JRM Sison Chapter - December 6, 2009 - The Heart of Christmas

Only a few more days before Christmas. I remember when I was a young boy that Christmas is a day to be expected. When the ‘ber’ months had come, people begin decorating their houses and streets with Christmas lanterns, lights and trees. They were all excited for the coming holiday. When the ‘ber’ months had arrived, ‘you can smell Christmas coming’, so they say.

I remember that we always go to Manila and go shopping to buy something new and expensive; shoes, clothing, jackets, etc. Christmas was a time of giving and receiving.

But it is very different now. It is as if Christmas is just an ordinary day; families didn’t bother to decorate their houses with Christmas lanterns, lights and trees. They even forget to buy something new and settle for something less like ‘ukay-ukay’. Expensive restaurant venues were replaced with ‘just-around-the-corner’ spots. Christmas was never the same anymore. Today, it is something to be neglected or even avoided (if you have a lot of godsons/goddaughters you’ll know what I mean).

Brief History of Christmas

For many centuries, Christian writers accepted that Christmas was the actual date on which Jesus was born. However, in the early eighteenth century, scholars began proposing alternative explanations. Isaac Newton argued that the date of Christmas was selected to correspond with the winter solstice, which in ancient times was marked on December 25. In 1743, German Protestant Paul Ernst Jablonski argued Christmas was placed on December 25 to correspond with the Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti and was therefore a “paganization” that debased the true church. In 1889, Louis Duchesne suggested that the date of Christmas was calculated as nine months after the Annunciation (March 25), the traditional date of the Incarnation.

The word Christmas originated as a compound meaning “Christ's Mass”. It is derived from the Middle English Christemasse and Old English Cristes mæsse, a phrase first recorded in 1038. “Cristes” is from Greek Christos and “mæsse” is from Latin missa. In Greek, the letter ? (chi), is the first letter of Christ, and it, or the similar Roman letter X, has been used as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16th century. Hence, Xmas is often used as an abbreviation for Christmas.

The Winter Solstice occurs exactly when the earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun at its maximum of 23° 26'. Though the Winter Solstice lasts an instant in time, the term is also colloquially used like Midwinter to refer to the day on which it occurs. For most people in the high latitudes this is commonly known as the shortest day and the sun's daily maximum position in the sky is the lowest. The seasonal significance of the Winter Solstice is in the reversal of the gradual lengthening of nights and shortening of days. The Winter Solstice is also the shortest day or lowest sun position for people in low latitudes located between the Tropic of Cancer (23°26'N) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23°26'S). Depending on the shift of the calendar, the winter solstice occurs some time between December 21 and December 22 each year in the Northern Hemisphere, and between June 20 and June 21 in the Southern Hemisphere.

Worldwide, interpretation of the event has varied from culture to culture, but most cultures have held a recognition of rebirth, involving holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations around that time. The word solstice derives from Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still).

Since 45 BCE, when the 25th of December was established in the Julian calendar as the winter solstice of Europe, (Latin: Bruma), the difference between the calendar year (365.2500 days) and the tropical year (365.2422 days) moved the day associated with the actual astronomical solstice forward approximately three days every four centuries until 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII changed the calendar bringing the northern winter solstice to around December 21. Yearly, in the Gregorian calendar, the solstice still fluctuates slightly but, in the long term, only about one day every 3000 years.

Dies Natalis Solis Invicti means "the birthday of the unconquered Sun." The use of the title Sol Invictus allowed several solar deities to be worshipped collectively, including Elah-Gabal, a Syrian sun god; Sol, the god of Emperor Aurelian; and Mithras, a soldiers' god of Persian origin. Emperor Elagabalus (218-222) introduced the festival, and it reached the height of its popularity under Aurelian, who promoted it as an empire-wide holiday. This day had held no significance in the Roman festive calendar until it was introduced in the third century.

The festival was placed on the date of the solstice because this was on this day that the Sun reversed its southward retreat and proved itself to be "unconquered." Several early Christian writers connected the rebirth of the sun to the birth of Jesus. "O, how wonderfully acted Providence that on that day on which that Sun was born...Christ should be born", Cyprian wrote. John Chrysostom also commented on the connection: "They call it the 'Birthday of the Unconquered'. Who indeed is so unconquered as Our Lord . . .?"

