Christmas is one of the most wonderful holidays of American culture. It's a time of decorated trees, holiday ights, gift giving and receiving, family gatherings, parties, and warm hearts despite the outer cold. It's special music, fireplaces, stockings on the mantle, mistletoe, egg nog, and Santa Claus. It's also about Jesus Christ. In the midst of the flood of thinsg that Christmas is cultureally about, let's talk about the "reason for the season" some interesting facts about the birth of Christ, the good things about it, and the dangers connected to it.

Some Interesting Facts

* It is very unlikely that Jesus was actually born on December 25. This is pretty widely known, but there are a few of us who may not have heard this. That Dec. 25 is not the birthday of Jesus is so probable because we know that shepherds were in the fields on the night of His birth; shepherds wouldn't be in fields in winter. Spring or summer would be more likely seasons. The reason for Dec. 25 was due to Catholic acquiescence to a pagan festival in central and northern Europe.
* Jesus was visited by only shepherds on the night of His birth. The wisemen from the east didn't come along until about 2 years later. We can know this from the scriptures: "Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star appeared; " (Matthew 2:7, RSV), and "Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, was in a furious rage, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time which he had ascertained from the wise men. " (Matthew 2:16, RSV).
* It is completely unknown how many wisemen actually visited Jesus and his family. Three wisemen are assumed because of the three gifts given, "and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh." (Matthew 2:11, RSV).
* The actual year of Jesus' birth is unknown exactly, but because of historical references: "Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying," (Matthew 2:1, RSV), and "In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirin'i-us was governor of Syria" (Luke 2:1,2, RSV). This places Jesus' birth at about 6 or 7 BC. This has interesting implications in view of the high expectations of the Lord's return in the year 2000; the real 2000th year since Jesus' birth was what we referred to as about 1993 or 1994.
* The place of Jesus' birth was not a wooden stable like the manger scenes often built and seen. Wood in Israel is quite precious and wouldn't be used for something like a shelter for animals, especially when caves are so common. In fact, caves were the stables of the times, so Jesus was born in a cave used for a stable in Bethlehem.

The Great Parts of Christmas

* Family gatherings are definitely one of the greatest parts of Christmas. Family gatherings in a day when family time seems to be so rare are increasingly important and we should do our best to make them special and meaningful.
* People tend to kinder, more Christian around the Christmas holidays. Yes, there are also hassled, harried, and some irrational folks, too; but most of us do our best to be more compassionate, more charitable, more generous, and more cheerful.
* Most especially (but perhaps too often overlooked as commonplace), it is a time to remember God's most generous gift, His Son. It is the most mind boggling miracle of all time, God became flesh to live, suffer, and die among us. God became man.

Dangers of the Season

* Sometimes people expect way too much from a holiday. Some seek an idealistic "Norman Rockwell" perfection that is impossible for even a Hollywood writer and director to stage, and find themselves profoundly disappointed when people or circumstances don't cooperate. Such disappointment often descends into depression, a common malady of the season but a paradox of sorts for a season of joy. Too often folks shoot for a perfect holiday, when family relations for the balance of the year has been anything but well adjusted. "Norman Rockwell" standards for Christmas are much easier to approach, when the rest of the year has been "Rockwellian".
* Kindness, compassion, and generosity are sometimes exercised only during the 2 or 3 days around Christmas. Although it is a little trite to say, it is still true that the Christmas spirit needs to execised be all year long. The Lord didn't come into this world to effect a 2 or 3 day difference per year in people's lives, but a 365 days per year difference.
* The birth of Jesus can become the sum of the gospel. The birth of Jesus is clearly a demonstration of God's love for mankind; people can feel warm and secure in such a beautiful event. But the saving message of the gospel is more than this; it includes less lovely facts like the sinfulness of all of us, the desparate need for rescue that we all have from the spiritual and eternal consequences of, the bad conscience generated by, and the slavery to our sins.