Happy Holidays!
“What holidays are there anyway?”
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc., B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries, December 1, 2024 (originally published in 2019 in booklet form)
Introduction
‘Tis the season for “Happy Holidays”. We hear it in the stores as we are doing our “holiday” shopping. From November to January, we often hear this phrase and others like it, including “Happy New Year”, “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Christmas”, and have nativity scenes (Christ in a manger scene) and Christkind/Christkindl (meaning Christ child)[1] celebrations, and so on.
But in today’s Western Culture, people are pressured to
stray away from “Merry Christmas”, and gravitate toward “Happy Holidays”. Christian
elements associated with Christmas are disappearing and so is the terminology.
We’re often told that it is safer to say “Happy Holidays” or
write “X-mas” instead of “Merry Christmas” so you don’t offend those who oppose
Christ and Christmas. In other words, the society is now quickly catering to an
anti-Christ position—“so what!” if it offends Christians.
But does Happy
Holidays really help the anti-Christian position? How should Christians
react? Let’s evaluate these questions in more detail.
What Holidays Are in Reference When We Say “Happy Holidays”?
I’m often surprised how many people fail to name even a few of the holidays that are part of the Christmas season (which runs from the fourth Sunday’s before Christmas until January 6th—more on this in a moment). Would you have answered Boxing Day, St. Nicholas’s Day, Feast of Epiphany, or Advent Sundays? Some do, some say…“Whaaaat?”
These days are just some of the holidays within the
Christmas season. The Christmas season is broken into three parts:
1.
Advent Season
2.
Christmas
3.
The Twelve
Days of Christmas
Advent Season of Christmas
The first part is the anticipation and preparation of
Christmas and is sometimes called Penitential
Season of Christmas but normally the
Advent Season. Advent means “arrival” or “dawning” of an event. For
instance, when Jesus Christ became a man and stepped into history, this is
called the “first advent”. When Jesus comes again, as He promised He would,
that is called the “second advent” or the Second Coming.
The Advent Season celebrates
Jesus’ first advent and begins with the first Advent Sunday and continues for
the next three Sundays prior to Christmas. Because it is always four weeks
prior to Christmas, it moves around on our modern Gregorian calendar (the
calendar most of us use today). But it typically begins in late November or
very early December. It tends to be near the USA holiday that always falls on
the fourth Thursday of November called “Thanksgiving”.[2]
Each Sunday leading up to Christmas is respectively the
First Advent Sunday, Second Advent Sunday, Third Advent Sunday, and Fourth or
Final Advent Sunday. The Advent or Penitential Season of Christmas draws to
a close on Christmas Eve—the evening before Christmas.
Commonly, we tend to mark the beginning of the Christmas
season with the close of Thanksgiving
in the USA and businesses mark it with an incredible shopping day that has
morphed into Black Friday[3]
(in some cases stores start the evening before and call it Black Thursday).[4]
The Advent Season is also close to St. Andrew’s Day which is always celebrated on November 30th.
So, this holiday is sometimes part of the Advent
Season and sometimes immediately precedes it. Traditionally, St. Andrew’s Day (not at the conclusion of
Thanksgiving) had been used as the marker to indicate the Advent Season was upon us.
Falling on December 6th is St. Nicholas’s Day. St. Nicholas of Myra was a bishop (minister/pastor)
in the AD 300s. He died on December 6th, hence the day that is used
to celebrate his life. He was an orphan who became a wealthy man living in a nation
we call Turkey today traditionally known as Asia Minor (the town of Myra was
later called Kale and is now called Demre).
St. Nicholas used his wealth to help the less fortunate (for
example, he kept some poor young girls out of forced prostitution by paying
their debt). He was said to have hung stockings of coins for the poor on
windowsills and so on. For his faith in Christianity, he was persecuted by
Roman Emperor Diocletian and put in jail for a time. He was released by Emperor
Constantine about AD 325.
Because St. Nicholas’s
Day always falls in the Christmas season, it makes sense why Christmas
today has a corrupted version of him during the Christmas season. Saint Nickolas is corrupted into Santa Claus (think Sainta niclaus).
Sadly, attributes of God are applied to St. Nicholas. This
paganized version of St. Nicholas sees all, judges between naughty and nice,
blessings (gifts) comes from him, can be everywhere at the same time, etc. It’s
better to leave St. Nicholas, as St. Nicholas—and as a result, many Christians
avoid using Santa Claus as a deceptive tool on children.
