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Someone has said, "This coming December 25th most
parents will be lying to their children about old St. Nick. Some of us will
be celebrating the birth of our Savior. But was he really born on this day?
Was Jesus really born
(1) on December 25th? Virtually every month on the calendar
has been proposed by biblical scholars. So why do we celebrate his birth
in December?
The tradition for December 25th is actually quite
ancient. Hippolytus, in the second century A.D., argued that this was Christ's
birthday. Meanwhile, in the eastern Church, January 6th was the date followed.
But in the fourth century, John Chrysostom argued that December 25th was
the correct date and from that day till now, the Church in the East , as
well as the West, has observed the 25th of December as the official date
of Christ's birth.
In modern times, the traditional date has been
challenged. Modern scholars point out that when Jesus was born, shepherds
were watching their sheep in the hills around Bethlehem. Luke tells us that
an angel appeared to "some shepherds staying out in the fields [who were]
keeping watch over their flock by night" (2:8). Some scholars feel that the
sheep were usually brought under cover from November to March; as well, they
were not normally in the field at night . But there is no hard evidence for
this. In fact, early Jewish sources suggest that the sheep around Bethlehem
were outside year-round. So you can see, December 25th fits both tradition
and the biblical narrative well. There is no sound objection to
it.
Now admittedly, the sheep around Bethlehem were the
exception, not the rule. But these were no ordinary sheep. They were sacrificial
lambs. In the early spring they would be slaughtered at the Passover. And
God first revealed the Messiah's birth to these shepherds--shepherds who
protected harmless lambs which would soon die on behalf of sinful men. Whey
they saw the baby, could they have known? Might they have whispered in their
hearts what John the Baptist later thundered, "Behold, the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world!"
Now, of course, we can't be absolutely certain of the day of Christ's birth.
At least, not this side of heaven. But an early winter date seems as reasonable
a guess as any. And December 25th has been the frontrunner for eighteen
centuries. Without more evidence, there seems no good reason to change the
celebration date now.
We can blame the ancient church for a large part of our uncertainty. You
see, they did not celebrate Christ's birth. At all. To them, it was
insignificant. They were far more concerned with his death . . . and
resurrection.
But modern man has turned that around. A baby lying in a manger is harmless,
non-threatening. But a man dying on a cross--a man who claims to be God--that
man is a threat! He demands our allegiance! We cannot ignore him. We must
either accept him or reject him. He leaves us no middle ground."
The True Glory of Christmas is how perfectly God entered our world that first
Christmas. There are six perfections we will see:
Thus the world that cradled Christ was the world
that Christianity entered - and by God's definition was the Fullness of Time:
It was characterized by six things:
- Worldwide Citizenship
- Worldwide Language
- Worldwide Transportation
- Worldwide Peace
- Worldwide Moral Decline
- Worldwide Expectancy
In short order, let me demonstrate this:
- "God and sovereign Savior of human life" (so already Julius Caesar),
- "God's son" (Augustus),
- "Lord and God" (Domitian),
- "High Priest," "Savior of the World" (Augustus, Claudius, Nero),
- "King of Kings."
- His decrees were called "gospels" (good news),
- his letters "sacred writings."
- His arrival was termed a "parousia" (advent),
- his visit an "epiphany."
Through all this a clash with early Christianity was unavoidable. It was the chief ground of the persecution of Christians; and at the same time the empire of the first century became a type of Antichrist's empire of the End time (the 'beast", with the "names of blasphemy" on his heads adorned with diadems. Rev. 13:1). "And yet even this imperial will was subject to the will of the Most High.
From the center of the Mediterranean world there issued a an order, affecting nations, the census decree of Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1). But in the light of God's Word it was by the hand of the Lord of all Lords. God was about to fulfill an old prophetic word concerning a very small city in the land of Judah, the small city of Bethlehem Ephratah, the city of David (Mic. 5:2; Luke 2:1-7). Here verily the great and the small touch, and in the small the Greatest of all!!"
