The First Christians’ Perspectives on Christmas

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The CEM Network is pleased to present Ronald L. Dart and Born to Win.

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What did the first Christians believe about Christmas? Now I know that’s a loaded question because people will say, what do you mean? There’s nothing in the New Testament about Christmas. Yes, that’s quite the point I think. You never find any reference to, we sailed away from Troas after Christmas. You don’t find any reference to, well, we had a big Christmas celebration in Corinth. I mean, they didn’t. If you’d mentioned Christmas to a first Christian, first century Christian, they’d have said, what? What’s that? They had no idea what you were talking about. In fact, not only did they not, you know, believe it, they did not practice anything even remotely like it. Now, one reason for this may be that among many Jews, birthday observance is eschewed as originating in Egypt. And that might have influenced many of the first Christians, most of whom were Jews, and it may not have crossed their mind to observe the birthday of Jesus, much less Christmas, per se. So, there’s not a hint in the New Testament about believing in Christmas or celebrating Jesus’ birth. It could be argued that this fact does not militate against modern celebration, but that’s not what interests me at this point. We can argue about that later. My question is, what the first Christians believed and practiced relative to Jesus’ nativity? The word nativity just means the circumstances of one’s birth. Now, I came across an interesting item published by the American Presbyterian Church. Apparently, it was published shortly after last Christmas. They said, In the recent holiday season, many Christians have been merrily, joyously, and some perhaps even seriously, solemnly, and reverently celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ. However, One wonders how many give any significant thought to the issue of when Christ was born. If they had, they would quickly have discovered that despite all the mythology and legend that surrounds this holiday season, we really do not know when Christ was born. We know neither the year, nor the month, nor the day. For that matter, we don’t know the time of day either. God in His wisdom has chosen not to reveal to us anything concerning the exact date of this momentous event so long foretold by the prophets and awaited by the faithful. And they are, of course, dead right. That said, though, I think we can safely assume that the first Christians knew when Jesus was born. We don’t. They did not see fit to record it for us, but I think they must have known roughly. And the reason I say that is because Luke records events that at least seasonally place Jesus’ birth. Luke begins his gospel with a story of another birth, and you might wonder in a way why we’ll talk about that. His name was John the Baptist. The story begins in the very first verse of Luke 1. For as much, he said, as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things that are most currently are surely believed among us. Now, before I go on, I take this to mean that we can safely consider that in Luke’s gospel, we have a statement of things that were widely reported among the first Christians. Many have taken in hand, he said, to set forth in order a declaration of those things most surely believed. So, Luke then has taken in hand, pen in hand, and pad, whatever he used to write for writing tools, and he, a good reporter, a good historian, put the whole thing together for us. So, We can then safely consider that Luke’s gospel will give us a good rundown of the things that were believed among these people. He seems to imply that while he was not an eyewitness of all the events, he had systematically collected them and set them in order. This is important when you sit down to read through Luke. He says, even as though they, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, delivered them to us. So he got his works from eyewitnesses. You know, there were 120 disciples there on that day of Pentecost, most of whom had seen everything, experienced everything. And so he had a good set of records to work from. It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus. Oh, so the gospel according to Luke is actually a letter to a man named Theophilus, who I guess commissioned Luke to do this, that you might know the certainty of those things wherein you have been instructed.” Luke is beginning to try to nail down what up until just about the same time when Mark and Luke Matthew were writing was merely an oral tradition in the church of God. And I am persuaded that they had a very strong oral tradition. For many, many months after the ascension of Christ, they stayed in Jerusalem, they listened to the apostles, they questioned the apostles, every issue was examined right, left, sideways, up and down, and those people had better memories than we do. I remember being kind of surprised. I was reading a historical account of the invention of printing, and the gentleman said that human memory has been degraded since the invention of printing. Because now we can have it all in books on the shelf. We don’t have to worry about remembering it. We can look it up. And it’s even worse now, because you can look up anything on the Internet and have an answer in seconds, minutes at