5 Things You Think You Know about Christmas . . . but Really Don't

8/6/2019 5 Things You Think You Know about Christmas . . . but Really Don't

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You Know About

Christmas...

ThingsYou Think

(five)

Do

nT

ButReally

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5. It Happened inDecember

There it was, December 24th, Zero ..

Snow sprinkled gently on the rooftops, while

Jewish kids went ice-skating on the Dead

Sea, before making snowmen in the yard, and

drinking mugs of kosher hot chocolate before

bedtime. The next day, after an eventful

delivery, Joseph headed down to the local

Roman Consulate and got a nice ocial birth

certicate scroll, saying December XXV, in the

XXVIIth year of the reign of Caesar Augustus.

First name: Jesus. Last name: Christ.

With the spot for fathers name leftsuspiciously blank...

What really happened:Nobody actually knows what day Jesus was

born. Jews and early Christians cared more

about His death and resurrection than when

He was born. In fact, it was considered pagan

to care about birthdays, because the Roman

Empire made a big deal about birthdays.

I came, I saw, I had cake.

So it wasnt until a couple of centuries

later that people really even started asking

about the date. Most early suggestions were

between March and May. Which makes sense.

Christmas today is a joyful time, to say the

least. From the rst snowake of the season to

the post-Thanksgiving shopping sales, mostof us spend several months anticipating the

big day. But somewhere along the way, our visions of

sugar plums are replaced with just-before-Christmas

nal exams, crowded shopping malls, forced house

decorating, and being made to go to parties wed

rather not attend. And its precisely for those reasons

that most of us feel burned out after the holidays are

over.

And so we nd ourselves reecting on the very rst Christmas,

oh-so-long ago. That original Christmas was a simpler, quieter, more

spiritual time. When we reect on what Christmas truly means, we

nd that our sense of giddiness and anticipation cant be sated with

gifts or shopping bags, or stockings crammed with goodies. When we

clear up our misconceptions about the purpose of Christmas, we ndourselves much more satised with the truth.

So, in the spirit of getting back to the heart of the holiday, weve

compiled a list of common misconceptions of the Christmas season.

As it turns out, a lot of things we think we know about that rst

Christmas are completely untrue. You might realize that a lot of

Christmas pageants, movies (and maybe even our well-intended

Sunday school lessons) have misled us about a lot of the facts of that

rst Christmas. Lets get into what really happened.


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celebrateChristmasin South Africa

Christmas is a summer

holiday. People often use

the Christmas break as an

opportune time for camping.

in Alaska

Christmas songs are ended

with a blessing in the Aleut

language: Mnogaya leta,

which means, God grant

you many years.

in Argentina

the traditional Christmas

beverage is a drink prepared

with different kinds of fruit,

cut into pieces, and mixed

with juice and cider.

in Australia

Christmas celebrations

down under include an

annual televised Carols

by Candlelight concert in

Melbourne.

in Brazil

Papai Noel (or Father

Christmas) is the Brazilian

version of Santa Claus. Since

its hot at Christmas, he

doesnt wear a red fur coat,

but lighter, silk clothes more

appropriate for the summer

heat.

10 DEC JAN FEB

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3 5 Things You Think You Know ... continued from page 9

If the shepherds were out with their sheep,

it wouldnt have been winter; it was most

likely spring. But even though that is a logical

conclusion, a spring birthday just never

caught on. Eventually, church leaders decided

on December 25. Why? Well, there are two

theories: either they stole the date from a

pagan holiday, or its because of the power ofmath.

Or maybe they just did this.

You may not realize it, but lots of our current

Christmas traditions are adapted from pagan

religions: the Christmas tree, the Yuletide log,

mistletoe, stockings by the chimney, etc.

So it would make sense for the date to be

adapted from another pagan holiday. In this

case, the Romans worshiped a sun god named

Sol Invictus. They celebrated his day on

December 25. Why would anybody celebrate

a sun god in the middle of winter? Well, as

we all know (or should if we paid attention

in science class!), December 21st is the winter

solstice, the shortest day of the year. Every

day after that is longer than the one before.

So the Romans celebrated their sun god when

the days started getting longer.

The theory goes like this: when Emperor

Constantine made Christianity the ocial

religion of Rome, they were already used to

celebrating on December 25, so he designated

that as Christs birthday, to trick the Romans

into celebrating for Jesus.

But most modern scholars now think that

we decided on December 25 because of some

simple arithmetic. As you may have noticed,

God seems to do things in number patterns.

Elijah spent 40 days in the wilderness:Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness.

Jonah was in a whale for 3 days:

Jesus was dead for 3 days.

There were 12 tribes of Israel:

there were 12 disciples of Jesus.

So early Christians started thinking: If

Jesus died on a certain date, maybe He was

conceived on the same date?

By this logic, we can assume thatTim Tebow will win the Super Bowl

on August 14th.

Since it was believed that Jesus was

crucied on March 25, then that meant

the Holy Spirit came to Mary for the

Annunciation on March 25, as well, 33 yearsearlier. Add nine months of pregnancy to

March 25, and you get . . . DECEMBER 25!

