Luk 2:1 Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.

Luk 2:2 This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

Luk 2:3 And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.

Luk 2:4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,

Luk 2:5 in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.

Luk 2:6 While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.

Luk 2:7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Luk 2:8 In the same region there were {some} shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.

Luk 2:9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.

Luk 2:10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;

Luk 2:11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luk 2:12 "This {will be} a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Luk 2:13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

Luk 2:14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."

Luk 2:15 When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds {began} saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."

Luk 2:16 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.

Luk 2:17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.

Luk 2:18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.

Luk 2:19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.

Luk 2:20 The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

The other day I happened upon a comment on the web that was attacking Christmas stating that Christmas likely did not occur in December and that it was based on a pagan holiday. As such, the conclusion was that it was wrong to observe Christmas in any way as it was not Christian.

This is not a new thought and it has a degree of truth to it.

Years ago a book was written that did a thorough job detailing the history of Mithraism, a pagan religion that existed during the time of Christ and for many hundreds of years following his death (Come Out of Her My People, C. J. Koster). Those practicing Mithraism worshiped Mother Earth and the Sun. After Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity, the early church adopted many of their customs and integrated it into Christianity. Mithraicism was the fasted growing cult just prior to the year 321 and was a major rival of Christianity. Franz Cumont, a scholar of Mithraism, wrote, quoting Minicius Felix, ” The Mithraists also observed Sun-day and kept sacred the 25th of December as the birthday of the sun” Scholars have pointed out how Mithraists, and the Christians were all syncretized reconciled when Constantine led the takeover by Christianity. The Church in Rome, being smart, wanted to make it acceptable to its converts and made the Winter Solstice celebration Christmas and changed the focus to Jesus, the Son of God, to divert them form the pagan feasts celebrated on the same day.

The commenter went on to say, that because of this Christmas was anything but a Christian holiday and should not be observed by professing Christians and to do so was a violation of God’s word.

While I am not going to send this commentary to him, I did want to interject my opinion and allow those reading it to use this as a resource if they are questioned about this in their displays.

From scriptures in Luke, we learn that shepherds were in the fields at night. As such, the birth of Jesus was not in winter, but likely in the spring. In addition, it is believed that Caesar would not have requested a census in the winter that would have forced people to travel to their hometowns. Such travel would have been an unnecessary burden. This places the birth in summer or the spring.

Other theories regarding the birth date of Jesus: There are many feasts and festivals in Jewish traditions (if I get some of these wrong, please let me know. We have all heard of Passover, where the nation of Israel was delivered from bondage in Egypt. There is also the feast of Trumpets, the Feast of Tabernacles, Feast of First Fruits, Pentecost, etc. While all of these festivals have historic Jewish origins, they also point to a type and shadow of Jesus. For instance, Jesus was crucified on Passover and served as the sacrifice offering for all mankind. Following Passover, the Feast of First Fruits occurs three days later. Jesus was raised from the dead on the Feast of First Fruits as the first to be resurrected from the dead. So we see a pattern that has emerged where Jesus is intertwined in the Jewish traditions.

Some scholars have gone on to try to associate the birth of Jesus with the Feast of Trumpets (in September), or the Feast of First Fruits (Jesus was the first offspring [or fruit] of God) in spring.

So what are Christians to do with the knowledge that Christmas was arbitrarily assigned to December 25th? Does this mean that those observing Christmas in December are participating in pagan rituals?

By no means! In the New Testament, the apostle Paul left us (the church) with many instructions on how to live as Christians in a pagan world. We learn that we are not to eat food sacrificed to idols (Acts 15:29 you abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood and from things strangled and from fornication; if you keep yourselves free from such things, you will do well. Farewell). I don’t know about you, but I do not see where we eat food sacrificed to idols on Christmas day.

From Scripture - Philippians 1:15-18: Some, to be sure, are preaching Christ even from envy and strife, but some also from good will; 16 the latter {do it} out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel; 17 the former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition rather than from pure motives, thinking to cause me distress in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed; and in this I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

Here Paul seems to imply he does not care who or why people preach the Gospel of Christ, so long as it is preached. From this we can take a firm stand and defend our practice of proclaiming the season of Christmas as being Christ centered.

In other words (paraphrasing Philippians 1:15-18) For some, to be sure, are preaching the birth of Christ in good will, out of love, for the defense of the Gospel with pure motives. Christ is proclaimed and in this, we can rejoice.

Based on the liberty that has been given to us by faith in Jesus, we can freely celebrate a Christ centered holiday and promote Jesus as the Reason for the Season.