the longest, to just about anything you want to find. And so there’s no need to memorize stuff. Well, those first Christians had a very strong need to memorize stuff, and memorize they did, and repeat it they did. So, here’s a man who went all among these people and pulled all the story together and laid it out in order, he says. Now, I do notice that chronologically speaking, there are some things that are in a different order in Luke from what they might have been in Matthew or Mark or John. Why? Which one do we follow? Well, the only one I know for sure said he wanted to put it in order was Luke. Why would the others have had a different order of events? Well, the reason might be because they were trying to set their points in an order that would make sense. They were trying to develop a theme in theirs, and so they just put the events together with no attention to chronology. But I think Luke must have done precisely that. So he begins his story. There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias of the course of Abijah. Actually, in Hebrew, it’s Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. This man was of the course of Abijah. You would think reading through this would be basically irrelevant. Why do we need to know what course of the priesthood he was in? He was in the temple. He was doing his service and so forth. Maybe it’s not irrelevant, though. The priestly courses, if you’re of a mind to study this sort of thing, are carefully laid out in 1 Chronicles 24. It appears that lots were cast among the priests who were eligible at the time. The eighth lot fell to a priest named Abijah, who was a descendant of the priestly line. So, Zacharias then would have been serving in that period of time that the course of Abijah would have been serving. He himself would have been there, well, really about eight weeks probably after Passover, or perhaps eight weeks after the Jewish New Year in the autumn, because that’s the cycle that they followed. After the first day of the first month, which is the month of Nisan, in which Passover follows, is one of the cycle, the beginning of one of the cycles, and then the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets in the autumn begins another cycle. So eight weeks after one or the other of these makes that clear. The article by the American Presbyterian Church, which I’ll have the link to on my website, offered other reasons that point strongly to the early summer course of the priest. And so we have Zacharias and his wife Elizabeth, who is a daughter of Aaron, who were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. They had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both now well stricken in years. Now, I know there are a lot of old people out there who know precisely what he’s talking about. You younger people, you’ll find out soon enough. It came to pass that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense. That’s his job. So when he went into the temple, he burned incense. And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the time of incense. This was the custom of the time. So here is Zacharias standing in front of the altar of incense, tending to it, all alone in that room. Suddenly there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense in front of him. When Zacharias saw him, he was troubled and fearful, and would me too. I’m in a room. Nobody else is supposed to be here by law. And I know I’m looking over there, and there’s nobody there. And the next thing I know, somebody is there. I think that would scare me to death. The angel says, don’t worry, Zacharias. Your prayer is heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, shall bear you a son, and you will call his name John. Oh, man, the things he begins to talk about about John are astonishing. He’s going to be the one who goes before the Messiah to prepare the groundwork for him. Well, Zacharias, he couldn’t really believe who he was talking to. And so the angel said, okay, you’re going to be dumb and unable to speak until the day these things happen because you wouldn’t believe me. You better believe me. So he went out. The people realized he’d seen a vision or something in a temple because he couldn’t talk. Well, it came to pass as soon as his ministration days were accomplished, he went back to his own house. And I wonder what in the world he told Elizabeth. Because, you know, you have to do certain things in order for a child to be born. And I can imagine when he spoke to Elizabeth about this, she was incredulous, doubtful, no way, and may not have even been that enthusiastic about having a child, except it really was important to women in that time and generation that they have children. And so she conceived and hid herself for five months, saying, Thus has the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me to take away my reproach among men. This is a hugely important event in Christian history because John’s role was crucial in the fulfillment of prophecy and in laying the groundwork for Jesus’ work in ministry. The disciples of John formed a basis in a way that helped to jumpstart Jesus’ ministry much faster than it might have done. It also places the conception of John the Baptist in June. Now, why on earth does that matter, and why does he include the details that lead us to that conclusion? Stay with me through this short break, and when I come back, I’ll explain.

