The Reason, Part 2...Thursday

12/4/14

This past Tuesday I wrote about the beginning of the Christmas happenings. I mentioned SAVING CHRISTMAS, the movie that Kirk Cameron brought out in the middle of November. His brother in law in the story was upset because he felt that Jesus had been left out of Christmas. He felt that all of the modern traditions were of pagan origin or just made up nonsense. He proceeds to set his brother-in-law straight by explaining the connection that the present things done at Christmas had their origins in the early years of Christianity. 

Here are some of the misconceptions that were cleared up. The familiar images of lights and trees carry a rich and biblical theological significance. These ideas did not originate with the Druids or other pagan influences. There is actually a very good reason to celebrate Christ’s birth in December? Also, St. Nicholas was not a pudgy mythical character who got lost in the Arctic and discovered flying reindeer—he was a champion of the faith who helped preserve the integrity of the Bible. 

A couple of the explanations really touched me. He talked about the swaddling cloths that Baby Jesus was wrapped in after His birth and said that it was a forward look towards the clothes found in the tomb after the Resurrection of Jesus... which makes me think of being born again. 

There was also the comparison of the first Adam and Jesus, the second Adam. In the garden Adam sinned by removing the forbidden fruit from the tree. His human transgression could only be erased by a sinless human who was also God, who put himself on the tree of the cross...the fruit returned. There are several theories about the date of December 25th. It was settled on in the fourth century. In the Catholic Church the Annunciation (when the angel told Mary she was going to be the mother of a special baby) is celebrated on March 25. December 25th is nine months after the observation of the Annunciation. The pope chose that day to celebrate the birth of Jesus. These are just a few of the things we do that have their root in ancient reality of the story of Jesus.

There is one more thing to think of. God gives us lots of gifts for our pleasure and loves to see us enjoying life. To celebrate things that seem to not obviously connected directly to Jesus is not a sin or even ignoring the earth changing occurrence. In the back of our minds Jesus is never far away at this time. As we go about our chores and parties we are totally aware of the miracle of Christmas. To do the things that we do around our traditions is fine as long as we are also continuously aware of the fact that Jesus IS the reason for the Season. 

Written by
Corinne Mustafa