The Christmas Season and The Birth of Christ According To Scripture

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How Much Do You Know About Christmas?

Introduction

The wise men knew more about the birth of Christ than the kings of Jesus' day. Unfortunately, we often allow tradition to replace truth. Common sense tells us some things but the following questions are based on exactly what the Bible says. As the pastor reads each question, check the answer you believe is correct. Then we will discuss that question.

1. For the journey to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph:

      __a. Rode horses
      __b. Walked
      __c. Joseph walked, Mary rode a donkey
      __d. No one knows

Answer: no one knows.

There is only one account in the Bible of Joseph and Mary's trip to Bethlehem.

Luke 2:4-6 says:

⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
⁵To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.
⁶And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

The Scripture never says how they got to Bethlehem. It just says Joseph went up from Galilee unto the city of David which is called Bethlehem.

According to 1 Samuel 17:12, Bethlehem was King David's hometown. Most of the book of Ruth takes place in the town of Bethlehem. The word Bethlehem means "house of bread." It was the literal location where the bread of life would be born into the world.

Common sense might tell us that Joseph walked to Bethlehem while Mary rode a donkey. It's hard to imagine a woman about nine months along walking, but the Scripture doesn't say one way or the other.

2. Christmas has always been observed:

      __a. On January 17
      __b. At Granny's house
      __c. December 25
      __d. None of the above

Answer: none of the above.

The Bible does not mention a specific date on which Christ was born. It just says He was born in the days of Herod the King.

Matthew 2:1: Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

The Bible never even says that Jesus was born in the winter time. Since Luke 2:8 says there were shepherds in the fields when the Lord was born, it may be that he was born in the spring, but no one knows. No one knows exactly when Jesus was born.

For the first three centuries after the death of Jesus, there was no Christmas. It was not observed. It was not a holiday. The Bible does not command us to observe Christmas. It commands us commemorate the Lord's death in the Lord's Supper, but it doesn't say to celebrate His birth.

Some of the early Christians, the ones called the Church Fathers (you.ve read about them in your Sunday School literature from time to time) had different ideas about when to celebrate Christmas. May 20, April 18, April 19, May 28, January 2, November 17, November 20, March 25 and March 21st, were all suggested as the most likely dates.

Where did Dec. 25th come from? Well, the first mention of December 25 as the birth date of Jesus is dated to A.D. 336, and it's listed in a Roman calendar. That date was chosen by Pope Julius I of the Catholic Church. Yes, the Catholic Church picked December 25th as the date of the holiday.

Why did they pick December 25th? In the Roman Empire, in the month of December there were three big pagan festivals. The Catholic Church had a policy of wiping these out when they could, but when they couldn't, they'd make up their own holidays and let the people observe them instead. They picked the 25th to be the holiday and by doing that, they let all the pagans keep their holidays under the guise of Christianity. That's why Catholic holidays sometimes seem to have so much paganism tied up in them.

I didn't know - I suspected but I didn't know for sure who picked the date. Don't let it bother you - you're not Catholic or following paganism by observing Christmas on Dec. 25th. You are celebrating the birth of Christ. Christmas has become part of our culture.

That leads us to a big question: is it Scriptural to observe Christmas? We already know that the Bible doesn't say anything about it, but is it wrong? Christmas is nothing more than a birthday celebration and some people say we shouldn't celebrate birthdays. Some say we shouldn't have holidays at all if God didn't tell us to do it. I want to show you what the Bible has to say about that.

First of all, I want you to understand that God does not have any problem with holidays. He created holidays when He made the first Sabbath day of rest. Second, I want you to know why some people don't think God is pleased with man-made holidays - especially birthday celebrations. They base their objection on two passages in the Bible. (Write these down).

Genesis 40:20 And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh's birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants: and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.
Matthew 14:6 But when Herod's birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod.

Both celebrations were in honor of the birthdays of kings, Pharaoh and Herod. In the Genesis account, Pharaoh released his chief butler and baker from prison. A few verses later (Gen. 4:22), the baker was executed. In the Matthew account, King Herod was entertained in a questionable manner by a young female dancer and this led to the execution of John the Baptist (Matthew 14:7-9). In both of the Biblical accounts, the birthdays were celebrated by pagan kings who were men who were not worshippers of the true God. In both examples, there were sinful lifestyles and evil plans going through the minds of the kings. But:

You cannot conclude from two examples (hundreds of years apart) that the celebration of birthdays is forbidden by Scripture. We can probably safely conclude that God was not happy with either one of the accounts in the Bible, but that does not necessarily mean that God is displeased with our celebrations today. Let me explain why that's so:

If two people in a room are ugly, then you can't claim that all of them are ugly. You only have two examples. "You need to replace two tires on your car because the wire is showing." You can't claim the wire is showing in all four tires, because you only have two that you know about for sure.

Two is some. In the Bible, you have two examples or SOME examples. You can't make a claim for ALL on the basis of SOME. That goes against the rules of logic, and the Bible always follows the rules of logic (when that is the intent of the author). God is a God of order.

How do we determine whether or not any celebration is okay with God. Turn to Zechariah 7:1-6

Zechariah 7:1-6
¹And it came to pass in the fourth year of king Darius, that the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah in the fourth day of the ninth month, even in Chisleu;
²When they had sent unto the house of God Sherezer and Regemmelech, and their men, to pray before the LORD,
³And to speak unto the priests which were in the house of the LORD of hosts, and to the prophets, saying, Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?
⁴Then came the word of the LORD of hosts unto me, saying,
⁵Speak unto all the people of the land, and to the priests, saying, When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
⁶And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

In these six verses, a group of men came to the house of God to pray and speak to the priests and prophets. They asked a question: "Should I weep in the fifth month, separating myself, as I have done these so many years?"

These men were asking about whether or not they should continue a traditional observance - a man-made memorial holiday. The holiday they were talking about was a July commemoration of the burning of the temple by the Chaldeans. God replies in verses five and six and He tells us what He looks for in the observances of men:

Did ye at all fast unto me, even to me?
And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?

What is God asking? He wants to know if their holiday was for Him or them. He wants to know if the purpose of the holiday was to honor and glorify Him, or to turn to Him in repentance.

Ask yourself the following question about any man-made celebration, including birthdays:
1. Is it for us or God?
2. Will God be honored by what we do? OR will we make sure that God is honored as we observe our holiday?
3. Will it be a positive Christian witness? (If you have a New Year's party and you have a keg of beer and a bunch of half clothed people running around, it's not a positive witness).
4. Will the people who attend be able to see Jesus in my life (our lives, our home)?

Brethren, God doesn't care about our holidays. If it is God-honoring, it is pleasing to God.

3. How many wise men came to see Jesus?

      __a. 12
      __b. 3
      __c. 42
      __d. No one knows

Answer: no one knows.

The Bible just says, "Wise men came from the east." (Matthew 2:1) How did we get the idea that there are three wise men?

For one, there is a famous painting that everyone has seen on postcards that shows three wise men on camels following a star.

The second reason is based on a interpretation of Matthew 2:11. That verse says, And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

The wise men gave three gifts and that is interpreted to mean that there were three wise men. That is a faulty interpretation. You can't determine that there were three wise men just because there were three gifts.

The fact is that there may have been more than three wise men and common sense tells us that they didn't come all the way across the desert from the east alone. They probably came in a caravan with bodyguards and they might have even had their own servants. The Bible doesn't say.

Recently I had a discussion about the Nativity Scenes that are sold in the stores around here and it was brought to my attention that one of the statues of the wise men is a black man. Is that Scriptural? No, it isn't. But neither is wise man that has blue eyes and blonde hair.

Somewhere around the 6th century a tradition got started that claimed the three wise men represented the three sons of Noah who started the different races. Shem is the father of the Semitic people. Japheth (which means "fair") was the ancestor of Caucasians. Ham (which means "dark") was the ancestor of the Negroid race. If you follow that tradition and claim that the wise men represented the three races, you have to make one of them be black. That's why there is a black statue in some Nativity Sets.

The truth is that they probably weren't black. They were probably dark-skinned Babylonians, but no one knows for sure. For all we know, all three could have been black, but the Bible just doesn't say.