Christmas Day
The second part of the Christmas season is of course Christmas Day (also called The Nativity
of Our Lord), celebrated on December 25th. Christmas has been
widely celebrated by underground Christians and documented by Christians since about
AD 200. Christmas became very popular when Christianity was allowed to be out
in the open after the Edicts of Toleration and Milan in AD 311 and 313
respectively.
Popular early church father Sextus Julius Africanus wrote
the Chronographiai around AD 221
which put the conception of Christ at March 25—9 months prior to December 25th
the date being used for Christmas. For context, this is about 125 years since
the last of Jesus’s apostles died. Some Christians still celebrate an ancient
feast on March 25th called the Feast
of Annunciation (also called Conceptio
Christi, Solemnity of the Annuciation, Lady Day, or Feast of the Incarnation) celebrating the immaculate conception of
Christ.[5]
Is December 25th the actual day of Christ’s birth?
That is a great question with mixed reviews, but what we know is that
widespread use of celebrating December 25th in churches across the
Roman Empire as the birth and first nativity of Christ was very early.
In the AD 300s, Ephraim the Syrian writing about the first nativity or Christmas points out that, “All men honour the day of Thy birth. Thou righteous One, keep Thou the glory of Thy birth; for even Herod honoured the day of His Birth!”[6] John Cassian points out the connection between Christ’s birth and its connection to Epiphany (the Twelfth Day of Christmas) in the late AD 300s and early AD 400s said:
“In the country of Egypt this
custom is by ancient tradition observed that—when Epiphany is past, which the
priests of that province regard as the time, both of our Lord's baptism and
also of His birth in the flesh, and so celebrate the commemoration of either
mystery not separately as in the Western provinces but on the single festival
of this day…”[7]
December 25th was defended by Sulpitius Severus
in consultation with Sabinus and Rufinus in Sacred
History (Historia Sacra) chapter
27 in AD 403. The point is that Christmas, the birth of Christ, was recognized
and celebrated from the early days of the church.
X-mas
Christmas is also denoted as X-mas/X’mas/Xmas. The letter Chi (X)
in Greek was used as the short hand notation of Christ, being the first letter
of the name Christ or more specifically Christos
(Χριστός).
Today, a few people unwittingly think if they use “X-mas”,
they are deleting the name Christ from this holiday because of anti-Christian
sentiment. However, X-mas is an ancient Christian usage for Christmas whether
they realize it or not.
Pagan Holiday Copycat?
Some modern claims about Christmas is that it is born out of
pagan celebrations such as:
1.
Sol
Invictus
2.
Saturnalia
Sol Invictus means
unconquered sun. “Sol” means sun and is
where we get the name “solar” for instance. Sol
Invictus [or more properly Dies
Natalis Solis Invicti (Birth of the Unconquered Sun)] was the celebration
of the Roman sun “god” in the latter stages of the Roman Empire and also the
patron of Roman soldiers.
Sol Invictus,
however, came into existence well after we have recorded history that Christmas
was widely celebrated. Sol Invictus
was first started by Roman emperor Lucius Aurelian in AD 274. If anything, the
pagans took Christmas and wanted a pagan alternative.
Whether Sol Invictus
is related to the Winter Solstice is
uncertain. If it were meant to be, then they missed it by a couple of days! The
shortest day of the year is the Winter
Solstice between December 20-23, where Sol
Invictus falls on December 25th. Solstices mark the changing of
the seasons and the godly, since Adam’s creation in Genesis 1, have utilized
the sun, moon, and stars to mark these events (e.g., Genesis 1:14).
Saturnalia, is
obviously the popular festival to the “god” Saturn (“god” of the harvest and
time) in the Roman pantheon. It was celebrated on December 17th.
Later it was expanded into a three-day and then seven-day festival marking the
winter sowing season. It is the equivalent festival of the Greek Kronia with the Greek equivalent “god”
called Chronos/Chronus/Kronos/Cronus, who is the “god” of harvest and time (the
name reflects time, think of chronology, chronometer, etc.).
Regardless, this festival was always finished before
Christmas anyway. So, if Christians were taking this pagan day and making a
Christian alternative, they failed miserably! They missed it by about a week!
