AT CHRISTMAS JESUS IS ALREADY BUSY AND WILL NOT COME

(Translation: Melissa Valvano, from original version (italian)

In the previous article on this subject I expressed my thesis on Jesus’ refusal to attend a Christmas party. Now I would like to argue why I maintain that Jesus would not accept an invitation to a Christmas party today.

Jesus was not an austere person. The gospels tell us that he accepted invitations to dinners, luncheons and parties, not refusing the invitation even if the people inviting him were tax collectors (considered traitors by Jewish society because they collected taxes for the Romans) or Pharisees, because, as he himself said, “it is the sick who need a doctor”. But from accepting an ordinary invitation to lunch to an invitation to Christmas dinner there are two worlds.

Since one cannot ask him, it is easy to say that he would not celebrate what would be his birthday: one has only a 50 % chance of being wrong.

Of course, the statement is heterodox and my thinking is debatable. It means, however, first of all, that you have to form your own opinion, not go with the flow of the majority or traditions, because then it would not be an opinion. An opinion is the concept we form when, in the absence of absolute criteria on a given subject, we put forward a personal interpretation on the subject after examining all the converging arguments, i.e. all the arguments for and against, and making a kind of SWOT analysis..

To interpret the fact that Christmas is celebrated casually all over the world as an indication that it is a feast in which Jesus would take part, rather than personal interpretation I think is a renunciation of it. It means abdicating one’s faculty of interpretation to the masses, a renunciation of research, of the study of one’s own origins, a renunciation of confrontation, and finally a renunciation of coherence.

Only the fact that it is celebrated all over the world, even by atheists and agnostics and in Muslim countries, by Buddhists and Shintoists, should set alarm bells ringing in a Christian. If it really is Jesus’ birthday, why do those who do not believe in him also celebrate it?

Opinion is debatable until one finds certainty. Is mine really an opinion? Get one by reading the following.

Only the fact that it is celebrated all over the world, even by atheists and agnostics and in Muslim countries, by Buddhists and Shintoists, should set alarm bells ringing in a Christian.

First of all, what is Christmas? The question seems trivial, but as shown by the interview with passers-by in the street by Iene (see clip), it is clear that many people do not know the meaning attributed to it. They don’t know that Christmas is supposedly the anniversary of the birth of the Jesus who became the Christ when he was 30 years old, so he would be the one celebrated on 25 December. Millions celebrate without even knowing it.

Imagine gathering with your family at the birthday party of an acquaintance: when you get to his house you ignore him completely, exchanging chatter and presents only among yourselves, celebrating without taking into account who has the birthday. If you were in his place, how would you take it?

CLIP MEDIASET: Il Natale: I nostri politici ne sanno qualcosa?

---

REASONS WHY JESUS WOULD NOT CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS

1. The date of Jesus’ birth is not known

The date of his birth was never recorded. If Jesus cared about his birthday being celebrated, he would have made sure to leave a record of it.

Besides, the Bible says that when God created the universe, Jesus acted as His co-worker. (Proverbs 8:22) If he already existed in the divine form then, becoming a human being was just a transfer from the spiritual world to the material world, whereby the particles of which his spiritual body was composed were transformed into human cells at the moment of conception. So the day of his birth in Bethlehem was only a stage in his already existing life. The true moment of his ‘birth’, which took place many billions of years ago, we do not know in the slightest. Similarly, his resurrection, which could be considered a second birth to be celebrated as a second birthday, however powerful a miracle from God it was, was only a return to the spiritual world.

Ergo: With no record of it, it can be said that Jesus’ birth did not take place on 25 December. Moreover, the time context in which he was born cannot be placed in the middle of winter.

2. Jews did not celebrate birthdays

If there had been a custom of celebrating birthdays among the Jews, we would have as much evidence of it in biblical and extra-biblical literature as there is of other Jewish traditions. In the gospels, only one birthday is mentioned in the days of Jesus: that of King Herod, a non-Jew, who on one of his birthdays gave his stepdaughter the decapitated head of John the Baptist.

