Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday?

This commentary is not about whether or not you should observe Christmas. It is not about whether you should greed with Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday. If you are a Christian, it is about celebrating the birth of Christ in the truth.

The Truth About Christmas

Most of us know that celebrating the birth of Jesus on the 25 of December has a pagan origin. The word Christmas comes from the word "The Mass of Christ" or "Christ's mass" for short. Pope Julius I in 350 A.D. declared that Christ's birthday was to be celebrated on December 25th. He had good intentions behind his decision. His intent was to make a smooth transition from pagan worship to Christianity. It was a follow-up from Constantine The Great who in 320 A.D. made it mandatory to observe the Sabbath rest on a Sunday.

Sunday is a Roman pagan day for worshipping the sun god. Since Christianity was gaining so much popularity among the Roman citizens, Constantine wanted to be favoured by the majority, he played politics and made a compromise to gain favour from pagan beliefs and the Christian faith. The Gentiles continued to worship their sun god and the Christians the Son of God on the same day, Sunday.

Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity for personal gain only. The power of emperors was generally based on the accumulation of powers from republican offices and the support of the army. Several other titles and offices were regularly accumulated by Roman emperors, such as Caesar, Princeps Senatus, consul, and Pontifex Maximus (Pope). Constantine ignored Jesus's teaching which under the Law of Christ commands Christians not to dispute among themselves on days they should or shouldn't observe.

"So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ," Colossians 2:16-17.

Jeremiah 10:1-5 - The Lord and the Idols

The Christmas tree was originally called the Paradise Tree. The modern Christmas tree, though, originated in western Germany. The main prop of a popular medieval play about Adam and Eve was a “paradise tree,” a fir tree hung with apples, that represented the Garden of Eden. The Germans set up a paradise tree in their homes on December 24, the religious feast day of Adam and Eve. They hung wafers on it (symbolizing the eucharistic host, the Christian sign of redemption); in a later tradition, the wafers were replaced by cookies of various shapes. Candles, symbolic of Christ as the light of the world, were often added. In the same room was the “Christmas pyramid,” a triangular construction of wood that had shelves to hold Christmas figurines and was decorated with evergreens, candles, and a star. By the 16th century, the Christmas pyramid and the paradise tree had merged, becoming the Christmas tree.

In the United States and Europe, common species of fresh trees include pines, such as white pine (Pinus strobus), Scotch pine (P. sylvestris), and Virginia pine (P. virginiana); firs, notably balsam fir (Abies balsamea), Fraser fir (A. fraseri), grand fir (A. grandis), noble fir (A. procera), silver fir (A. alba), and white fir (A. concolor); and certain spruces, such as Norway spruce (Picea abies), blue spruce (P. pungens), and white spruce (P. glauca). Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), which is not a true fir, is common as well. Various cypresses and cedars are also used, though these are more commonly seen in evergreen wreaths or other decorations. (https://www.britannica.com/plant/Christmas-tree)

Have a big dose of reality-check... today Christianity is a pot of soup with Jesus's teaching mixed with pagan traditions which the scriptures called the tradition of man. 

"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ," Colossians 2:8. 

Compared with Paul's teaching relating to Christian tradition; 

"Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions just as I delivered them to you," 1 Corinthians 11:2. 

Now that you know the truth, what are you going to do about it? Christians swim in a pool filled with Satan's lies and we are drowning in it. We have been lied to, deceived, and manipulated to believe that our faith is strong yet we are so weak when trials come our way. Satan’s lies cause weakness in our faith. To be a pillar, it is to be built on a solid foundation of Jesus's teaching. Discern lies by knowing the truth. To know more about Satan's lies please read my article titled, "Satan Lies. Is It That Simple To Detect?"

The difference between pagan holidays and God's appointed festival to the Jews is that God's festivals are full of teachings pertaining to God's plan for man. Pagan holidays are meaningless or are counterfeit to hide God's plan. To understand the meaning of God's festival I encourage you to read a free online book titled “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done" by Ron Graff and Lambert Dolphin, at http://ldolphin.org/kingdom/

Christmas is not an appointed festival by God. Actually, there is no scripture that supports the observance or that made it mandatory to celebrate Jesus's birthday. Celebrating birthdays is a human tradition. There is absolutely nothing wrong with commemorating someone's birthday. I love it. It is a special day. It is a celebration of our first day of existence. God gives us life and it should be remembered. The story of the birth of Jesus was written so that we may remember that God fulfills His promise, which His prophets foretold from one generation to another. To comprehend God's implication to bring this prophecy to pass, I encourage you to listen to this free MP3 bible study by Jack Kelley titled, "Christmas Prophecy" at http://gracethrufaith.com/free/mp3/mp3-christmas-prophecy/

Bible scholars agree that the birth of Jesus couldn't have taken place in winter. The shepherds were still out in the field tending their sheep. Sleeping outdoors all night would have been too cold. It was in the Fall, Autumn. 

