Tag: Christmas

The 14 Pointed Star

It may be one of the two ugliest churches in the world, but the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is a special place. It is a UN World Heritage Site – the first in Palestine and Israel. Constantine the Great’s mother, Helen, was responsible for building it in 339 A.D. Since then it has been rebuilt, survived destruction by the Persians (614), a mad caliph (1009), earthquake (1834) fire (1869) and an Israeli army siege against suspected Palestinian militants who had taken refuge there (2002). The Church of the Nativity was constructed over the traditional site of the birthplace of Jesus, a cave below the church.

If we were to climb down into the cave by the circular staircases on either side of the altar, we wouldn’t recognize the grotto below the church as a cave. Today, it is hung with tapestries and lit with lamps. There is a simple altar and there on the floor, supposedly over the very spot of his birth, is a fourteen-pointed Silver Star. While it is likely that Jesus was born in a cave (they were used as stables in those days), it is highly unlikely anyone would remember exactly which cave much less exactly which place in the cave was the very location of the birth of a carpenter’s son almost 400 years earlier!

However, the Silver Star itself became one of the reasons for the Crimean War (1853-1856, famous for the charge of the light brigade and Florence Nightingale). There have been hostilities between the Roman Catholic Church (West) and Greek Orthodox Church (East) for centuries. Different churches control various parts of the shrines of Christendom in Israel. For example, the Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Armenian, Coptic and Ethiopic churches control the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. These groups have often fought with each other (literally – imagine a brawl of monks using crucifixes and candlesticks as bludgeons). In fact, today the keeper of the keys to that church is a Muslim!

In 1845 the Roman Catholic Silver Star, which supposedly marks the very place where Mary gave birth to Jesus, was stolen. Napoleon III of France proclaimed himself protector of Catholics and insisted that he was the protector of the holy sites in Israel as well. The Russians had already claimed to be the protector of the holy sites in Israel and of the Orthodox Church through the Turks. Napoleon demanded the keys to the front door of the Church of the Nativity be given to the Romans who were having to use a side door to get in and he also demanded the silver star be returned. This became one of the causes for the Crimean War. The irony breaks my heart: people fighting over the right to protect the birthplace of the Prince of Peace!

Perhaps now, more than ever, we need the “peace that passes all understanding” to take control! With thousands of warring factions each claiming to be the true church, I want nothing to do with “religiosity.” I am neither Protestant, nor Catholic, nor Jew. I am just a Christian!

“When was Jesus born?”

 “Was Jesus really born on December 25th?” — Ebenezer Scrooge

Although both the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke describe the birth of Jesus, the Bible doesn’t tell us exactly when Jesus was born. In fact, for the first three hundred years, Christians didn’t celebrate his birth so how did people settle on December 25th as the date? There are two theories, one well known and the other not so known.

First, many people believe Christians simply adopted the Winter Solstice for the date of the holiday. This popular theory suggests that since the pagans already celebrated this holiday, the Christians simply took it over.

The Romans had their mid-winter Saturnalia festival in late December; barbarian peoples of northern and western Europe kept holidays at similar times. To top it off, in 274 C.E., the Roman emperor Aurelian established a feast of the birth of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun), on December 25th. Christmas, the argument goes, is really a spin-off from these pagan solar festivals.

Biblical Archaeology Society, August 12, 2014, http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org

The trouble with that theory is, it isn’t found in any ancient Christian writings. It wasn’t until the 12th century that anyone suggested that connection! A more interesting, but lesser known, solution involves the better-established date of Jesus’ death at the Passover (Easter).

Around 200 C.E. Tertullian of Carthage reported the calculation that the 14th of Nisan (the day of the crucifixion according to the Gospel of John) in the year Jesus died was equivalent to March 25th in the Roman (Solar) calendar. March 25th is, of course, nine months before December 25th; it was later recognized as the Feast of the Annunciation – the commemoration of Jesus’ conception. Thus, Jesus was believed to have been conceived and crucified on the same day of the year. Exactly nine months later, Jesus was born on December 25th.

Biblical Archaeology Society, August 12, 2012.

So when was Jesus born? We really don’t know. What we do know is that he was born – the Son of God Incarnate – who “will save his people from their sins.” That’s something worth celebrating! Merry Christmas indeed!

What the Shepherds Didn’t See

The angels didn’t need to tell the shepherds what to do. The Bible says when they heard the announcement, they ran “with haste” into town and found the family of the baby Jesus (Luke 2:16). The story is told in the barest detail. We’ll need to rely on our sanctified imaginations to picture how they found the newborn child. Was it an accident? Did they hear the cries of a baby? Did they go from house to house waking up the village as they went? What did they say when they knocked on the doors?

But perhaps the biggest surprise of all was what they saw when they finally found the Christ-child. Contrary to the Christmas card portraits, there were no halos around the heads of Joseph, Mary or Jesus. No rays of light beamed out from the straw as painted in the Renaissance. They saw a very tired mother, a very worried father and a tiny, baby boy who made noises and cried when he was hungry.

We don’t know what the shepherds said or the questions they asked. “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart,” (Luke 2:19) but what matters most is what they didn’t see. No angels hovered over the child. No animals were singing. No drummer boy was rat- a-tat-tatting. No wise men. (They came when the child was older.) There was nothing special – out of the ordinary, yes (babies aren’t usually found in mangers) — nothing to cause them to think this was anyone other than another Jewish baby boy.

But they knew better. The angels had told them, “a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord,” (Luke 2:11). Joseph knew better. The angel Gabriel had told him, “you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins,” (Matthew 1:21) and we know better and that is why Christmas is special.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. … From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known, (John 1:14 – 18).

Christmas Trees & Easter Eggs

John McKeel

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus and Easter commemorates the season of his death, burial and resurrection, but are they based on fact? No serious scholar doubts Jesus of Nazareth had a birthday and a day on which he died but how certain are we of those exact dates?

Frankly, Christmas Day was chosen on the basis of convenience. Of course there is no doubt Jesus was born, but the exact date is completely lost in antiquity. In fact, the Bible says Jesus was born while Herod the Great reigned but Herod died in 4 B.C.! It’s more than likely that Jesus was born around 6 B.C. but, as for the day or the month, that’s anyone’s guess. The earliest Christians didn’t celebrate Christmas and, much later, when some of them wanted to create a holiday to celebrate his birth, they chose an existing pagan holiday and “sanctified” it with new meaning.

On the other hand, while “Easter” with its bunnies and eggs was also a pagan holiday, the timing is pure coincidence. The events surrounding the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus were linked to the Jewish feast, Passover, and have been celebrated every Sunday from the very beginning of Christianity.

Passover celebrates the liberation of the Jewish people from Egyptian slavery (Exodus chapter 12). On the night of the 10th plague, the Israelites sacrificed a lamb and painted its blood on the doorposts of their houses. The “death angel” passed-over their homes when he saw the blood sparing those within. Blood represents life and it took the sacrifice of an innocent life to set them free. Likewise, the historical Jesus died on the eve of an historical Passover giving his life to set us free.

Since Passover is a lunar holiday, the date on our calendar varies from year to year. Likewise Christians have been divided about whether to celebrate the anniversary on the actual date of the event (which would fall on different days of the week every year) or to always link it to the actual day, Sunday. Here, in the West, it is traditionally celebrated on “Resurrection Sunday” and while we honor the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus every week (as Christians have from the beginning) it is especially heart-warming to celebrate Resurrection Sunday knowing it is firmly based in historical fact.