Interestingly, the Roman Saturn (where we get the name
Saturday and the planet Saturn) and the Greek equivalent Chronos, is a
corruption of Noah. An ancient historian Eupolemus (as preserved by Eusebius of
Caesarea in the early to mid-AD 300s) writes,
“the Babylonians say, that the
first was Belus, called Cronus or Saturn (that is, Noah), and of him was
begotten another Belus and Chanaan (it should be read Cham), and he (i.e. Ham)
begat Chanaan, the father of the Phoenicians; and of him another son, Chus, was
begotten, whom the Greeks call Asbolos, the father of the Ethiopians, and the
brother of Mestraim, the father of the Egyptians.”[8]
For the reader, you should be able to recognize
Chanaan/Canaan in this list, whom the God judged and gave their land to the
Israelites lead by Joshua Also, Belus
is a title passed from Noah and to his son Ham/Cham and so forth. Although not
mentioned here, this title ultimately passes as far down as Nimrod, the son of
Cush (Chus), and was corrupted in Bel and Baal, which is where the pagan Baal
worship in the Old Testament came from—merely a form of ancestor worship.
But of significant note, Chronos or Saturn is Noah. It is a
corruption of Noah to a godlike status.
Sadly, this makes sense. Noah and his early progeny lived longer
lifespans (Noah lived 350 years after the Flood, Shem lived 500 years after the
Flood, and so forth).
As the ages subsequently drop, these patriarchs outlived
great, great, great grandchildren. Noah, for instance, outlived his great,
great, great, grandson Peleg![9]
So many of these patriarchs in cultures were looked at as though they were
“immortals” or “gods”. These “gods” still died, but they just outlived everyone
else.
Another thing that happens is that some of these patriarchs
and their descendants get mixed up in their oral passed-down accounts. And the
accounts themselves get warped, paganized, and embellished.[10]
Fascinatingly, Noah, the oldest
patriarch after the Flood who became the first farmer and trainer of farmers (Genesis 9), is corrupted into the
“god” of the harvest and time. The point is that Saturn/Chronos,
which is where Saturnalia and Kronia come from, is actually based on a
biblical person—Noah. So that day really shouldn’t belong to pagans in the
first place.
Twelve Days of Christmas
For the third and final part of the Christmas season, we
have the Twelve Days of Christmas also
known as Twelfthtide, which is the
celebration of Christ’s significance and His work. Usually, when I mention the Twelve Days of Christmas, people
immediately begin thinking of the popular Christmas song. In fact, many in
today’s culture have forgotten about the Twelve
Days of Christmas and just think it is a popular song everyone sings at
Christmas! Interestingly, the song is based on the real Twelve Days of Christmas!
The Twelve Days of
Christmas begin the day after Christmas which is called Boxing Day. No—it has nothing to do with
the sport, boxing. The Twelfth or Final Day of Christmas is the Feast of the Epiphany or simply, Epiphany. The Feast of Epiphany goes back to celebrations recorded in the AD 200s
as well with the Homilies (The Fourth Homily) between AD 213 and 270.[11]
I’ve noticed that many of the Twelve Days of Christmas are shared commonly across the board of
Christians around the world. However, a few of the days are specific or
celebrated on different days to various denominations or church splits. For
those who are not familiar with basic Church history there have been three
major splits in the church. They are:
1.
Oriental Church Split occurred about AD 450,
when churches from Africa to India separated.
2.
The Great Schism which happened about AD 1000
was a split between the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western Church (Rome).
3.
The Reformation was when Protestant churches
split from Rome to return to scriptural authority.
We are currently living in the midst of another (fourth) split
I’ve dubbed the Creation Reformation.
This is where some churches are mixing their religion with secular humanism
(naturalism/millions of years/evolution) and then there are those churches who
stand on Scripture as the truth in all areas. The latter are churches that
adhere to biblical authority.
As a note, many Christians coming out of the Reformation
retained the Christmas season—Twelvetide
and all—however, some Christians later became opposed due to the pagan
infiltration occurring during the festivities during the Christmas season. One
group was the Puritans who went so far as to legally ban Christmas in New England,
but this was not to last. Christmas regained its importance in the churches and
Christmas even became a national holiday in 1870 in the United States.
As mentioned, a few of the holidays of the Twelve Days of Christmas tend to vary based
on denomination and splits—so bear with me here. As an example, many in the
Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on January 7th and the Twelve Days end on January 19th
(so their days would have to be adjusted calendrically).