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If you would like to know more about how the Jewish holidays became Christian, request a free introductory CD titled Christian Holidays. Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free 1-888-BIBLE-44. That’s 1-888-242-5344. Now, what is significant about placing the conception of John the Baptist in June is that

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That the angel’s visit to Mary to announce the birth of Jesus came in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. That would be in December. And Jesus’ birth then would be in late September, early October of the following year. Did the first Christians know this? How could they not know it? Luke learned all this from them in the first place. So what did they do about it? Well, apparently, not much. J.W. Bullinger, in his companion Bible, places the birth of Jesus on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, and that may account for quite a bit of what we learn about this. It would not have been surprising to the first Christians that Jesus’ advent would have coincided with a great feast. They knew well enough that the festivals of God were God’s appointments with history, and he tended to act on those days and whatever it was that he was going to do. So a celebration of Jesus’ birth would have, if anything, been subsumed into the Feast of Tabernacles. Now we can add to this, many Jewish rabbis teach that the only example of a birthday in the Bible is one observed in honor of Pharaoh. And since the Jews were exhorted against observing the customs of the Egyptians, it was their custom not to observe birthdays. More important to Jews was the bar or bat mitzvah celebration of coming of age. Twelve for girls, I think, and thirteen for boys. So, it’s not unreasonable to assume that the first Christians, being mostly Jews, never gave it a second thought. Yet, the birth of Jesus had to be a very big event in their minds, and we still have to wonder what they believed and what they did about it, if anything. Matthew is the only other gospel that comments on Jesus’ birth. Mark doesn’t mention it at all. And Matthew’s account is so brief that it almost leaves you wondering, well, it leaves an awful lot of questions unanswered. On the other hand, Luke is quite detailed about the birth of Jesus. So before we go on there, we have to ask a question about John. Matthew was very brief. Mark doesn’t mention it at all. What about John? Well, John begins his gospel by saying, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. Everything was made by Him. Whoops, wait a minute. Made by who? You study this carefully, you’ll find it was made by the Word. And without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. So here is his testimony about the coming of John the Baptist. He came for a witness, to bear witness of the light that all men through him might believe. He was not that light. He was sent to bear witness of the light. Everything about this, this light, the word, these are all plainly, to the first Christians, Jesus and no other. That was the true light, John says, that lights every man that comes into the world. He was in the world, the light was, the word was, and the world was made by him. and the world knew him not. Now, I know this gives some people a question, that Jesus was the one who made the world? Yes, that’s what the first Christians believed. It’s what they told Luke and John and what they all wrote. He goes on to say that to as many as but received him, he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, who were born. not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God. And the Word was made flesh. Mind you, the Word that was in the beginning with God, was with God, and was God, became flesh and dwelt among us. The Greek word for dwelt could just as easily be translated tabernacled among us. Why is that important? I’ll explain. John says, we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Now, toward the end of the generation that had seen and touched Jesus, there were some really harebrained ideas about him that began to arise. You get hints of it in the New Testament epistles, in particular what we call the general epistles, those beginning after the epistles of Paul in your Bible. But that first generation of Christians had seen Jesus. Many of them had seen him crucified. Some had watched him bleed and had seen him buried. And there were witnesses who saw him as a baby. Why is this important? Well, because heresies were beginning to arise, even to the extent of claiming that Jesus wasn’t flesh at all, that he was an apparition, or he was just simply a representation, or he came into the world like an angel, who one day he was here and not here, and the next day he was. So all these witnesses and all this story about Jesus is crucial. Luke begins his second chapter with his details about the birth of Jesus. It came to pass in those days there went on a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. This taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, and everybody went to be taxed, everyone to his own town. Well, Joseph went up there, and he took Mary with him, who was great with child. While they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now, the Presbyterian Church Web article about this points out that the only thing that’s really consistent with the generalized customs was that this was Feast of Tabernacles time, and there was no place to stay anywhere around Jerusalem. Only about five miles down to Bethlehem. And not only was Jerusalem crammed full, so was Bethlehem. So they were in a stable. The child, Mary went into labor like all women do. She delivered this child. They wrapped him and laid him in a cow’s feeding trough because there was no room for him in the end. Now, in the same country, there were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And the angel of the Lord came upon them. The glory of the Lord shone round about them and scared them slap to death. It would. And the angel said, Hey, don’t be afraid. I’m bringing you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For to you this day in the city of David is born a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And here is a sign for you. This is important now. This is a sign. It’s meaningful. You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger in the poorest of circumstances. Not in a king’s palace, not riding on horses, not any of this stuff. the poorest circumstances of birth. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest. We’ve got some great songs. And so the shepherds said, Hey, let’s go to Bethlehem and see this. God’s made it known to us. And they came in a hurry, and they found Mary and Joseph and the baby lying in a manger. When they saw it, they made known abroad all that had been told to them about this child. Why is all this important? Because it was important for everyone to know that Jesus came into the world just like they did. He was born. He was a baby. You could actually pick him up and hold him. There’s a little more about this.

