Aside from the Bible, we have only a few references to the birth of Jesus. The date of December 25th, the year of 1 AD, and location have all been debated. The issue starts with the tradition of the mid-winter pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice. Historians generally accept that Christian authorities adopted this holiday. It wasn’t officially adopted until the 4th Century.
The next problem is with a change in calendars. The Julian calendar was in use until the Gregorian Calendar was adopted in the 16th Century. With a few exceptions, it is used world-wide today. The different calendar and the death of Herod lead to the speculation that maybe the actual date was 4 BC. I won’t get into BCE and CE designations.
Judea was a remote spot in the Roman Empire, and Joseph and Mary weren’t even Roman citizens. Even after Jesus became an adult, he didn’t get much attention until his death.
If he were only a minor Jewish prophet, why do we honor him so much? After 2,000 years, the story of his life and the stories that he told have dramatically changed history. The example is not only his words but how he lived. We need to study the impact of his life, and we need to learn why he made such a difference. Of course, the Divinity of Jesus is another long story.
Some folks have studied his life and unwittingly adopted the Jewish tradition of a wrathful God, which is the opposite of what Jesus taught. He told lots of stories about the undying love of God for his creation. We call them Parables. How have these folks come to a mindset of hatred for anyone who is different from them? Jesus was the Lord of Peace. We certainly need that today where we have a world at war.
Peace is not simply the absence of war. It is a mindset and understanding among people that compromise and negotiation are the only solutions for a complex world of many religions, races, and nationalities. Conquest only begets more violence, and the cycle goes on in perpetuity. We talk a lot about Christian Love, but that word is not fully understood.
“May the Peace be with You,” is not an empty phrase. It is the hope that as individuals we can contribute to Peace in our own way and with more than just words.
The Trouble with Christmas is not the commercialization of a holiday. We need not so much to put Christ back in Christmas as to put Christ back in Christianity. We need a moment of Peace in a world of conflict.
Let us experience the Joy of the Season. Let the little children show us the Spirit of Christmas. Let us make Christmas a truly Holy Day.
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