Also, some count the twelve days beginning with Christmas,
where others begin the day after Christmas (the latter is the more common
method). The point is there are plenty of variations and liberties taken on the
specifics of these twelve days of celebration.
With those liberties in mind, here are the Twelve Days of Christmas geared toward
those generically in the Protestant Reformation with a just few of the many deviations
listed in brackets[12]:
Day 1: December 26th Boxing Day or Stephen’s
Day [Synaxis/Celebration of Mary—Orthodox Church (OC), Wren’s Day—Ireland and a
few others]
The First Day of Christmas is known as Stephen’s Day or Boxing Day—the first Martyr of the
Church after the resurrection and he gave his all as a testimony to Jesus
Christ. It consists of the Feast of
Stephen. This is a day dedicated to giving to the poor. It is also called “Boxing Day”, in remembrance of giving
boxes of food to the poor. Read Acts 6:8-8:2.
Day 2: December 27th Apostles Day [Stephen’s
Day—OC, Feast of St. John—Anglican]
The Second Day of Christmas (Apostles Day) remembers the apostles beginning with John the
Apostle, “whom our Lord loved” and was present at the Crucifixion. It is
customary to light candles on this day because John spoke of light versus
darkness in a spiritual sense. Traditionally, the second day of Christmas was
also a day to bless wine and toast it (in moderation of course)—but that can be
left up local church discretions. Read Psalm 104:15, Amos 9:13-14, John 2:3-11,
and 1 John 1:1-2:3.
Apostles
- John son of Zebedee and brother of James
- Andrew (Peter’s brother)
- James the son of Zebedee
- Simon Peter (Cephas)
- Philip
- Bartholomew
- Thomas
- Matthew the tax collector
- James the son of Alphaeus
- Lebbaeus Thaddaeus
- Simon the Canaanite
Judas Iscariot, who forfeited his right as an Apostle- Matthias (Acts 1:20-26) Replaced Judas
- Paul (2 Corinthians 11:5, 2 Corinthians 12:11, etc.)
- Barnabas (Acts 14:14)
- James the brother of Jesus (Galatians 1:19)
- Jesus is THE Apostle (Hebrews 3:1)
Day 3: December 28th Ember Day or Holy
Innocents Day
The Third Day of Christmas is Ember Day where we recall the martyrs, particularly the Holy
Innocents (those killed by Herod seeking to kill Jesus). It is a day to
pray and fast for orphans and children; and to teach people why the modern form
of child sacrifice, abortion, is wrong. Read Exodus 1:8-2 and Matthew 3:12-21.
Day 4: December 29th Martyrs and Sacrifice Day
[Holy Innocents Day—OC]
The Fourth Day of Christmas remembers all who have been
exiled, murdered, and persecuted for defending the faith against all opposition
(Martyrs and Sacrifice Day). It is a
time to remember pastors/ministers/bishops, missionaries, Christian leaders
(i.e., deacons and elders), apologists, and even previous reformers and
Christians leaders and all that they sacrifice(d) to follow Christ. It is a
time to encourage current leaders to defend the authority of God and His Word
above all others. Gifts can be given to current leaders to show support and
encouragement. Read Isaiah 52:7, Romans 10:13-17, and Ephesians 4:11-16.
Day 5: December 30th Holy Family Day [Thomas
Becket Day—Anglican]
The Fifth Day of Christmas, we celebrate Holy Family Day. This consists of Mary,
Joseph, and Jesus as well as the rest of the Holy Family including Jesus’
earthly half-siblings (i.e., James, Jude/Judas, Joses, Simon and His sisters,
e.g., Matthew 13:55). This is a time to bless our immediate and extended
families and pray for them and dedicate them to the Lord. Read Matthew 1:18-25
and Mark 6:3.
Day 6: December 31st Hogmanay Day or New Year’s Eve [Feast of St. Silvester—Roman Catholic
Church (RCC), St. Egwin Day, Three Kings Day—Hispanic and Latin America]
New Year’s Eve is the Sixth Day of Christmas, also known as Hogmanay/Hogmane Day (others have Hoggo-nott or
Hoog Min Dag, meaning great
love day or holy month or holy morning—for the looking forward to the first day
of the year). This is the day for traditional games like shooting a bow
(archery), javelin toss, and in our modern vernacular, shooting contests.