- Between Alexandria and Asia Minor there was a daily shipping connexion (Ramsay, Letters to the Seven Churches, 18, 435).
- According to Pliny one traveled from Spain to Ostia, the port of Rome, in four days, and in two days from Africa.
- The tomb inscription is known of a Phrygian merchant who not less than 72 times made the journey from Hierapolis, near Colosse in Asia Minor, to Rome, over 1,250 miles.
Without this notable world traffic the swift advance of early Christianity would have been inconceivable. Sea traffic was specially important to them, for early Christian gospel work was specially important to them, for early Christian gospel work was in great measure a labor in harbor cities, and especially so with Paul. "In the main the world of the apostle is to be sought where the sea wind blows." One need only think of Paul's sojourns in the ports of Caesarea, Troas, Ephesus, Athens, Corinth, and Rome.
Yet the land connections also were of the utmost importance. Even the most remote and isolated lands were opened up through roads and bridges. Already at that time a tolerably complete network of well-built highways, protected by walls and fortresses, spread itself over the whole empire. "All roads lead to Rome." On these imperial and main roads the messengers of the gospel later traveled, bringing to the world the joyful news of the Redeemer who had appeared. Some estimate Paul alone journeyed by land and water a total of more than 15,000 miles.
For so long man had focused on outward power, wealth,
architecture, religion. But in the end each found he was inwardly bankrupt.
Thus came the praise of death and the other side - when the body or prison
of soul opened to let the "birthday of eternity."
SO THERE WAS SEEN AN EXPECTANCY - Both Suetonius
(3) and Tacitus make mention of a wide-spread rumor that
the Orient would become powerful and that a mighty movement would go forth
from the Jews. Writing about A. D. 120, both historians report that it stands
in the ancient priestly books that descendants of Jewry would seize world
authority.
Extremely noteworthy is the ring of these presentiments in the fourth Shepherd song of the Roman poet Virgil, in the century before Christ. There the poet sings of a child who will bring back the Golden Age. The child descends from heaven. Then peace rules on the earth. The land dispenses its gifts without toil. The oxen no more fear the lion.
Thus, the World Law and Language combine with
Communication/Peace and out of blackest moral decline is a strange expectancy
that as the night is conquered by the light, so…..can we?
Until at last, coming from the East, from the rising of the sun, from the
mouth of simple witnesses, becoming ever stronger and stronger, there rings
the world-conquering proclamation:
THE ATONER FOR MANKIND,
God picked a time when there was global readiness and at that moment - CHRIST APPEARED!
Thus the whole pre-Christian history of salvation
is a guiding of mankind to the Redeemer of the world. The people of Israel
were prepared in advance by historical revelation; the peoples of the world
by the happenings of politics and civilization.
The Old Testament is promise and expectation, the New is fulfillment and
completion. The Old is the marshalling of the hosts to the battle of God,
the New is the Triumph of the Crucified One. The Old is the twilight and
dawn of morning, the New is the rising sun and the height of eternal day.
This Christmas
(4) season, take a close look at a nativity scene once
again. Remove your rose-colored glasses--smell the foul air, see the cold,
shivering animals. They represent the Old Testament sacrificial system. They
are emblems of death . But they are mere shadows of the Babe in their midst.
He was born to die . . . that all who believe in him might live.
In the winter of 5 or 4 B.C., God invaded history by taking on the form of
a man. He was born in a small town just south of Jerusalem. Bethlehem, which
means 'the house of bread,' indeed became worthy of its name one lonely winter
night. For there, in that town, was born the Bread of Life . . .
His mother placed the infant king in a manger--or feeding trough--because
the guest room where they were to stay was occupied. The birth of this king
was celebrated that night only by his mother, her husband, and a handful
of shepherds. The shepherds had been in the fields around Bethlehem, guarding
the lambs which would die at the next Passover. An angel appeared to them
and gave them the birth announcement: "today in the city of David there has
been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord" (Luke 2:11). In their
simple faith, they rushed to see their newborn king.
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