Worshipedia: Christmas

The New Testament offers no directive to celebrate the birth of Christ. The account of his birth is included in only two of the four Gospels, though references to it occur also in Galatians 4:4 and Revelation 12:1–5. Scripture gives no indication of the time of year when Jesus was born, although some have suggested that the evidence points to early autumn. The traditional 25 December date originated in a Roman winter festival, the Natalis Solis Invicti, a festival of the sun after the winter solstice, when the days in the northern hemisphere begin to lengthen. Despite the objections of many early Christian theologians to the confusion of Christ with the sun god, Christians had begun to celebrate the birth of Jesus on this day by the fourth century.

The infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke easily lend themselves to the pageantry of the birth of Christ. In Matthew’s account the Lord’s messenger, appearing to Joseph in a dream, explains the meaning of the name Jesus to be given to the child: ―He will save his people from their sins‖ (Matthew 1:21). The marvel of the Virgin Birth heralded by angelic visitants taken together with the consternation of Mary and Joseph, whose contracted marriage had not been consummated at the time of conception, evoke the full range of human emotion. The perspective of Luke is especially gripping; his dramatic narrative (Luke 2:1–20) couches the oppressed of all times who, like Joseph and Mary, must pay tax and tribute to an occupying power, or who too often find ―no room in the inn.‖ The announcement of the birth of Christ the Lord to humble shepherds strikes a responsive chord in all who struggle in a world that exalts wealth and position; its promises echo Mary’s earlier song magnifying the Lord, who ―has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble‖ (Luke 1:52). The hymn of the heavenly host, ―Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of his favor,‖ expresses the Christian’s response of exultation in the Lord’s covenant blessing of peace, made available to all by his grace in Christ. Moreover, the ―good news of great joy‖ is not for the Jewish people alone but for all people on whom God’s favor rests, Jews and Gentiles alike. Luke 2:10 proclaims the inclusion of the Gentiles in the plan of GodThe New Testament offers no directive to celebrate the birth of Christ. The account of his birth is included in only two of the four Gospels, though references to it occur also in Galatians 4:4 and Revelation 12:1–5. Scripture gives no indication of the time of year when Jesus was born, although some have suggested that the evidence points to early autumn. The traditional 25 December date originated in a Roman winter festival, the Natalis Solis Invicti, a festival of the sun after the winter solstice, when the days in the northern hemisphere begin to lengthen. Despite the objections of many early Christian theologians to the confusion of Christ with the sun god, Christians had begun to celebrate the birth of Jesus on this day by the fourth century.