Granted this is on our modern Gregorian calendar while different days were the
first and last day of the year depending on calendar. To see significant events
that occurred on the first day of the first month in Scripture, see: Genesis
8:13, Exodus 40:2, Exodus 40:17, 2 Chronicles 29:17, Ezra 7:9, Ezra 10:17, and
Ezekiel 29:17-20.
Day 7: January 1st New Year’s Day [Circumcision of Christ or Feast of St. Basil and St.
Gregory—OC/RCC, Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God Day—RCC, The Holy Name
Day—Anglican]
The Seventh Day of Christmas celebrates the new year and a
new beginning, for Christians to celebrate passing from death to life as a new
creation in Christ (e.g., John 5:24, 2 Corinthians 5:17, 1 John 3:14). It is a
time to share your testimony to your family and friends of how the Lord saved
you. Then, communion should follow it. Read Psalm 119:88, 1 Corinthians 1:4-7,
2 Timothy 1:8, 1 Corinthians 10:16-17, and 1 Corinthians 11:20-29.
Day 8: January 2nd Church Father’s Day
[Forefeast of the Theophany—OC]
The Eighth Day of Christmas is the day to call to mind the church
fathers (Church Father’s Day) and how
they stayed the course to which Jesus Christ and the apostles laid the
groundwork. It remembers their steadfast proclamation of teaching the good news
of Jesus Christ. Try to call to mind certain early church fathers that the
Apostles taught and delivered the faith that was to be once for all, [e.g.,
Timothy (to whom Paul wrote and traveled), Jude (author of Jude and brother of
Christ), Clement (Philippians 4:3), Ignatius and Polycarp (disciples of John),
Apollos (1 Corinthians 3:6)]. Read Ephesians 2:19-22 and 2 Peter 3:2.
Day 9: January 3rd Holy Name of Jesus Day or Triune
Day [Malachi Day—OC]
The Ninth Day of Christmas is the day we celebrate the
naming of “Jesus.” This is a day to recall the names of Jesus and the names of
God (Mighty God, Elohim, Jehovah, Prince of Peace, I Am, Messiah, Son of
God, The Word, Christ, etc.) and their significance it could be called Triune Day, as names of all three
persons of one triune Godhead[13]
is to be discussed and the Athanasius Creed[14]
is to be read after the names of Jesus have been discussed.[15]
All of the footnoted items here can be used on this holy day celebration. Read
Philippians 2:10-11.
Day 10: January 4th
Presentation Day or Simeon and Anna’s Day [Apostles Day—OC, some denote this
day as the Holy Name of Jesus Day]
The Tenth Day of Christmas is Presentation Day or Simeon
and Anna’s Day, when Jesus was presented at the Temple on the 40th
day and the turtledoves/pigeons were sacrificed (customary for the those who
were poor). Both Simeon and Anna saw the blessed Christ child. It is a day to
present ourselves and our children and grandchildren to Lord and ask for
forgiveness of our sin (repentance). This 40th day was prior to the
reception of precious gifts of the wise men, which included gold, to offer such
a humble sacrifice. Read Leviticus 12:1-4 and Luke 2:22-39.
Day 11: January 5th
Angel and Shepherds Day or Epiphany Eve [Feast of St. Simeon Stylites—RCC, St.
Elizabeth Seton Day—American RCC]
On the Eleventh Day of Christmas it is a time to remember
the shepherds and angels (Angel and Shepherds
Day or Epiphany Eve).[16]
The angels announced the coming of the advent of the Lord to Mary, Joseph,
Zacharias, and the shepherds who were the first to worship Jesus. It is wise to
read the entire account of Jesus birth in both Matthew and Luke. It is also a
time to plan for the feast of the Epiphany, which occurs the next day. Read
Matthew 1:20-24, Matthew 2:13-19, Luke 1:13-21, Luke 1:26-38, and Luke 2:8-18.
Day 12: January 6th
Epiphany or Feast of Epiphany
The Twelfth Day of Christmas is the celebration of the Epiphany—when the magi visited the
Christ-child and presented gifts to Him – gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Though
this is honored on the 12th day, it was not until after the 40th
day when Jesus was presented at the Temple that the magi arrived.[17]
The magi saw Jesus at a house, not the manger scene and the
Holy Family immediately went to Egypt for some time after the magi to flee from
Herod, the king ruling out of Jerusalem. This is the final day of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Traditionally,
it was a time for great feasting and drinking wine (in moderation and under
local church discretion) and presentation of the final gifts to your family.
Read Matthew 2:1-12.