3. Jesus does not like to be celebrated

From his own words we know that Jesus avoided publicity: for example, on one occasion when they wanted to make him king, he fled (John 6:15); when he performed healing miracles he sternly commanded the healed not to tell anyone: he did not want the spectacle of his works, he wanted people to believe in him because of his teaching (Mark 7:36); when someone exalted his mother, he downplayed her importance, and turning to his friends said “these are my mother and brothers and sisters, because they do the will of God”. – Matthew 12:48-50

Why did he not want the attention on himself? So that he would not be distracted from why he had come to earth. By his behaviour and by what he said, he indicated that the person to be ‘glorified’ was not him, but the Father. He converted all the praise he received to the Father, completely annihilating himself before him. Imagine, then, if he thought of throwing a party for his own glory!

Of course, he said to commemorate his death (not resurrection as most do today) and the date is also given in the Bible, 14 Nisan or 1 April for us. Did he want to be “celebrated”? No, he did not. He wanted to be reminded of the reason why he came down to earth: the exaltation of the Father for his love towards the human being with the provision of the ransom that will free us from slavery. Matthew 20:28 says in fact: “the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”. He had come to give up his life. That was the day to be commemorated, not his birth.

4. Jesus hated human traditions that obscure God’s Word

Traditions do not require knowledge. When we visit a village at a time of feasting for a festival, we do not need to know its origins in order to take part: it is enough to mingle with the crowd. So if we are born in a place where Christmas has always been celebrated, without asking ourselves too many questions we have mingled with the crowd, we have grown up in this culture and perhaps we have never asked ourselves questions. It’s not necessary if you want to do things by tradition.

Traditions do not require knowledge.
It is enough to mingle with the crowd

But not all traditions are accepted by Jesus. The Jewish religious leaders were upset when Jesus and his disciples did not respect their traditions. And Jesus replied, “And you, why do you transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? – Matthew 15:3

The life of a Jew was so overburdened with human traditions that the truth could not breathe, and it was difficult for the people to smell it, and so it was more comfortable to be carried along by the powerful current of that river of thoughts and traditions instead of swimming against it. The majority of the Jews followed those traditions and thought “what’s wrong with that?”, whereas Jesus saw evil in them! He related them to God’s commands.

In fact, sometimes traditions transgress God’s commands. For example, in Switzerland, until the 16th century, on the wedding night, the bride had to have sexual intercourse not with her husband, but with the feudal lord. Clearly a tradition that went against God’s law on adultery. At that time Switzerland had already been called Christian for a thousand years. Could you imagine Jesus participating in this repugnant tradition? Not me.

So it is safe to say that Jesus would not support a tradition that did not respect God’s law.

---

THE TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE

In order to find out about the origin of traditions and to see whether they appeal to Jesus, one must seek the truth. Jesus promised freedom through knowledge: “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free”. – John 8:32

But to know the truth you have to research, study, meditate, make associations of thought, observe, compare, form an opinion and then have it dismantled: all things that you don’t do by following the masses. Doing so costs a lot of energy, not only in the search for the truth, but also in resisting the gaze of others, their scathing criticism, their severe judgments, their opposition: because there is a lot of it, if you want to be consistent with what you discover.

Seeking the truth about the origins of Christmas costs energy to resist the looks of others, their scathing criticisms and their severe judgments

Is Christmas a tradition that obscures the Word of God? Today many people celebrate Christmas to “be with family”, to give gifts, to eat and drink, to go skiing. What is wrong with this? Nothing in itself. But if I do it out of tradition, and if that tradition offends God, then it is possible that Jesus will say to me, ‘And you, why do you break God’s commandment because of your tradition?‘

If every year, on 24/25 December, in order to ‘be with family’ I decorate my house with a nativity scene, or with pine branches and candles, or the Christmas tree with red balls and a star in the sky, all I have done is bring together many symbols of customs consecrated to idols by pagans who worshipped the sun, the earth, sex, light etc. Do you hear the echo? ‘You must not make yourself a graven image or representation of any thing that is in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth.  You must not bow down before them or be induced to serve them, for I am Jehovah your God’. (Exodus 20:4)

