term "nativity" implies more than simply being born. Jesus became a "native" of Earth, that we might become natives of Heaven.)

When the first star is sighted, the family comes to the table. They remain standing until after the food is blessed. The father leads everyone in the Lord's Prayer, and then offers a blessing for the food. He is seated at the head of the table, on the east end. (When Jesus returns, it will be "as when the lightning flashes in the east").

In some homes, the father leads the family in this "tone" (instructional hymn).

http://www.theologian.org/pdf/xmas/GodIsTheLordGkChant.pdf

(This is an "antiphon," or responsive hymn. I enjoy antiphonal chant. Some people take years to learn it. [With your musical talent,] You would catch on in seconds.)

Somewhere in the room (under the table, if it's big enough) is some hay. The smell reminds us that Jesus came to us in a stable. He was placed in a manger (hay feeder). The hay absorbed the blood from His birth.

At the start and end of prayers, the Sign of the Cross is made. (This is often wrongly called "blessing yourself." Only God blesses.) Rather than a "dead ritual" (as many Western Christians think), it has many deep meanings. That is a separate topic, which I'd be glad to explain sometime.

There are twelve foods at the Holy Supper (as it is called). They represent the Twelve Apostles, or the Twelve Tribes.

Although some foods vary among villages, or even families, some are uniform. These are the foods and their meanings, as I know them.

The first is garlic. This reminds us of the "bitter herbs" of sin. (To be a "good Russian," one must eat a whole clove at once.)

The second is fresh bread, dipped in honey. This is the sweetness of salvation. (The contrast is stark. "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.")

The third is soup — the warmth and nourishment of the Gospel.

The fourth is salad (often slaw) — the goodness of the greens of the Earth that God created.

The fifth is eggs — new life in Christ.

The sixth is mushrooms (common in Slavic countries) — goodness even from bad (mold). (This is often in a soupy sauce called "machanka.")

The seventh is meat — spiritual "meat, not milk," eaten to break 40 days of refraining. (True "fasting" means not eating ANYthing.)

The eighth is wine — gladdening the heart with fellowship. (Ps 104:15)

Foods nine through twelve often vary. And, many are just as "ethnic" as they are "spiritual." Examples include pyrohy, holubki, kielbasa, and kapushta. (The meanings assigned also vary somewhat.)

The last dish, however, is always a variety of sweet pastries — the sweetness of our Heavenly rest.

It is customary to have one "empty" seat at the table. This place is reserved for the Holy Spirit. The plate is later put outside during the cold evening. The food is then enjoyed by "the least of these" — animals like those that surrounded Baby Jesus.

The family then goes to church for the evening service. Presents — if they are given at all — are NEVER opened before going to church.

Every Orthodox parish in the world will sing some version of this hymn.

http://www.theologian.org/pdf/GodIsWithUs.pdf

I would love to see our church do this in proper responsive style. It's fairly easy. (I'd be willing to chant the verses, if the Praise Team would sing the "tone.")

Many parishes will also do this hymn. This is a slightly different version of this hymn than the one that I learned.

http://www.theologian.org/pdf/xmas/ApolytikionXmasKastalsky.pdf

It has a certain quality that parallels the "but I say" teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. ("... those that worshipped the stars were taught by a star to adore Thee ...)

If anyone is interested, I'd love to do "Russian Christmas" at our church sometime. (It falls on the 7th of January — which is the 25th of December on the Julian calendar. The Julian calendar was in effect at the time of Jesus' birth.)

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I hope that readers find this commentary on the problem, and these practical steps toward a solution, to be stimulating and uplifting in their walk with God.

"Christ is born! Glorify him!"


© Tom Kovach