Christmas is a time to celebrate with our family and friends. For many Christians it is the special time of the year when we remember the birth of Jesus and reflect on the great love that God had for each one of us by sending Jesus into this world. We sing Christmas carols, give each other gifts and eat together. But how did Christmas originate? Is it really a Christian celebration? Should we believers celebrate it?
What are we celebrating?
We celebrate that Jesus, our Savior, was born! Although the date is not exact and the origin of the holiday does not seem very pure to us, it is nice to have one day a year to celebrate that God loved us so much that he did not leave us without an option for salvation. He took the initiative in sending Jesus to be born, to live, and to die for each of us. Thanks to his sacrifice and love we have been adopted as children of God and the Christmas season gives us a natural opportunity to share this good news with those who are part of our lives.
But when the time was up, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might be adopted as sons.
(Galatians 4:4-5)
Should Christians celebrate Christmas?
Christians should celebrate the birth of Jesus and thank him for his immense love for us. We can do this every day. Our lives should reflect the joy of salvation and that the Holy Spirit lives in us and directs us.
Every Christian has to decide before God whether or not to join the celebration of December 25 as the day of Jesus’ birth. We must not impose our convictions, judge or accuse others. Our decisions must be made in prayer before God and then act in obedience. We also need to respect the decisions of others.
Colossians 3:17 says:
And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
We must do everything in the name of Jesus and pleasing him. Thanks to Jesus we are saved and forgiven, something worthy of our gratitude and celebration.
The Bible also says:
There are those who consider that one day is more important than another, but there are those who consider all days the same. Each one must be firm in his own opinions.
(Romans 14:5)
So whatever conviction you have about it, keep it between you and God. Blessed is he whose conscience does not accuse him of what he does.
(Romans 14:22)
We have freedom to choose. We can celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25, another day of the year, or we can celebrate it every day. Whatever decision we make, our conscience must be clear before God and the fruit of the Spirit must flow from our lives reflecting the profound joy of knowing that we are loved and transformed thanks to the fact that Jesus was born.
The birth of Jesus in the Bible
The word Christmas comes from the Latin “nativitas” which means birth and during the Christmas days we remember that God came into this world and was born as a baby. The biblical story is in Matthew 1:18-25 and in Luke 2. There we see that Jesus was not an ordinary baby, he was God incarnate and came with a specific mission: to save us from our sins.
She will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.
(Matthew 1:21)
The birth of Jesus had been prophesied in detail. For example, in Matthew 1 reference is made to a prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14) that announced the conception of the virgin and what would be the mission of Jesus: to draw closer to God.
All this happened to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
(Matthew 1:22-23)
Luke 2, the birth
In the second chapter of Luke we find details about the birth of Jesus.
- The census, the reason why Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem (v.1-6)
- Why was Jesus born in a manger? There was no room for them in the inn (v.7)
- An angel of the Lord appears to the shepherds, gives them the good news of the birth of Jesus and tells them where they would find him (v.8-12)
- Multitude of angels praising and giving glory to God (v.13-14)
- The shepherds visit the baby Jesus and find everything just as the angel had told them (v.15-20)
The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for what they had seen and heard, for everything happened just as they had been told.
(Luke 2:20)
19 Christmas Bible Verses (with Pictures)
When was Jesus born?
The Bible doesn’t give the exact date Jesus was born, but it almost certainly wasn’t in December. Jesus was about six months younger than his cousin, John the Baptist. With the historical data that exists and with the account of Luke 1 as a reference, it is thought that Jesus was born in the fall. That information, together with what the historical documents say about the reign of Herod the Great and about other characters or events mentioned in the Bible, indicate that Jesus was born between the years 7 and 4 a. c.
The date is not the most important thing. What matters is that thanks to his birth, death and resurrection, we have salvation, the forgiveness of our sins and the hope of eternal life. The Christmas festivities should reflect our joy and gratitude for those wonderful gifts that we have received through Jesus.
Learn more about the importance of the resurrection of Jesus.
For God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16)
When and where was Jesus born?
When was it first held?
In ancient times, no importance was attached to celebrating the birth of people. For example, the early church talked about the miracles of Jesus, his life, his death and resurrection, but they didn’t talk about his birth because it wasn’t culturally relevant. At that time you didn’t even have to register children when they were born.
It seems that the first reference to December 25 as the day Jesus was born was made around AD 336. That year Emperor Constantine declared that date as the official date to celebrate the birth of Jesus. He may have chosen it to coincide with one of the most popular festivals in the Empire, the Festival of the Invincible Sun. However, it is not known if he did it as a compromise mixing Christianity with paganism, or if he did it to take advantage of the party and give it a Christian touch.
Although the origin of the celebration seems mixed with paganism, Christians have since celebrated December 25 as the day Jesus was born by adding the reading of the biblical portions and songs related to the nativity. Today the festivity is full of gifts, Christmas carols, food and family reunions and, as children of God, we can take the opportunity to spread the message of God’s love and the joy we have in him.
Learn about Christmas decorations: Can we Christians put up the tree and decorate for Christmas?
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