(Orthodox Christians use the dates April 6 and

January 6, but the principles the same.) So

you can thank early Christian mathematicians

for the reason we celebrate Christmas in the

winter instead of the spring.

4.There were 3 wisemen, and they were ontime

We can blame a lot of our wrongness aboutChristmas on popular Christmas songs. We

know all about We three kings of Orient

are, and nativity scenes always show us

three wise men, generally in an aesthetically

pleasing, tiered display: one kneeling low

in worship, one kneeling normally, and one

standing.

The fourth king, who walked like anEgyptian, is generally not pictured.


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celebrateChristmasin Denmark

Christmas Eve dinner begins

with rice pudding that holds

a single magic almond

inside. Whoever finds the

almond in their bowl receives

a prize.

in China

December 25th is not an

official holiday. But the

commercialization of

Christmas has crept into

the culture, and people do

buy each other presents at

Christmastime.

in Germany

the traditional visitor is

the Christkind, who is a

messenger for baby Jesus.

She is a beautiful fair-

haired girl with a shining

crown of candles who

visits each house with a

basket of presents. Children

leave letters on their

windowsills for Christkind,

and sometimes the letters

are decorated with glue and

sprinkled with sugar to make

them sparkle.

in India

Christians in India decorate

banana or mango trees.

They also light small oil-

burning lamps as Christmas

decorations and fill their

churches with red flowers,

such as the poinsettia.

16 DEC JAN FEB



I would let them sleep in thegarage, but then where would we

keep the Porsche?

What really happened:The Bible never says that there were three

wise men, only that there were three gifts.

But whatever, its convenient to assume one

wise man per gift. Heres what will blow your

mind: the wise men werent even at Jesus

birth!

You know that song, The 12 Days ofChristmas? The reason there are 12 days is

because it is traditionally believed that the

wise men were 12 days late, which is why

January 6 is Epiphany Day. But even that

tradition is giving the wise men too much

credit.

You ever wonder why King Herodwhen

he was looking for baby Jesushad his

soldiers kill every baby up to two years old?

Its not because he was bad at estimating ages,

its because by the time the wise men told him

about the baby king, theyd missed the birth

by almost two years.

The reason there werent fourgifts is because Jesus had alreadyoutgrown the newborn onesies.

3. There was no roomat the inn, so Jesuswas born in a stable

This is the part of the Nativity story that

always gets lots of outrage and sympathy.

Mary had to give birth to a baby in a stable

because there was no room at the inn. It makesyou want to give up faith in humanity. There

wasnt a single guest at the inn that was willing

to give up his roomfor a pregnant lady? Even

if all the guests were selsh jerks, surely the

innkeeper himself would say, Hey look, lady,

you can have my room. Ill sleep in the stable.

Try not to ruin the sheets. But he didnt.

So because of peoples self-centeredness, the

Son of God was born in a lowly manger, in a

stable with a bunch of farm animals.

If God wants to save us, He can doit during the off-season. Doesnt Heknow you can never get a room over

the holidays?

What really happened:There was no innkeeper and no stable in

the Nativity story. And almost certainly no

animals. Dont believe me? Go check outthe Bible story in Luke 2. The Bible doesnt

mention any of those things. It wasnt a

heartless innkeeper who kicked Mary out into

the cold, it was . . . Josephs own family.

The point of the census was to go back to

your familys hometown. Joseph and Mary

went to Bethlehem where many of Josephs

aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, parents,

and siblings still lived. Bethlehem was a tiny

town; its not like there was an Embassy

Suites on every corner. So when Joseph

and Mary needed a place to stay, they went

to a relatives house. But then why does it

say inn? Because modern scholarship has

improved our understanding of the Greek

word kataluma. Instead of inn, it should be

translated as guest room. Thats right, it was

the spare room at his familys house that was

full, not an inn. The real scenario was that

Josephs local relatives were swamped with all

the out-of-town relatives.


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celebrateChristmas

in Greece

The Christmas feast in

Greece features loaves of

christopsomo or Christ

Bread. This bread is made in

large sweet loaves of various

shapes and the crusts are

engraved and decorated in

some way that reflects the

familys profession.

in the Philippines

There is a unique tradition

in the Philippines of making

3-D parols or star lanterns

made from thin strips of

bamboo and covered in

colored thin plastic film to

symbolize the guiding star

that the three wise men

followed to find Jesus Christ.

It is also the Filipinos way

of inviting the spirit of Christ

into their homeit mentally

reverses the notion of no

room at the inn. The star

symbolizes the willingness

of each home to house the

baby Jesus.

in Spanish Countries

In Spain, Argentina, Mexico,

and Uruguay there is a

long tradition for having

the children receive their

Christmas presents from the

three wise men, or tres reyes

magos, during the night of

January 5th, known as Magi

Eve. (The figure of Santa

Claus only became popular in

recent years.)

36 DEC JAN FEB



So instead of being put up in a spare

bedroom, Mary and Joseph had to camp out

on the oor of the living room. And since

Josephs relatives hadnt proactively picked

up a crib from Babies N Babies, they used

whatever furniture was already there, namely

an old manger.

