Photo Credit: Alyssa

The following is a repost from Patrick Hoban’s old blog, December 2006. – Admin

Here’s an interesting fact: The early Christians didn’t celebrate Christmas. The early church fathers, Irenaeus and Tertullian, of the second century, didn’t include it in their list of Christian celebrations, and Origin wrote that sinners alone celebrated their birthdays, not saints. Interesting!

So where did Christmas come from?

Some early Christians in Egypt put the birth of Jesus in May, and others put it in April. The Christians of the second century began to celebrate the Epiphany of God in the flesh. “Epiphany” means the manifestation of God’s glory. Of course, Jesus is the fullest manifestation of that glory (John 1). Later, Christians began to celebrate the birth of Jesus, mostly on January 6. It was later moved to December 25 in the Western churches.

We don’t actually know the exact date of Jesus’ birth, but we do know that at a certain time in human history God became incarnate (made flesh).

Etymology

The word “Christmas” comes from two words: Christ – meaning “anointed,” and mass – meaning “sacrifice.” Now why in the world would we use the word Christmas for the birth of Jesus, if mass means sacrifice?

It’s because the Western world celebrated the holiday with a Roman Catholic service called a “mass.” The Roman church believes that the Mass is a reenactment of the sacrifice of Christ. The Eastern church has a more accurate name for the celebration: The Nativity (meaning, “birth of Christ”).

Incarnation

This has to be the most amazing of miracles, even more than the resurrection. In the resurrection Jesus rose from the grave; but with the Incarnation, the fullness of God was made manifest in the man Jesus.

Really, Christmas is just a word to describe the truth that we know: that God’s eternally begotten Son was made flesh through the virgin birth. The FULLNESS of God became a man, born of a virgin. This miraculous birth of Jesus was God’s gift to humanity.

Now, here is the amazing outcome: For all those who believe in Jesus, as outlined in the Bible, they also become a “nativity” of Jesus all over again. God’s fullness dwells in us because of His presence in us. Wow! Meditate on that for a while – it will blow your mind.

Have a Merry Christmas!

PJH