The Feast Of The Nativity and The Birth Of Jesus.

The following is a continuation of my Winter Holiday Essay Series: "Christmas: Yule, Saturnalia, Winter Solstice; What's the deal?"

For earlier Posts here is the links:

Christmas: Yule, Saturnalia, Winter Solstice; What's the deal?

Christmas: Yule, Saturnalia, Winter Solstice; What's the deal? (Part 2 - II )

Christmas: Yule, Saturnalia, Winter Solstice; What's the deal? (Part 3 - III)



Christmas: Yule, Saturnalia, Winter Solstice; What's The Deal? (Part 4 - IV) The Feast Of The Nativity and The Birth of Jesus.

The birth of Jesus of Nazareth is probably one of the widest known birthday accounts in the modern era. What presumably happened in this account is a Woman named Mary and Her husband named Joseph were said to be expecting a child, except it wasn’t their actual child. Mary had never known a man in the bounds of sexual desire. She was still a Virgin, instead Mary was visited by Angels and told she would be having the Son of God the Messiah that had been prophesied to come for centuries. The bible states that on the night of the birth, three magi or wise men followed a star in the east to a little town called Bethlehem and to the manger where Jesus was. Angel’s appeared in the fields where Sheppard’s were watching their flocks by night. Everyone should know the story by now. No matter if it is a literal account of true events or a fictional narrative told to people to convey some sort of message --- this story has stuck with us and has became the foundation for all of Modern Christianity.

Today millions of people around the world celebrate December 25th as the day Jesus was born. It’s a day of giving, rejoicing, merriment, and thankfulness. Of course there might be a problem with this date, Jesus might not have been born in December at all. One of the most widely used reasons for this, is the bible passage talking about Sheppard’s being in their fields by night. By December the fields would have been barren and unproductive.

“The normal practice was to keep the flocks in the fields from Spring to Autumn. Also, winter would likely be an especially difficult time for pregnant Mary to travel the long distance from Nazareth to Bethlehem (70 miles).

"A more probable time would be late September, the time of the annual Feast of Tabernacles, when such travel was commonly accepted. Thus, it is rather commonly believed (though not certain) that Jesus' birth was around the last of September. The conception of Christ, however, may have taken place in late December of the previous year. Our Christmas celebration may well be recognized as an honored observation of the incarnation of 'the Word made flesh' (John 1:14).

…The probability is that this mighty angel, leading the heavenly host in their praises, was Michael the archangel; this occasion was later commemorated by the early church as Michaelmas ('Michael sent'), on September 29, the same as the date of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. It would have at least been appropriate for Christ to have been born on such a date, for it was at His birth that 'the Word was made flesh and dwelt (literally tabernacled) among us' (John 1:14).

This would mean, then, that His conception took place in late December. Thus, it might well be that when we today celebrate Christ's birth at what we call Christmas (i.e., 'Christ sent'), we are actually celebrating His miraculous conception, the time when the Father sent the Son into the world, in the virgin's womb. This darkest time of the year--the time of the pagan Saturnalia, and the time when the sun (the physical 'light of the world') is at its greatest distance from the Holy Land--would surely be an appropriate time for God to send the spiritual 'light of the world' into the world as the 'Savior, which is Christ the Lord' (Luke 2:11)" [Dr. Henry M. Morris, The Defender's Study Bible (notes for Luke 2:8,13)].” (Source: ChristianAnswers.Net. )

Also, the earliest account we have of Christmas time being celebrated by Christians didn’t happen until around the 6th century C.E. according to the Catholic encyclopedia.

Early Christians celebrated the birth of Jesus as Part of Epiphany (Jan. 6th) although this feast focused on the baptism of Jesus. Christmas was promoted in the Christian East as part of the revival of Catholicism following the death of the pro-Arian Emperor Valens at the Battle of Adrianople in 378. The feast was introduced to Constantinople in 379, and to Antioch in about 380. The feast disappeared after Gregory of Nazianzus resigned as bishop in 381, although it was reintroduced by John Chrysostom in about 400.

The Twelve Days of Christmas end on January 5. December 26 is St. Stephen's Day and January 6 is Feast of Epiphany This period encompasses the major feasts surrounding the birth of Christ. In the Latin Rite, one week after Christmas Day, January 1, has traditionally been the celebration the Feast of the Naming and Circumcision of Christ, but since Vatican II, this feast has been celebrated as the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. (Wikipedia)

Pope Julius I finally chose December 25th to host the feast day of the Nativity, in attempt to make the holy day universal. Up until then different groups celebrated the birth at different times and this was an attempt to unify the early Christians. It has been speculated as well that this date was chose so that the new Holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus would be used to replace earlier Roman Pagan Feast days. (see previous posts:here andhere)

“The original significance of December 25 is that it was a well-known festival day celebrating the annual return of the sun. December 21 is the winter solstice (shortest day of the year and thus a key date on the calendar), and December 25 is the first day that ancients could clearly note that the days were definitely getting longer and the sunlight was returning.

So, why was December 25 chosen to remember Jesus Christ's birth with a mass (or Communion supper)? Since no one knows the day of his birth, the Roman Catholic Church felt free to chose this date. The Church wished to replace the pagan festival with a Christian holy day (holiday). The psychology was that is easier to take away an unholy (but traditional) festival from the population, when you can replace it with a good one. Otherwise, the Church would have left a void where there was a long-standing tradition, and risked producing a discontented population and a rapid return to the old ways.” (Source: ChristianAnswers.Net.)

Look for future articles in this Winter holiday Series from now until the new year. I’m thinking about doing one on why the early Puritans did not celebrate Christmas at all because of the Pagan iconography and symbolism inherent in the holiday. And also one about the Winter holiday’s in Modern times. How People observe Christmas and Yule today.

For more information on the Nativity try out these links:

ChristianAnswers.Net

TruthOrTradition.com

GotQuestions.org

Bible.org

Wikipedia Nativity of Jesus

NewAdvent.Org - Catholic Encyclopedia

Wikipedia Christmas

Also, for more information on Christmas, check your local Listings for the history Channel: for the Special “Christmas Unwrapped: The History Of Christmas” Link.

Thank you.