After this last day of Christmas, the Christmas season
officially comes to a close, end-capping the traditional term “Happy
Holidays”. As a caveat, I’m not telling
readers to celebrate or not to celebrate these holidays and involve themselves
in the respective traditions. Instead, I’ll leave that to your family and
church’s discretion.
What Is a Holiday?
A holiday is literally a “holy day”, being derived from the
Old English hāligdæg (hālig
meaning holy and dæg meaning day).
Naturally, it is predicated on holiness which is an attribute of the Holy God
of the Bible.
Holy means sacred, spiritually perfect, hallowed, and godly.
This is why we call the Bible the Holy Bible.
Bible literally means the book or
more properly, the collection of books from God. Furthermore, it is why
Christians strive to live a godly and holy life as God patterned for man in the
life of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:16).
The God of the Bible began instituting holy days in the Old
Testament as types and shadows of God of Himself (Colossians 2:16-17). Some of
these include:
1.
Weekly Sabbath (e.g., Exodus 16:23-29, Exodus
20:8-11)[18]
2.
Passover (e.g., Exodus 12:1-4; Leviticus 23:5;
Numbers 9:1-14; 28:16; Deuteronomy 16:1-3, 4-7; Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:12-26;
John 2:13; 11:55; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Hebrews 11:28)
3.
Feast of Unleavened Bread (e.g., Exodus
12:15-20; 39; 13:3-10; 23:15; 34:18; Leviticus 23:6-8; Numbers 28:17-25;
Deuteronomy 16:3, 4, 8; Mark 14:1,12; Act 12:3)
4.
Firstfruits (e.g., Exodus 23:19; 34:26;
Leviticus 23:9-14; Deuteronomy 26:5,9-10.)
5.
Feast of Weeks (Exodus 23:16; 34:22; Leviticus
23:15-21; Numbers 28:26-31; Deuteronomy 16:9-12)
6.
Feast of Trumpets (e.g., Leviticus 23:23-25;
Numbers 29:1-6; 2 Samuel 6:15)
7.
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur, e.g., Leviticus
16:1-34; 23:26-32; Numbers 29:7-11)
8.
Feast of Tabernacles/Booths (e.g., Exodus 23:16;
34:22; Leviticus 23:33-38; 39-43; Numbers 29:12-34; Deuteronomy 16:13-15; 1
Kings 8:3; 2 Chronicles 7:1; Zechariah 14:16-19; John 7:2)
There was also a Jubilee
year, after seven cycles of seven years (49 years), the fiftieth year was
the Jubilee! The point is that God
gave holidays to man. In a nutshell, holidays exist by being predicated on the
existence of the Holy God of the Bible.
The New Testament continues in this tradition with the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week
(e.g., Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2, Revelation 1:10)—which is when Christ
resurrected. The Breaking of Bread,
also called the Last Supper, Lord’s Supper, Communion, or The Elements
is a New Testament regular observance of the Passover fulfilled in Jesus. Jesus, the Christ, is the final and
perfect Passover lamb. He was sacrificed and resurrected as the ultimate victor
once for all. The Lord’s Supper
celebrates Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection.
Celebrating new holidays to the Lord is a Christian freedom.
As the Bible says:
“One person esteems one day
above another; another esteems every day alike. Let each be fully
convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the
Lord; and he who does not observe the day, to the Lord he does not observe it
He who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives God thanks; and he who does not
eat, to the Lord he does not eat, and gives God thanks.” (Romans 14:5-6, NKJV)
We see something like this in the intertestamental period.
The Jews came up with a new festival—Hanukkah.
Hanukkah
Just as man is made in the image of the God (Genesis
1:26-27) who instituted festivals, so man has honored God with new festivals.
The godly Jews, for example, honored God with a holiday when they developed an
8-day winter festival called Hanukkah
or Festival of Dedication (“Hanukkah” is derived from the word
“dedication” in Hebrew). It was to rededicate the Second Temple and one
tradition is to progressively light a special 9-branch candle holder called a
menorah. This is why this holy day is sometimes called the Festival of Lights.
Jesus had no problem joining this celebration at the Second
Temple of God in Jerusalem approximately 2,000 years ago (John 10:22-23). Jews
often celebrate this, but so do many Christians as a way of honoring God.
There is nothing inherently wrong with a Christian
celebrating this, as Christ did as well. And Christians are happy to include
this as part of the phrase Happy Holidays.