4. The wise men were:

      __a. Kings
      __b. Generals
      __c. Diplomats sent by Nebuchadnezzar
      __d. None of the above

Answer: none of the above.

The Bible just says "wise men." In the Greek, the word "wise men" is the word Magi. That's where we get our word for magician and magic. They were probably the equivalent to our scientists of today. Since they were looking for a star and they followed it, common sense would seem to indicate that they were astrologers - people who study the movements of planets and stars. The Bible never calls these men anything but wise men.

5. The names of the wise men were:

      __a. Melchior, Belthasar, Caspar
      __b. Meshech, Shadrach, Abednego
      __c. Samson, Achan, Tubal-Cain
      __d. None of the above

Answer: none of the above.

The Bible does not name any of the wise men. The traditions that tell us they have names were all started in the 6th century A.D.

6. The wise men came from:

      __a. India
      __b. Greece
      __c. Egypt
      __d. The East

Answer: The east.

"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem."

Where in the east did they come from? No one knows. They probably came from Persia or Babylon, or modern day Iran and Iraq. Babylon was famous for the study of astrology. It may be that they were Iraqi's, but no one knows.

7. Who directed Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem?

      __a. Caesar
      __b. Publicans
      __c. an angel
      __d. Herod

Answer: Caesar.

Caesar, the Roman Emperor, directed Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem with a decree he made. Luke 2:1-4:

¹And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
²([And] this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
³And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
⁴And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

8. How many angels spoke to the shepherds?

      __a. A multitude
      __b. Two - Gabriel and Michael
      __c. One
      __d. No one knows

Answer: One.

Luke 2:8-14 (My notes in brackets)
⁸And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
⁹And, lo, the angel of the Lord [ONE ANGEL] came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
¹⁰And the angel [ONE ANGEL] unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
¹¹For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
¹²And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host [A MULTITUDE OF ANGELS] praising God, and saying,
¹⁴Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

One angel spoke and then the rest of the heavenly choir appeared and began to sing for joy. How long do you suppose they'd been practicing the song they sang? Probably since eternity.

9. When the wise men brought their gifts to Jesus, they found him in:

      __a. A manger
      __b. The temple
      __c. A house
      __d. None of the above

Answer: A house.

Matthew 2:9-11
⁹When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
¹⁰When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.
¹¹And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

If the wise men came into a house, which the Scripture says they did, what does that say about the Nativity Sets we see when the wise men are in the stable? It's not accurate, is it?

How old was Jesus when they found him? Verse 9 doesn't say they found a baby - it says they found a young child. A little later on in verse 16 of Matthew chapter 2, King Herod had every child in Bethlehem killed from the age of two years and younger. Jesus may have been as much as two years old when the wise men came.

Isn't is amazing what the Bible really says about the birth of Jesus?

10. What did the innkeeper say to Mary and Joseph?

      __a. "Welcome, blessed of the Lord."
      __b. "There is no room in the inn."
      __c. "I have a stable out back."
      __d. No one knows

Answer: No one knows.

Luke 2:7 states, "And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn."

We don't know what the innkeeper said. We don't even know if they talked to the innkeeper. They might have heard on the way there that there wasn't any room at the inn. The Bible doesn't say one way or the other.

11. What animals were present at Jesus' birth?

      __a. Cows, geese, hogs
      __b. Oxen, lions, tigers
      __c. Horse, sheep, donkeys
      __d. No one knows

Answer: No one knows.

Luke 2:7 tells us that that Mary wrapped Jesus in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger. A manger is a trough from which livestock eat. It's very likely that there could have been donkey, horses, maybe some sheep, present, but no one knows.

Sometimes in Nativity Sets you'll see lions and tigers gathered around the manger. That is just symbolic of the creation bowing paying their respects to the Creator in the manger. The Bible does not support this position.

Conclusion

I hope you have learned something from this lesson. I hope that you see how important God's word is and the many details we can overlook if we go by tradition instead of the word. If you made notes, you have some good information that you use to teach others about what the Bible really says about the birth of the Lord. Let's remember that He is the "reason for the season."

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