The most accurate modern-day equivalentwould be to say, The relatives house was so

crowded that Mary had to give birth on the

couch. Then they kicked the dog out of its

doggy bed and put baby Jesus in that instead

of a bassinet.

2. It was peacefulWhats the most famous Christmas hymn

of all time? Thats right, Silent Night.

Weve been singing that hymn for hundreds

of years, ever since the Germans wrote it.

On top of that, weve got the other popular

Christmas hymns, with lines like, It cameupon a midnight clear, and the little boy

Jesus, no crying he makes. It all combines

to paint a picture of a calm, tranquil evening,

where everyone placidly accepted that God

was going to do a nice little miracle.

Then theres that line about the shepherds

guarding Jesus while he peacefully sleeps.

Shepherds werent guarding Jesus; they were

guarding sheep. You know, sheep, animals that

reek so badly that shepherds were ostracized

from the rest of societyfor a reason! When

you only shower once before foaling season

and once after eecing season you are not

the best-smelling company possible for atired new mom and a God who isnt potty-

trained yet. (Well, maybe that worked in the

shepherds favor.)

In any case, they almost certainly didnt

bring the sheep with them into Josephs

familys house. Have you tried moving a

hundred sheep in the middle of the night

when theyre already sleeping?Us neither.

Unless you count Wii Party.

What really happened:

The Christmas miracle scared the pants

o of all the people involved. This was a

tempestuous night. Start with a teenager

giving birth without the benet of modern

anesthetics. Factor in that God was staging a

supernatural invasion of the natural world.

The birth of Jesus violated all the laws ofnature.

Also, what was the rst thing angels had

to say to everybody when they appeared?

Do not be afraid! When Gabriel told Mary

she was pregnant, he had to start by calming

her down. When an entire army of angels

appeared to shepherds, they rst had to

prevent the shepherds from running away.

We dont always think about the

fearsomeness of angels, because when we hear

angel, we think of something adorable, like

this . . .

when the reactions that people have to real

angels are more something like this . . .

Theyre not thinking, How cute!

Angels are Gods divine messengers,defenders against demons, and warriors

of the spiritual realm. Christmas night was

the winning of a heavenly battle against

thousands of years of sinful consequences.

Any silent night was interrupted by a

fearsome angel army shouting a victory cheer.

Happy time? Yes. Peaceful time? No.


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d

evos

Put on the fullarmor of Godso that you cantake your stand

against thedevils schemes.

Ephesians 6:11

monRead Ephesians 6:11.

Focus on the belt of truth

(6:14). Its truth in your

life and your beliefs that

wins Gods battle. Listen

carefully to the messages

you hear today, and make

the distinction between

truth and error.

tuesRead Ephesians 6:11, 14

again. Christ has given

you His righteousness

and helps you develop

personal righteousness

as you grow in your faith.

Ask God to help you live

righteously for Him.

wedRead Ephesians 6:11, 15.

When you talk about thegood news of salvation (the Gospel),

you announce that Christ has won.

Thank God for His victory over Satan.

thursRead Ephesians 6:11, 16. As a

Christian, your faith is in the nal

victory already won by Christs

resurrection. With this kind of faith,

you can face anything. Ask God to

increase your faith.

friRead Ephesians 6:11, 17. Salvation

is your ultimate protection. Onceyou trust Christ for salvation, your

life is changed and you have a new

direction. Thank God for His salvation.

satRead Ephesians 6:11, 18. Although

prayerisnt listed as a weapon,

you need it to have victory over the

enemy. Spend a few minutes in prayer,

thanking God for equipping you to

take your stand against Satan.


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Sorry to disillusion you. Also, there is noTooth Fairy. It was just your parents. p

1. The meaning of ChristmasBut the worst misunderstanding about Christmas is its meaning. Every year, TV

shows have a Christmas episode where the main characters discover the meaning of

Christmas. Ebenezer Scrooge, after a long night of hallucinations, nally gures out

the true meaning of Christmas! Tons of movies and songs ponder the true meaning

of Christmas. And that meaning is . . . get your shopping done before Black Friday.

No, seriously. Before Black Friday.

What really happened:

Sadly, too many people think Christmas is mostly a time of gift-giving, hanging

with family, doing the occasional good deed. But its much more important than

that. Its the only time in all of human history that the only all-powerful God

became human so that He could suer with us and save us from our own fallenness.

Zeus doesnt count. He onlybecame human to get dates.

Christmas is a time to remember and be thankful that God was willing to give

up so much because He loves us. Gifts are nice. Good deeds are nice. But Christmas

is more than our traditions and our misunderstandings. Its a paradox. A mighty

God becoming a humble baby. A fallen race, saved for all time. So lets recap. Not

in December, no wise men, no sheep, no stable, no Silent Night. Hopefully,

challenging these myths of Christmas will also help you challenge the watered-

down meaning of Christmas.

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5 Things You Think You Know about Christmas . . . but Really Don't

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