This is not a holiday prescribed in the Bible, and yet, Jesus shows us the
freedom we can have make new holidays dedicated to the Lord.
Conclusion
“Happy Holidays” is a common Christian phrase that largely includes the entire Christmas season. It extends from the fourth Sunday prior to Christmas (First Advent Sunday) until January 6th with the Feast of Epiphany. Clearly, there is a lot in between. But let’s not forget the reason for the season.
Jesus Christ, the eternal and uncreated Son of God, became a
man (John 1, Colossians 1, Hebrews 1)—remaining fully God and becoming fully
man. Becoming a man—our relative—was a task all too easy for an all-powerful
God. Christ stepped into history to ultimately die on a cross for sin.
The infinite Son of God took the full measure of wrath for
our sin upon Himself. He had the power to lay down His life and take it up
again (e.g., John 10:17-18). This shows He alone holds the power over life and
death. The infinite punishment we deserve for sin against a perfect, infinite,
just, and holy God, was satisfied in Jesus’ sacrifice.
The Christmas season should be a time to reflect how God
alone was the one who made salvation possible through the blood of Christ. It
shows the love that God has for us by sending the Babe in a manger to rescue sinners.
To purchase copies of this article in booklet form for witnessing purposes please visit Answer in Genesis.
[1]
German for child or children is “kind, kinder”, which is also the root for our
English kindergarten.
[2]
Originally, Thanksgiving was celebrated on the last Thursday in November, but
in 1939, it was adjusted to be the fourth Thursday of November.
[3]
The name “Black Friday” comes from companies selling so much on that day that
it gets them out of the red and into the black—in other words, it helps
companies get from being in debt (in the red) to making a profit (in the
black).
[4] In
ancient times, the day often began at sunset—we still see this on the
Babylonian/Jewish Calendar. This is a reflection of cultures as they retain the
evening then morning cycle which is how God created successively during
Creation Week (Genesis 1:1-2:3).
[5]
The Feast of Annunciation was
originally April 6th in some churches but it represented more than
just the conception then. It also collectively included things like Christ’s
birth, circumcision, and baptism.
[6] Ephraim
the Syrian, On the Nativity of Christ in the Flesh, Hymn III AD 306-373, https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/early-church-fathers/post-nicene/vol-13-gregory-ephraim-and-aphrahat/ephraim-syrus/hymn-iii.html.
[7] John
Cassian, Conferences of John Cassian, Chapter 2, Of the custom which is kept up
in the Province of Egypt for signifying the time of Easter, AD 360-435, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/cassian/conferences.ii.xi.ii.html.
[8]
Eusebius of Caesarea, Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 17. p. 419.
[9]
Bodie Hodge, Tower of Babel, Master Books, Green Forest, AR, 2013, pp. 199-204.
[10]
This is why in some instances, we see the Saturn and Chronos figure convoluted
into Japheth, Kittim, or Ham (some of Noah’s descendants in Genesis 10) in
various accounts.
[11]
The Fourth Homily, On the Holy Theophany, or on Christ’s Baptism, AD 213-270, https://www.biblestudytools.com/history/early-church-fathers/ante-nicene/vol-6-third-century/gregory-thaumaturgus/fourth-homily.html.
[12]
Taken from: B. Hodge, The Twelve Days of Christmas (for Protestants), Biblical
Authority Ministries, December 16, 2015, https://biblicalauthorityministries.wordpress.com/2015/12/16/the-twelve-days-of-christmas/,
Used by Permission.
[13] God
is Triune from Scripture: https://answersingenesis.org/who-is-god/the-trinity/god-is-triune/.
[14] The
Athanasius Creed can be found here: https://carm.org/christianity/creeds-and-confessions/athanasian-creed-500-ad.
[15] Some
names can be found here: http://www.gotquestions.org/names-of-God.html
and http://www.gotquestions.org/names-Jesus-Christ.html.
[16]
January 5th also happens to be my
birthday!
[17]
This is because they sacrificed doves (Luke 2:24), a sign of being poor, they
clearly hadn’t received the expensive gifts from the magi. Those gifts likely
help fund their trip to Egypt to avoid Herod. Was it one year and twelve days
after the birth of Christ that the magi arrived? It’s possible. Nonetheless,
Epiphany, which is the twelfth day after Christmas, is an ancient day set aside
to honor this event.
[18]
See Hosea 2:11, Colossians 2:16.
