OPENING JOKE: “RATS” A minister once enlisted four children to help him preach his Christmas sermon on “The Star.” He gave each child one of the four letters to hold up so he could make a point on each letter of the word “Star.” When the children stepped forward and turned around, they were in reverse order. The congregation nearly fell out of their pews as they read: “RATS.”
INTRODUCTION: Tonight we are going to look at a few of the traditions that surround the Christmas season.
We are going to attempt to determine which are Biblical and which are traditional.
Most of them are of little consequence in the grand scheme of life, but as you will see, when we come to the final portion where I expound upon our two opening texts, what is true about Christmas is starting to be left out and being replaced with new man-made traditions.
Tradition #1 The Year of Jesus Birth
Was Jesus born on December 25th, 0000? No.
Throughout history, calendars have been dated according to important historical events. Our calendar is dated in relation to the birth of Jesus. “B.C.” = ‘Before Christ’. “A.D.” = “Anno Domini’ = ‘in the year of our Lord’.
How did they come up with this year? Is this really 2005 years after the birth of Jesus?
Actually our calendar is based on the birth of Jesus, but it is off by a few years. If you look in your Bible, the birth of Jesus is dated at 4 or 5 B.C.
How do we know this? We look to history. Jesus was born when Herod was King. He reigned for 37 years. Josephus (a Jewish historian) says that there was a lunar eclipse shortly before Herod’s death. History tells us that Herod died 7 days before the eclipse. Scientists have dated the elipse in March of 4 B.C.
Mary & Joseph’s flight into Egypt occurred BEFORE the death of Herod. The Bible tells us that Herod died while they were in Egypt, thus Jesus was born Sometime before 4 B.C., meaning our calendars are at least 4 years off!
Tradition #2 The Date of Jesus Birth
Was Jesus born on December 25th? We don’t know, but most unanimously agree that He was not.
In 180 A.D., Clement of Alexandria wrote that the birth of Jesus was thought to be on April 21 … or April 22 … or May 20 … depending on who you asked. Most believed that it was around the Passover time. This is when the shepherds would be out in their fields … not in the winter.
The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrated Christmas on January 6th for centuries. Since the FIRST Adam was “born” on the 6th day of creation … and Jesus is the SECOND Adam … they celebrated the birth of Jesus on January 6th. The Armenian Church still celebrates Christmas on January 6th.
In the 336 AD, the Western Church set the date as December 25th. WHY? There was a pagan holiday on that date, and so to diminish and obscure the importance of the pagan holiday, they decided to celebrate the birth of Jesus on that date.
NOTE: If God would have wanted us to know the exact date … if it was that important … He would have told us. The IMPORTANT thing is … to celebrate the birth of Jesus … no matter what date you choose.
Tradition #3 The Rude Inn-Keeper
Our Christmas plays always picture a mean Inn-keeper who looked upon a woman and her husband and turned them away to His stable.
But there is absolutely no mention on one in the Bible. It is just assumed. I have heard people say, “Well that Inn-keeper should have allowed Mary in, being that she was pregnant and all.” I always say, “What Inn-Keeper?” (Ha-ha) Read Luke 10:33-35 and you will find no mention of any Inn-Keeper. Not that this matters so much, but it shows how our traditions get interwoven into a story, not many people realize that the Bible doesn’t ever mention an Inn-keeper.
Tradition #4 The Story of the Wise men
At Christmas we always see the manger scene depicted with Baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Shepherds and 3 wise men. But is this scene from Scripture or tradition?
QUESTION 1: How many were there?
Here is the funny part: As far as numbers go, we have no clue how many actually came to see Jesus! We don’t know for sure … BUT … there was more than one … Wise “MEN”. There is no actual basis for this, as Scripture is again silent. TRADITION says “3” because of the 3 gifts. They were even given names… Caspar, Melchoir, Balthazar because of this tradition.
QUESTION 2: When did they arrive?
They probably arrived a few months after the birth of Jesus, Matthew 2:8, 11. Jesus is called a “young child”, and they lived in a “house”. After the birth of Jesus, they probably went into Bethlehem, after the crowds had left, and found a family to take them into their home. We don’t know for sure when they came but we know that it was within two years. This is why Herod ordered the killing of all babies “two years and younger” after speaking with the Wise men.
All of these things I have been saying are just pointing out traditions that have gotten woven into the fabric of the Christmas season.
Not one of them is life threatening, nor do any threaten the sanctity of the season.
