When Was Jesus Born?

Where do we get our Christmas traditions? What is the History of Christmas? When was Jesus really born? Did the disciples celebrate Christmas? Why do we put up Christmas trees? Christmas lights? And give gifts to everyone we know?

(Interesting that Jesus overturned the tables of the moneychangers in the temple saying His Father’s House would be a House of Prayer, and we have turned the celebration of His birth into the most commercialized tradition, ever!).

These are questions asked by many believers that get the sense that this traditional celebration called ‘Christmas’ is somehow not the truth. There are some who want to know the truth and boldly forge ahead to either study it out in scripture and find out for themselves or seek until they find writings by others that have studied the scriptures and provided evidence to dispel the myth.

I wish I had more fortitude to intricately study the scriptures and delve into their Greek and Hebrew origins, but I don’t have the patience for such a commendable task. Truthfully, I didn’t think I wanted to know the truth about Christmas either. Not because I enjoy a life of delusion and lies, but because I would feel responsible for the truth I knew.

Are you like that? You want to know, but you don’t want to know?

Well, sure enough, Christmas and the rituals we commence in its celebration, are not biblical, scriptural, holy or correct. I am providing links to others that I have read to better learn and understand these things. Read them yourselves or do your own searching. Do not take my word for it.

Although I know by these evidences the Christmas celebration is not legit, I have a family (mostly non-believers) that celebrate it quite heartily. It is that time to get together with family you don’t see the rest of the year, it’s about the festive smells of cinnamon and baking, the twinkling lights, pretty music and giving gifts, especially to the children, right?

Knowing what I know makes this very uncomfortable, to say the least. My loyalty, and love is for the Lord and His truth, and I am to be an expression of His love as well. It gets dicey when having to draw the proverbial line in the sand between holy and unholy, only because to be legalistic is death, not life, therefore not love. The celebration does not mean to me what it does to my family, but I’m not to be ‘absent’ while with them as though to be there and with them is painful. That’s just rude.

Everything Jesus did was in Love. He was the Life and He did all things by the Holy Spirit, therefore all He did and said was Holy. He did nothing legalistically. Though the ‘Law’ was written on His heart as it is to become written on ours, He also knew the Father’s heart and the Father’s ways. I’m still in that growth process and am a little hazy on how to handle the Christmas holiday with my family and unbelieving friends.

If anyone has been through this with the Holy Spirit leading and instructing them in the Way of this, please share with the rest of us.

Below are the links I am providing to other teachings on this subject.

This is a blog post by Joseph Herrin on the subject of the fallacy of Christmas, called ‘Divorced from Truth – Part 6’. http://parablesblog.blogspot.com/

He also has an article on his website, called ‘Removing the High Places’ that goes into much more depth here. http://www.heart4god.ws/id585.htm

This link is to Stephen Jones’ website and his work titled “When Really Was Jesus Born”. You can read it online or download a PDF version.

http://www.gods-kingdom-ministries.org/when_really_was_jesus_born.htm

Another link that I actually think is a MUST READ, is something written by a friend of mine a few years ago. He speaks more of the spirit of love we are to have, both the Love for Christ and the love we are to have towards others.

http://www.kingdomgospel.net/publications/should_believers_celebrate_christmas.htm

I found more websites with information on the truth about the birth of Christ and Christmas rituals and customs and their origins, but I quickly became sick with heaviness from the spirit of judgment, legalism and downright ‘hate’ exuding from these sites.

To heed anything, even doctrinal truth, from a spirit of hate and judgment towards those lost in darkness, was exactly the opposite of what spirit we are to be of, so I couldn’t even read them to sift through them and list any more for you. Search them out for yourselves if you wish.

But no matter what you read or hear, even scripture, please read prayerfully. Guard your own hearts against the hate and judgment that separates. Ours is a ministry of reconciliation and love. May the Holy Spirit lead you into all truth.

 

The Nativity Story

Recently I got around to watching a movie that has been on my ‘to watch’ list for some time. “The Nativity Story”. I think it appropriately came out around Christmas.

Knowing the story ‘inside out and backwards’, I wasn’t expecting to glean anything new, so instead I sought the spirit to teach me beyond the obvious. I was not disappointed.

Knowing the many stories and parables of the Bible are for our teaching and God doesn’t waste words, I knew there was a deeper message in the story of the virgin birth. While watching, the spirit had confirmed for me again, as He had in the past, we (believers) are the virgin to bear a son. The Holy Spirit/God being the Father, we the mother and Christ formed IN US, the Son. (Christ in you, the hope of Glory!)

Also, the remnant of believers, that make it through all the sufferings, trials and testings (in the ‘race’ as Paul calls it), pressing on to the prize of the High Calling in Christ, that overcome in order that Christ be formed in them unto the measure of the fullness of the stature of Christ, are the Sons of God now being formed for the end time.

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. (Romans 8:19)

Joseph may represent the Law that points to Christ. As a natural father watches over and teaches his sons, this is what the Law does as well. Guiding, teaching and watching over us until we learn to walk by the Spirit as a ‘full grown’ son.

Mary suffered shame and ridicule because of presumed infidelity, and risked death for it. Many believers around the world suffer persecution as well. Holding to their faith, however, that the child in them not be aborted or miscarried, they continue to grow. The sons will be born through great trial, and not be welcomed by the world, which is represented by the Inn being full, not welcoming them, and Jesus being born in a stable.

Lets not make any mistake of the times we’re in. We are getting ever closer to the time of the revealing of the Sons of God.

PS: Without retelling the classic, I will jump to something (I don’t know if is biblical or not), but the ‘wise men’ from the east were discussing the impending star over Bethlehem, in the movie. They said it was actually 3 stars converged to the same point and made to look like one star. The planet Jupiter was one, called ‘The Shining Father’, the second was Venus, ‘the Mother planet’ and the star itself was something in Babylonian that meant ‘King’. I thought that was very interesting.