True, no one will bow down before the Christmas tree and certainly not consider it a God. This does not detract from the pagan significance of the symbol. There are many Christians who have placed a Buddha in their living room or garden. They don’t bow to it, they put it there for ‘decoration’, but if they were to be visited by oriental Buddhists, what would they think of their religion? Would they think they were Christians? Well, not even if the Celts were to come back, they wouldn’t think so, seeing how many in the Christian world use their ancient pagan symbols for celebration.

Do you really think that Jesus would accept an invitation to dinner where idols that his Father commanded not to worship are honored and take his place in worship?

If the Celts were to return, what would they think when they saw how many Christians use their pagan symbols to celebrate their god?

Some people may think that, since they are not believers, they only celebrate Christmas as a pleasant custom, a time of peace and serenity. But if you are not a believer, be consistent. What does a religious holiday have to do with your ‘pleasant moment’? Do it on another date and get away from the religious ties of believers.

I have spent my life eating with my friends and family, exchanging gifts, laughing and joking festively on a regular basis, monthly and sometimes weekly, and I have always eschewed Christmas without major trauma. And I feel free from a tradition that makes millions of people anxious, but above all that offends Jesus and God.

---

CHRISTMAS AND ITS ORIGINS

Here’s what you can find on the web about the origins of Christmas and the symbols used: I’ll leave you the sources so you can research at your leisure

• Early Christians did not celebrate Christmas

According to the New Catholic Encyclopedia, the first mention of the celebration of Christmas is found “in the Chronograph of Philocalus, a Roman almanac whose source can be traced back to 336“.

The Chronograph contains the first attestation of the celebration of Christmas on 25 December, but this may date back to a source in 336. (Wikipedia)

• Christmas stems from the worship of the Sun

«No liturgical historian, whatever his or her position on the concrete causes of the development and institution of the feast of Christmas, goes so far as to deny that it has any relation to the sun, winter solitude, and the popularity of sun worship in the late Roman Empire “.
(Susan K. Roll. Through the Origin of Christmas, 1995, p. 107)

The Cyclopedia by McClintock and Strong notes that “the observance of Christmas is not of divine institution, nor does it originate in the N.T. [New Testament]”.

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, early Christians were opposed to the “pagan custom of celebrating birthdays”.

• Origin and meaning of the Christmas tree

At the base of the Christmas tree there are the ancient uses, typical of various cultures, of worshiping or having sacred trees, such as the Trees of Paradise with ribbons and colored objects, torches, small bells, votive animals, and the belief that lights , which illuminated them, corresponded to as many souls. In the same way the various Cosmic Trees were decorated with symbols of the Sun, the Moon, the Planets and the stars. In particular, the fir was sacred to Odin, the powerful god of the Germans. [2]

The habit of decorating some evergreen trees was already widespread among the Celts during the celebrations relating to the winter solstice. The Vikings of the far north of Europe, for example, where the sun “disappeared” for weeks in the middle of winter, in the week preceding and following the day with the longest night, solemnities were officiated to wish for the return of the sun and they believed that the spruce was able to express magical powers, since it did not lose its leaves even in the frosts of winter: fir trees were cut and brought home, decorated with fruits, recalling the fertility that spring would restore to trees. The Romans used to decorate their houses with pine branches during the Kalends of January.

With the advent of Christianity, the use of the Christmas tree also asserted itself in Christian traditions, although the early Church forbade its use by replacing it with holly, to symbolize the crown of Christ with thorns and with the berries are the drops of blood that come out of the head. [3] Furthermore, this tree was associated with the figure of Jesus, as a symbol of immortality and of the Trinity (given the triangular shape).^[4]

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albero_di_Natale

https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presepe

Should Christians Celebrate Christmas? What Does the Bible Say? (jw.org)