Was Jesus Born in December?

Now then, if we are to celebrate Jesus's birthday on December 25th, let us, therefore, celebrate it in the truth.

What is celebrating Jesus's birthday in the truth? The truth is that we cannot deny the fact that December 25th is a pagan holiday which Pope Julius 1 in 350 A.D. declared a day to celebrate Christ's birthday. It is what it is. Christians who argue that Christmas Day is all about Jesus are wrong, it is little about Jesus. Nowadays, it is actually a "Consumer Holiday". It starts the day after Halloween and ends on Boxing Day. Anybody who does not celebrate Christmas as Jesus's birthday has the right to do so. If someone greets you with "Happy Holiday”, they have the right to do so. If a store policy is to greet everybody with “Happy Holiday” and you find that offensive, shop somewhere else. That is called consumer power. Christmas is two traditions observed on the same day. It is what it is. So please Christians, respect the choice of the secular society. Let us profess our faith, which is Christ's resurrected, and not our day of preference to celebrate Jesus's birthday or to defend a 'Merry Christmas' greeting. Jesus asks us to remember Him in one very specific way, which is found in Luke 22:19:

“And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.””

“Do this in remembrance of Me - In The Manner In Which Jesus Wanted To Be Remembered"  https://www.simplicityinthegospel.com/2015/02/do-this-in-remembrance-of-me-luke-2219_2.html

This is for Christians whose desire is to live in the spirit of the Philadelphia church: you have kept Jesus's teaching and have not denied His name. To understand the spirit of the Philadelphia church please read my commentary title, "The Philadelphia Church" at "http://www.simplicityinthegospel.com/2012/12/the-philadelphia-church.html" .

Christians beware: Christmas season spirit is not the Holy Spirit. Christmas spirit is stirred up by flesh, emotion, and feeling. The eyes that see the beautiful decoration, the ears that hear joyful music, and the nose that smells aromatic candle burning. It is meant to stir up the consumer spirit which induces us to spend. Marketing has a way of making someone feel guilty for not spending, accusing her/him of being a Scrooge.

“For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world,” 1 John 2:16.

Now there are Christians who celebrate both customs. The scripture is specific; 

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon," Matthew 6:24, 

and 

“If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor," John 12:26.

Unfortunately, the bad news is that so many Christians live in a lie and teach a lie. The worst part is that they keep saying the same lie year after year and profess that there is nothing wrong with it. What is the lie? Let me give you a hint: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea,” Matthew 18:6. Who are the little ones that Jesus is talking about?

"These little ones who believe in Me are children that attend Sunday school, who are taught that Jesus is the One that listens to them and that they can trust Him. All year round, they are encouraged to know Jesus except on Christmas day. Santa is introduced in their early life just because it always has been so.

There are Christians with a millstone hung around their necks. Year after year, they have been lying to their children and grandchildren. What is worse yet is that they claim that there is nothing wrong with a little lie.

Lies, lies, Satan lies. Santa is a myth yet is treated as equal to God. The lyric in "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" describes Santa as such: He sees you when you are sleeping, he knows when you are awake, he knows if you've been bad are good, so be good for goodness sake. In "Here Comes Santa Claus", it claims that "Santa knows that we're God's little children, that makes everything right".

Is it right to scare children by forcing them to sit on Santa's lap? Is it right to force them to keep this tradition just because it always has been so?  If you laugh at a baby who is screaming to death at the look of Santa, you are as heartless as a child abuser.  Is it right to lie? Is it right to lie to little children, especially to children who believe in Jesus? “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea,” Matthew 18:6.

As I mentioned, this commentary is not about whether you should observe Christmas or not. It is not about whether you should greed with Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday. If you are a Christian, it is about celebrating the birth of Christ Jesus in the truth. Tell your children that the gifts come from mommy and daddy, nanny and poppy, and from Aunt Judy and Uncle Bill. Tell them the truth all year round, especially on Christmas day. Tell them the truth and let go of the millstone hung around your neck.


From Simplicity in the Gospel, which consists of my wife and me, we pray for Thy Kingdom Come and that God bless you and your loved ones on Christmas day, forever to eternity and beyond. Merry Christmas

andre@simplicityinthegospel.com