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Listen to this short message when I come back. I’ll tell you what it is. For a free CD of this radio program that you can share with friends and others, write or call this week only. And request the program titled About Christmas. Write to Born to Win, Post Office Box 560, White House, Texas 75791. Or call toll free. 1-888-BIBLE-44. That’s 1-888-242-5344.

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There are many seemingly small things in this story, but they’re not small at all. If Jesus was born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, then the day of his circumcision, eight days later, would have been on the last day, the great day of the Feast. Important? Perhaps not. But nevertheless, all this in the story, including his circumcision, underlines the fact of his being, flesh and blood, coming into the world like we are, coming into the world like any Jew of his generation, and even to the point of being circumcised. And while Joseph and Mary were in the temple bringing him up to present him before God, A gentleman came in there, an old, old man, who had been told by the Spirit that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in, he took this baby in his arms and held him up and blessed God and said, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace according to your word. What a story. Joseph and his mother marveled at this, and the old man blessed them. and told Mary, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be spoken against. And a sword will pierce your own soul also. And there was little later a woman named Anna, a prophetess, who came in about the same time she was a widow, eighty years old, never left the temple, but prayed all the time. And she came in also and gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of him to all them that look for Jerusalem in Jesus. God only knows how many people actually got to hold this child in their arms. I can’t even imagine the awe that one would have felt in holding. People will come to me sometimes with their little newborn baby and say, would you like to hold him? And I generally say, no, no, I don’t think so. because I have no children of my own, and I just don’t know where to put my hands. But so many people held the reality of this little miracle and wondered at it by the time. Later, there came some people who apparently did not believe that Jesus was truly flesh and blood. You get hints of it in later letters. For example, 1 John begins by saying, “…that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the word of life.” His point simply is we’ve touched him. We actually were with him. Now, this is the same John who introduced Jesus in his gospel as the word, but recorded nothing of his birth. Later in his fourth chapter, he says, Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, for many false prophets have gone out in the world. Hereby you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God. And this is the importance, folks, of the nativity of Jesus. Not Christmas, but the birth of the Son of God. Every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. It is a spirit of Antichrist, whereof you have heard it should come, and even now is already in the world. Isn’t it incredible the number of different heresies that started popping up in the church like weeds in the later first century? And I think, though, we can safely conclude that the first Christians knew nothing of Christmas, per se, as we know it. It was a later invention. The date was a later invention. All of that is an invention of men. However, they likely knew well enough that Jesus was born. The significance of that is that he came into the world just like all of us do. And they knew roughly when it happened. It was in autumn, along about the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, which strangely few Christians nowadays even notice. Can you imagine the first Christians with a legend of Santa Claus and Christmas trees? Neither can I. And in fact, they did pay and gave great attention to the birth of Jesus, for it was the moment of time when God entered the world as one of us.

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