Why Christmas?

CCF senior Pastor Peter Tanchi opened his Christmas message last Sunday by asking the congregation if they are sure Dec. 25 is the birthday of Jesus. He then went on to say that no one knows for sure... nowhere in the Bible does it explicitly say Dec. 25 is the date. Indeed, Pastor Tanchi remarked, the early Christians didn’t celebrate Christmas for over 300 years.

I have often heard such doubts on the authenticity of the date of Jesus’ birth. I googled and found an article that said the same thing. According to this article, if one were to base the date of the birth of Jesus Christ on biblical clues, today is the wrong date.

It would be too cold for shepherds to be tending their flock in Bethlehem. It wouldn’t be a good time to conduct a census, the reason why St Joseph and the Blessed Mother were in Bethlehem in the first place.

 â€œHistory convincingly shows that Dec. 25 was popularized as the date for Christmas, not because Christ was born on that day but because it was already popular in pagan religious celebrations as the birthday of the sun…”

The article observed that given the difficulties and the desire to bring pagans into Christianity, “the important fact then . . . is that the fixing of the date as December 25th was a compromise with paganism.”

The article argues that a more plausible date would be in summer or early fall.

Well, Jesus may not have been born on the day we celebrate it but that’s not important. That Jesus Christ was born at all to assume human form with the mission of saving our souls is what matters.

Why would God send His only Son to suffer at the hands of the very people He is supposed to save from eternal damnation? The Gospel according to St. John 3:16-17 explains.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

And why would we need to be saved? Romans 3:23-24 says why… “for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”

In his general audience at the Vatican last week, Pope Francis pointed out that the birth of Jesus brings us the good news that we are loved “immensely and individually” by God – and God not only helps us to know this love for each of us, but also gives and communicates this love to us.

According to Vatican Radio, here is the Holy Father’s reflection on the Nativity of Jesus: “the feast of confidence and hope that overcomes uncertainty and pessimism.” The reason for our hope, he said, is this: “God is with us, and God still trusts us.”

Pope Francis explains the message behind Christmas: “God has willed to share our human condition to the point of making himself one of us in the person of Jesus, who is true man and true God.”

But even more surprising, he said, is that Jesus becomes man not in “an ideal world, an idyllic [world], but in this real world, marked by so many things, good and bad, marked by divisions, wickedness, poverty, arrogance and wars.” In this way, he said, God shows that He is merciful towards humanity, and filled with love for us.

Pope Francis concluded his audience by pointing out that God reveals Himself not as one who remains on high and dominates the universe, but as one who humbles Himself. This shows us that in order to be like Him, we must not put ourselves above others, but must humble ourselves and serve others.

He had strong words for Christians who refuse to humble themselves: “It is an ugly thing,” he said, “when you see a Christian who doesn’t want to humble himself, who doesn’t want to serve, a Christian who struts about everywhere: it’s ugly, eh? That is not a Christian: that’s a pagan!”

The Pope also said that, if Jesus has become one of us, then whatever we do for a brother or a sister, we do for Him.

Humility, indeed, is one virtue strongly emphasized in the Christmas message. Just scanning the day’s headlines will lead us to conclude that if there was just a little more humility in the world, our lives would be so much better. Too much pride, too much hubris is at the root of many of our troubles in society today. You know... the wang wang mentality!

This brings me back to Pastor Peter who said that God’s sovereign will, His plan made the innkeeper tell Mary and Joseph that he had no room at the inn. That forced them to seek alternative shelter for the night which turned out to be a stable.

The stable was part of God’s plan all along to deliver a strong message, Pastor Peter declared. God didn’t command the angels to announce the birth of Jesus to religious leaders or kings or rich people at the top of society.

God chose to bless the shepherds, the rejects of society, to have the honor of being the first human beings to hear the best news ever for mankind: Jesus Christ the Savior was born. That stable became a cathedral, the first place on earth where man, the shepherds, paid homage to God in person as He was born into this world.

Perhaps, in today’s context, the scavengers in Payatas would have been chosen instead… not the snooty folks in Fort Dasmarinas Village in their fortified enclave nor their privilege seeking city mayor hungry to be recognized and be exulted.

The Sovereign God does what He pleases, Pastor Peter emphasized, and it had always been His desire to save His people from their sinful selves… He is aware of man’s natural sinfulness and Christ became man precisely to offer forgiveness and a choice. He offers a chance for those who so choose to follow Him to once again be worthy to be in God’s presence.

So, Pastor Peter surmised, if the innkeeper only knew who Mary and Joseph were and the Son about to be born that evening, he wouldn’t have turned them away. In the same way, if we truly knew not just in our minds but in our hearts who Jesus is, we should have long welcomed Him as he knocked on our doors. But 2000 years after, we are still like the innkeeper sending Jesus away, because there is no room in our hearts.

This Christmas, let us rediscover the real reason why we are celebrating. The real birthday of Jesus may have been sometime in September but that’s not important. We are celebrating His act of humbling Himself in becoming man, His having preached the Gospel of salvation, suffered, died and resurrected. Through Jesus, we know we have been given the free gift of salvation not because of anything we have done but by the sheer grace of God. This is what Christmas is all about.

As for those who do not believe in Christ, do not deny us who do the privilege of celebrating His coming by insisting it isn’t politically correct to even call it Christmas. Maybe for non believers, today is just another holiday to be enjoyed like the sun-worshiping pagans did. But there is no denying that this is one holiday inspired by the Savior’s coming… the best news ever for mankind.

A Merry and Blessed Christmas to all our readers!

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco