Love for Life

What Does Christmas Have To Do With Jesus?
by Richard Anthony
What Does Christmas Have To Do With Jesus?

Christmas is a very popular holiday. However, as is often the case, what is popular is not always right, and what is right is not always popular. "Christmas" is short for "Christ mass", or "mass for Christ". The name of the holiday is much newer than the holiday itself. The customs associated with Christmas, in one form or another, have been celebrated for thousands of years before Christ was even born!. "Christmas" is just a new name for an old pagan holiday. Now Christmas is supposedly a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ…but is it really? What does Santa Clause, reindeer, and the North Pole have to do with Jesus Christ?

Santa or Satan?

Santa has been given the attributes of God, and is presented as a god-like figure:

1. Eternal: Santa is as old as man, he has always been, and he will always be. Santa is eternal. Jesus is eternal (Revelation 1:8).

2. Flying and gifts: Santa goes into the air and gives gifts. Jesus ascends on high and gives gifts (Ephesians 4:7-8).

3. Coming soon: Santa shall descend from the sky. Jesus "shall descend" from the sky (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

4. Rewarding works: Santa gives his gifts according to whether you are good or bad. Jesus gives his gifts according to whether you are good or bad (Revelation 20:12-13).

5. All Seeing: Santa sees you when you are sleeping, and knows when you're awake. Jesus sees you when you are sleeping, and knows when you're awake (Proverbs 5:21).

6. Clothing: Santa wears red clothes. Jesus wore red clothes (Revelation 19:13).

7. Hair: Santa has hair white as snow. Jesus had hair "white as snow" (Revelation 1:14, Daniel 7:9).

8. Entering: Santa can come in though the doors are shut. Jesus can come in though the doors are shut (John 20:19).

9. Home: Santa’s city is in the North Pole. God’s city is in "the sides of the North" (Psalm 48:1-2, Leviticus 1:11).

10. Omniscient (all knowing): Santa knows if you've been bad or good. Jesus knows if you've been bad or good (Proverbs 15:3).

11. Omnipresence (everywhere at one time): Santa can be in one billion homes in a 24 hour period; that is eleven hundred & fifty-seven homes per second, virtually omnipresent. Jesus is omnipresent (Matthew 18:20).

12. Omnipotent (all powerful): Santa is powerful enough to carry presents for a billion children. That is Omnipotence. Jesus is Omnipotent (Matthew 28:18).

13. Ho! Ho! Ho!: Santa says, "Ho, ho, ho". Jesus says "Ho, ho" (Zechariah 2:6), and in this same verse, Jesus says, "flee from the land of the north." Also, the word "ho" appears in only three verses in the entire scripture (Ruth 4:1, Isaiah 55:1, Zechariah 2:6). Ho! Ho! Ho! Three Ho’s! Santa is trying to impersonate Christ (Matthew 24:5)!

Children have been told from an early age that there is someone who "knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you've been bad or good, so be good for goodness sake." One day that child's "god" (for indeed only the Lord God knows these things) is discovered to be non-existent. When a child is 6, 7 or 8 he finds out he has been lied to by his parents and society. Their faith crumbles and a sacred trust is broken. Their parents represent the authority and security to which their very lives depend, and they find out now that there is not a jolly, fat Santa Clause with attributes as God.

The Devil has just now destroyed a belief in one who "knows when you are sleeping, awake, bad or good, etc.!" Now you take that same child to Church services, or teach this child about God, expecting them to believe in another who knows all about them. What would any of us expect of a child whose faith and trust were already attacked with such deception?

If you have any involvement in such a deception, repent of it. Jesus said, "But whoso shall offend one of these little ones (children) which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." (Mat.18:6). The worship of Santa Claus is a sin of idolatry likened to that of witchcraft (1 Sam.15:23, Gal.5:19-21).

Who is the god of this world? The Lord God of the scripture has revealed Himself as God, but there is another whom the Lord ascribes the title of "the god of this world" (2 Corinthians 4:4), "the prince of this world" (John 12:31). The devil has "come down" unto us (Revelation 12:12), and walks on the earth (Job 2:2). Indeed, the Devil has done such a good job in his work of deception that the vast majority of men, women and children do not even believe that the Devil exists. They have cartooned him as a mythical horned and forked-tailed boogie man, and in that lies his opportunity to have people succumb to the powers that are his.

It is this principle that lies at the belief system of Santa. SANTA with a juggle of letters spells SATAN!

Santa Claus is a god to the children of the world, or as some say, "Father Christmas". But Jesus specifically said, "And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven" (Matthew 23:9). The parents purposely lie to their children, and lying is strongly condemned in the scripture (Pro.6:16-19; 19:5,9; Eph.4:25, Col.3:9, 1 John 2:21-22, Rev.21:8,27; 22:15). Parents tell them that they should fear Santa Claus because "he knows if you've been bad or good". If they have been bad, they won't get all these worldly gifts. If they are good, they get these gifts. The scripture condemns worldly gifts (Exo.23:8, Deut.16:19, 2 Kings 5:15-16, Pro.17:23, Ecc.7:7, Mat.23:19, Pro.21:14). True gifts are from God only (James 1:17, Eph.2:8; 3:7; 4:7, 1 Cor.7:7, 2 Cor.9:15, Rom.1:11; 6:23, Acts 2:38, 2 Tim.1:6). And the gift of God cannot be purchased with money (Acts 8:20-21).

Santa Claus comes from the Dutch dialect "Sante Klaas," because this referred to "Saint Nicholas." Nicholas was a man in Germany who gave children presents, and had them sit on his lap. Unfortunately, the reason he did this was not for good, but for evil. He was a convicted child molester.

Myths Surrounding The Birth Of Jesus

Jesus born December 25th? The scripture, as well as history, does not say when Jesus was born; not the day, month, or year! So how could anyone claim that this is the day Jesus was born? On what authority? How could we celebrate a birthday if nobody knows the birth date? And since the scripture is silent on that subject, maybe we are suppose to be silent as well, as to the physical birth of Jesus.

The one thing we know for sure is that Jesus was not born in the winter time, as tradition teaches, but in warm weather! At the time surrounding the birth of Christ, the scripture says, at Luke 2:8, "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." In Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Palestine, the shepherds do not take their flocks out in the fields during the winter. They don’t today, and they didn’t 2,000 years ago.

Luke 2:1-3 mentions a census at the time Jesus was born. A census would have never been done in the heart of the winter since the weather conditions would make the transportation of the people to the city with their family very difficult. In fact, even in our modern age of fast speed means of transportation, the censuses are always done in periods when the weather will not be an obstacle. Obviously, if this is true today it should have been true in those days as well.

Three Wise Men? The scripture does not say there were 3 wise men (Mat.2:1), it does not mention how many wise men there were. It mentions 3 gifts (Mat.2:11), and people assume from that that there were three wise men. But there could have been 2 or 20 wise men.

Followed star to Bethlehem? The wise men did not follow the star to Bethlehem, they only followed it part of the way, to Jerusalem (Mat.2:1). Once they arrived in Jerusalem, they had to ask directions in regards to where Jesus was (Mat.2:2)! They were told they could find Jesus in Bethlehem (Mat.2:5).

Arrived the night Jesus was born? The wise men did not arrive at Jerusalem until well after Jesus was born. Since they arrived at Jerusalem after Jesus' birth, and since they stayed there able time for the events of Matthew 2:2-9 to happen, it is evident that they could, by no means, be in Bethlehem on the night of the birth together with the shepherds, as tradition teaches.

It is important to note here that, according to Matthew 2:16-18, Herod put the age limit to two years and under "according to the time which he had diligently (accurately) inquired from the wise men." In verse 7, Herod had inquired accurately from the wise men what time the star appeared, and by this he knew the age of Jesus. Thus, if Jesus was born when "his star" appeared "in the east", it can be concluded that when the wise men visited him, and the massacre of Bethlehem happened, he was certainly no more than two years old, though not too much less than that.

Jesus In A Manger? When the wise men came to present their gifts, Jesus was not in a manger in a stable, as tradition teaches. Jesus was in a house (Mat.2:11). Jesus was in a manger only when the shepherds visited him the night of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:16).

Floating Angels? There was only 1 angel that announced the birth of Jesus, and he wasn’t floating around in the sky (Luke 2:9).

Where Did Christmas Come From?

"Christmas" was celebrated by the heathens thousands of years before Jesus was even born! One of their customs was to decorate a tree with silver and gold ornaments, then fasten the tree so that it would not topple. Here is Biblical evidence of this fact:

Jeremiah 10:2-5, "Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen…For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree…"

God is telling us in this verse, "Do not learn the way of the heathen" Don't even learn it, let alone practice it. God even condemns a custom that the heathens practiced, yet we see this very same custom exist even today; it is called the Christmas tree. The scripture describes this "Christmas celebration" as idolatry. Other pagan customs include Mistletoe and the yule log. If you seek, you will find that these things are pagan also all over the world.

Now, some claim that this verse refers to idols being made from the trees. This may be true (Isaiah 40:19; 41:23, 45:20; 46:1,7, Psalm 115:5,7, Habakkuk 2:19). But this is not important. What is important is the question, "Does God approve of trees being used to worship Him?" Is there a command in the scripture to do so? The answer is simple. No.

December 25th has always been a Sun worship holiday. When the sun was on its lowest dip on the horizon and the days grew shorter in the winter, the sun worshipping people feared that the sun would not return. So they held certain festivals around the time of the Winter Solstice when the sun began to return. December 21st is the shortest day of the year, and the following 3 days after it are exactly the same length. On December 25th, the day starts to become longer again, and the pagans called that day the "coming of the Sun".

This is why a "star", or sun, was placed on top of their "Christmas trees". Does this sound familiar? Sure, people might say this represents the star that appeared in the sky after Jesus was born, but where does the scripture approve of such things? Some people place an angel on top of their trees, and claim this is OK. Well, let’s see what the scriptures say about angels.

2 Corinthians 11:14, "…for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light." The scripture confirms that Satan is an angel of light. Placing an angel on top of the tree is synonymous with placing a star on top of the tree, because both images represents "light", or the "sun". But some might claim that their angel on their tree is a heavenly angel. OK. Please look at God’s Second Commandment: Exodus 20:4, "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above." Angels are in heaven above, and God forbids having images of any thing that’s in heaven above for the purpose of worship! So, no matter how you look at it, God does not approve of these pagan practices.

December 25th

December 25th is the birthday of nearly every pagan god ever invented! The birth of the Sun god, Mirtha, was on December 25th. In Egypt, the Sun god, Osiris, was born December 25th. In the Syrian religion, the Sun god, Adonis, was born December 25th. In the Mithraic religions, they celebrated the "Birthday of the Invincible Sun" on December 25th. In Rome, they celebrated the "Birthday of the Unconquerable Sun" on December 25th . Also, Nimrod’s birthday’s was on December 25th!

The scripture is full of examples of Sun Worship (Deut. 4:19; 17:3, 2 Kings 23:5,11, Job 31:26-28). Women would weep for Tammuz (Eze.8:14), then the people would worship the Sun (verse 16). Tammuz is the god of nature and fertility, and is the offspring of Dumuzi, the Accadian Sun-god (the Adonis of the Greeks). Christmas was always a pagan holiday, and now we are substituting a holy name in place of the name of the pagan gods, but still practicing pagan ways and not the ways of Jesus. Deuteronomy 12:30-32 commands us not to serve God the same way they follow their gods. "Christmas" is following the pagans after their Sun-gods.

Christmas Facts

Christmas time is when we feel pressured to buy merchandise for others. Merchants make the most money at this time. The scripture says merchants are thieves and they love to oppress people (Hosea 12:7, Rev.18:3,11,15,23). There is a multitude of merchandise around Christmas time, and the scripture says this is a sin, "By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned" (Ezekiel 28:16). Jesus condemns buying and selling when it pertains to God (Mat.21:12). God condemns buying and selling when it pertains to Holy Days (Neh.10:31; 13:15-17). Yet we buy and sell for Christmas?

Christmas time has the highest suicide rate of the year. More people go into debt during Christmas than any other time of the year. The scripture condemns borrowing money (Deuteronomy 15:6; 28:12, Proverbs 22:7,26), it condemns credit and charging interest (usury) on money (Leviticus 25:36-37, Ezekiel 18:13, 22:12-13). Should people celebrate Christmas by borrowing and going into debt, by using credit cards and money, when the scripture teaches "the love of money is the root of all evil" (1 Timothy 6:10)?