The Birth of Christ

Jesus was born in Bethlehem. His parents traveled to Bethlehem because of the census that Caesar had decreed to be accomplished. His lineage doesn’t belong to Joseph the carpenter but to His mother, Mary. His birth was timed during the political unrest that happened in the city of Sepphoris; a city on a hill about 4 miles away from Nazareth. It was a time of many crucifixions in that city. The city was burnt to the ground by the Roman conquerors because of Jewish rebellion. It was a time of hardship.

In Bethlehem, Jesus was born on a stable, not an inn or house. There were no more vacancy because all the inns were booked (imagine so many people going to Bethlehem just for census). They were given an option and they grabbed it. Thus, they settled for the stable. Mary, at that time, gave birth to Jesus. There was no bed to place the baby Jesus that was why they placed him in a manger; a trough or a box of curved stone or wood used to hold food for animals. It was not a comely sight to see God that was manifested in the flesh born on a stable and placed in a manger. The birth of Christ is a reminder to us all.

Christ in our hearts

Today, Jesus is knocking in every hearts of man; seeking an abode for Him to stay. Like the time when Jesus was born, it is a chaotic time; families are being torn apart; friends begin hating one another; trust is already a myth rather than a practice. It is a time of hardship.

Rich and healthy people disregard the knocking of Jesus. But poor, sickly and problematic people open their doors and accept Him. Jesus, when He was born in Bethlehem, was a treasure laid on a dirty manger; making the meaningless manger to a meaningful one. Jesus, when He is received as God and Saviour, is a treasure laid on a dirty person; making that meaningless person to a meaningful Christian.

A Child Is Born

Jesus was born because of the following reasons:

      ·      Promised by God
Jesus was promised to Adam (Gen. 3:15). This promise is the crushing of the rule of Satan over man.
Jesus as our eternal life is promised to us (Titus 1:2) that whosoever believeth in Him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
God, that cannot lie, has to give His Son as a ransom for many (Mark 10:45; 1 Timothy 2:6); as atonement for our sins (Romans 5:11).

      ·      Prophesied by the prophets
Isaiah 9:6 prophesies the birth of Jesus Christ. Other prophets like Malachi prophesied other events linking the birth of Jesus. Jesus was born so that the prophecy is fulfilled and those who wait upon Him will not wait in vain.

      ·      Fulfillment of the prophecy
When Jesus was born, Herod was afraid that he might be overthrown. Therefore, Herod acted and ordered the slaying of all children in Bethlehem to rid of his supposed rival (Matthew 2:16). All these, even Herod’s action, were the fulfillment of the prophecy about the birth of the Son of God.

      ·      Introduction to humanity
Jesus was introduced to man. His introduction was not one of pride or wealth but of humility and richness of life. His introduction was not one of condemnation but redemption; it was not of hate but of love. Jesus was introduced to man as God’s only begotten Son; His Son that every one of us must hear out (Mark 9:7).

      ·      Salvation for the repentant hearts
As John 14:6 had stated, “I am the way, the truth, and the life”, Jesus is the life. 1 John 5:20 states, “And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name (John 1:12). Jesus even prayed, “Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee: As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him( John 17:1-2).”

The Heart of Christmas

Brethren, Christmas is not only a holiday to be celebrated on the 25^th of December. It must be celebrated everyday. It is a commemoration of the death-sacrifice of Jesus Christ at the cross of Calvary. It must be remembered always and must be retained in our hearts that Jesus died for us. It is not only for a day but everyday to remember.

Christmas is not about our gifts to each other; it is not going to any special place; it is not a change of atmosphere. It is about the gift of God that through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, all might have eternal life; that whoever believes in His Name, the same shall be saved. Christmas is remembering that we have a special place reserved for us; a place prepared by our Lord Jesus (John 14:1-3). Christmas is about a peaceful and loving atmosphere where our Lord guides and protects us.

Christmas must be in every Christian’s hearts. Don’t say merry Christmas but a blessed Christmas for what is merry about the death of Christ? It is a blessed one because through Him all that believed in His name will be redeemed.