My point is this: Sometimes we get so comfortable in our traditions that they can become Scripture in our minds. Sayings like:
“God helps those who help themselves” (Not Scripture, but often quoted as Scripture)
“God grant me the patience to deal with what I can’t change, the strength to change what I can and the wisdom to know that difference” (Popular “Serenity Prayer”, but not Scripture)
“Cleanliness is next to Godliness” (Another saying, that some attribute to Scripture)
While none of these expressions and none of the Christmas traditions are BAD, we need to be able to separate God’s truth from man’s traditions.
That is why I chose this Scripture verse for tonight’s study; within this prophecy from Isaiah, we see the most important aspects of God’s truth about Christmas
Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel
I. We See the Prophecy of the Virgin Birth
a. “…behold, the virgin shall conceive…” (7:14b)
b. It still amazes me that anyone who claims to be a Bible believing Christian can refuse to believe that Jesus was born of a virgin
i. This is not a man-made myth
ii. This is Holy Scripture speaking
iii. Yet many who would call themselves “Christians” do not hold to this doctrine
c. WHY? About a hundred years ago, the church was beset by a view called “modernism”.
i. Modernism was a worldview based on the notion that only science could explain reality.
ii. The modernist, in effect, began with the presupposition that nothing supernatural is real.
1. It ought to have been instantly obvious that modernism and Christianity were incompatible at the most fundamental level.
2. If nothing supernatural is real, then much of the Bible is untrue and has no authority; the incarnation of Christ is a myth (nullifying Christ’s authority as well); and all the supernatural elements of Christianity, including God Himself, must be utterly redefined in naturalistic terms.
iii. Modernism was anti-Christian at its core.
d. Nonetheless, the visible church at the beginning of the twentieth century was filled with people who were convinced modernism and Christianity could and should be reconciled.
i. They insisted that if the church did not keep in step with the times by embracing modernism, Christianity would not survive the twentieth century.
ii. The church would become increasingly irrelevant to modern people, they said, and soon it would die.
iii. The result has been a “social gospel” devoid of the true gospel of salvation. (Above adopted from “Why One Way?” by Macarthur)
e. We now live in what many call a “Post-Modern” society
i. Everything must have scientific explanation
ii. Nothing is believed that cannot be proven by empirical scientific evidence
iii. And those of us who still believe in virgin births are laughed at by those who consider themselves “more enlightened”
f. Know this folks, when the virgin birth of Christ, that characteristic that ensures His deity, is destroyed, what comes next will be His sinless life, His substitutionary death and His current reign as Prophet, priest and King ---
i. And we already see that with such books as “The DaVinci Code”
ii. A book based totally on man-made traditions and not at all on the truth of the Word of God
II. We See the Prophecy of the Deity of Christ
a. “…shall call His name Immanuel…”
i. That word Immanuel literal means that “God is among us!”
ii. Christ, who was with God and was God (according to John 1:1) wrapped Himself in flesh, debased His position from on high and came to earth
b. This is the most irrefutable piece of Biblical truth there is – Christ is God the Son!
i. This is the repeated truth of Scripture:
ii. Colossians 2:9 “For in [Christ] dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily”
iii. Micah 5:2 “2“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.”
iv. John 8:58 “58Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM.”
v. Acts 8:28 “28Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church £of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
vi. I Timothy 3:16 “16And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
c. There are those who would say that the deity of Christ is a myth – I tell you it is irrefutably Scriptural
i. The Jehovah’s Witness would rail and say that Jesus was limited while He was on the earth, and Jehovah God cannot be limited
ii. What they are forgetting Philippians 2 which clearly shows that Jesus, though He is equal to God, did not while on the earth as a man, consider that equality something to be attained.
iii. He who was infinite became finite; He who was omnipotent took upon Himself weaknesses; He who was omnipresent took upon Himself a body!
iv. He set aside the privilege (but not the nature) of deity
v. AND WHY? So He could come and die on the cross for our sins as the only perfect MAN – the GOD-MAN
d. The full deity and full humanity of Christ are necessary doctrines affirmed in both the OT and the NT.
CONCLUSION: I personally do not believe that someone can claim that the Bible is infallible and also say that Jesus was not born of a virgin or was the God-man, it just cannot be done.
To accept one we must by reason accept the other.
These are not traditions created by men to give a good story about a good man
These are the irrefutable facts of Christmas – and they are what truly make Christmas Merry!