And during Christmas time, there are Christmas parties, where people get drunk. But the scripture condemns drunkenness (Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-32, 1Corinthians 9:10, Isaiah 28:1, Joel 1:5, Nahum 1:10). Do we show our love for God by doing what he condemns?

During Christmas time, people take off of work for the holidays. But this goes against God’s Forth Commandment; "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work" (Exodus 20:9). God commanded us to rest only one day a week (Exodus 20:10). Do we show our love for God by breaking his commandment and working less than 6 days a week, and resting more than one day a week?

Christmas is mixing the Holy God with unholy pagan practices. We are not suppose to mix the holy with the unholy (2 Corinthians 6:14). We are to be separate from them (2 Corinthians 6:17). Christians are not to love the ways of the world (Luke 16:15, 1 John 2:15, James 4:4, Romans 12:2, Revelation 18:4). Christmas cards are mixing holy things with pagan things.

And who is it that celebrates Christmas? The whole "civilized world". Millions who make no profession of faith in the blood of the Lamb, who "despise and reject Him," and millions more who, while claiming to be His followers, yet in works deny Him, join in merrymaking under the pretense of honoring the birth of the Lord Jesus. It is written, "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil" (Exo.23:2). We are commanded to be separate from the world (Rom.12:2, Eph.2:2, 1 John 2:15-17, James 4:4, John 15:19).

Birthdays

And since Christmas is celebrating a "birthday", we should see what the scripture teaches about birthdays. Throughout the entire scripture, there are only 2 birthday celebrations. One was King Herod, who chopped off the head of John the Baptist because of his birthday (Mat.14:6-8). The other one was the Pharaohs’, who decided to hang to death his chief baker in celebration of his birthday (Gen.40:20-22). Only unbelievers have celebrated birthdays according to God’s Word. The scripture mentions no man of God having ever celebrated a birthday.

Maybe this is why the scripture does not mention when Jesus was born…because we’re not suppose to celebrate birthdays, which is a heathen tradition! Birthdays have to do with the celebration of the flesh, and we're not to celebrate Christ in a fleshly manner but in a spiritual way. To a Christian, it is not the first birth from corruptible seed that’s important (1 Peter 1:23), but our second birth, when we’re "born again" (John 3:3,7). The 1st birth is of the world, 2nd of God (John 1:12-13).

Worship

Carefully note this point: We cannot possibly please God by setting up our own means of worshipping Him. Paul called worship contrived by man "will worship", and condemned it (Colossians 2:23; read the entire context from 2:8 through 2:23). Jeroboam sinned by instituting a day of atonement which was "like the one feast which is in Judah," the one ordained by God, but on a different day. The inspired text indicts Jeroboam because "he devised in his own heart" a month for a holy day (1 Kings 12:32-33). Even though they were offering incense to the Lord, Nadab and Abihu failed to treat Him as holy because they used fire from a source other than that which was prescribed (Leviticus 10:1-3). They were consumed by fire from the Lord for their transgression.

Christmas is man-made, and therefore an unacceptable means of worship. Worship, by definition, is an act recognizing the one who is worshipped as Lord. If he is Lord, whose Will should prevail? If I dictate the means of worshipping, whose Will prevails? Do you see the point? Worshipping God in my own way is a contradiction. To worship God, I must do so according to His will. What is God’s Will? God’s Will is his Law written in our hearts (Psalm 40:8). Jesus said his true family are those who "shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven" (Mat.12:50). Christmas is a tradition, and we don’t worship God by following man-made traditions (Mat.15:3,6, Mark 7:7-9,13, Col.2:8). We are to show our love for Jesus by doing what Jesus himself said to do in John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 21,24; 15:10,14, James 1:22, Rom.2:13, 1 John 5:2-3). "Holi-day" means "Holy-day", and only one entity can make a day Holy. Did God, or man, make Christmas a Holy-day? If we know that the roots of Christmas are of pagan origin, shouldn't the roots of our worship be in the scriptures, rather than paganism?

Some will argue for the "keeping of Christmas" on the basis of "giving the kiddies a good time." But why do this under the cloak of honoring the Savior's birth? Why is it necessary to drag in His Holy name in connection with what takes place at this season of carnal jollification? As Jesus once asked, in Luke 6:46, "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?"

Link to this article: http://www.ecclesia.org/truth/christmas.html