The Birth of Jesus Christ
Christmas is over, and we’re moving on to a New Year. Many have numerous thoughts about Christmas. Is it a spiritual application? Was Jesus born on December 25th? Do we need candlelight services? If so, what role could they possibly play in religion? Then there are the CEOs, that’s people who show up at Christmas and Easter Only. Otherwise, the same folks have small religious thoughts for the rest of the year.
The world is full of people wanting an emotional uplift at the supposed time of Jesus’ birth. I get that. But if folks want to apply the Bible to the current Christmas activities, we should genuinely do so.
Prophecy
The Old Testament contains at least 300 prophecies about Jesus and His birth. Here’s Micah 5:2, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” This is a reference to Jesus’ future birth. It shows where Jesus was to be born. It also specifies that Jesus would be a ruler, having all authority in heaven and earth. Micah’s prophecy was around 700 years before the actual event.
Isaiah 7:14 contains another prophecy, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel. “ Immanuel means ‘God with us.’ It did indeed come about that the Holy Spirit caused the conception of Jesus within Mary’s womb.
Psalm 40:6-8 has this: “6 Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired; My ears You have opened; Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. 8 I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your Law is within my heart.”
The thoughts here are repeated in Hebrews 10:5-9. Jesus was the only one who fulfilled this prophecy.
More prophecies can be stated, but these three are good representatives of such.
The Birth of Jesus the Christ
The story of Jesus’ birth is told in Matthew chapter one and Luke chapter two.
Matthews’s account has it that Mary was pregnant with Jesus during her betrothal to Joseph. Joseph was a good man, and because she was pregnant before the marriage ceremony, he determined to put her away secretly. He didn’t want any disgrace coming to Mary.
During the night, while asleep, an appeared to Joseph in a dream saying that he should take Mary as his wife because the Holy Spirit conceived the child in her womb. His name shall be Jesus (God saves). Joseph heeded the angel’s directions and made Mary his wife. When the child was born, he called His name Jesus.
Luke’s account tells us about Jesus’ birth. By Roman decree, everyone should go to their place of birth to be registered into the Roman system. Joseph went to Bethlehem. Mary birthed Jesus, and because there was no room in the inn nearby, she laid him in a manger.
These two accounts are the only accounts of Jesus’ birth in the New Testament.
Emphasis
Nowhere in scripture does it say that we ought to have a special day for Jesus’ birth. Grateful? Absolutely! There would be no salvation without His birth. But if we go strictly by the Bible, we have a special day of worship of Jesus. That’s the Lord’s Supper or communion. It reflects the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection. The elements of the Lord’s Supper contain unleavened bread and fruit of the vine (grape juice, for example). This is the scene at the last Passover supper Jesus attended with His disciples. This is said in Matthew 26:17-29. It’s also said in Luke 22:14-23. Mark 14:14-21 renders his account of that Lord’s Supper scene.
Acts 20:7 has this: “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight.” In this case, the reference to “break bread” means the Lord’s Supper. The Saints came together on the first day of the week to do this to remember their savior.
How do we know this is an account of the early church taking the Lord’s Supper? Number one, Jesus commanded it be done, Luke 22:19-20. Jesus never said to honor His birth on a particular day.
Number two, the Apostle Paul repeats the command in 1st Corinthians 11:23-26. It is a commandment by the Lord and the Apostle that we do so.
Number three, Acts 20:7, and the following shows the context is spiritual. They took the Lord’s Supper, and Paul preached.
Conclusion
There should be no religious ceremony on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve. The Bible never commands us to do so, but it does state that we are to remember the Lord’s death every first day of the week. We have the opportunity for salvation through His death, burial, and resurrection. That’s what the Lord wanted us to remember.
Can we “do” Christmas? As a time of good cheer, gift-giving, and seasonal joy, we may partake in Christmas. As a religious ceremony, we are not to do it.
Garland Van Dyke
garland.churchofchrist@gmail.com?subject=Dead in Offenses and Sins