Jesus wasn’t born on 25 December. Does it matter?

It is a remarkable thing that all around the world, over the next days and weeks, there will be millions, if not billions of people celebrating what we call Christmas.

In our modern day it comes in many different forms. Those of us who remember those simpler family times of the 1940s and 50s (or earlier) may feel uncomfortable with the worldly emphases of today, whose glitter soon fades away. Many Christians will seek to focus on the central reason for Christmas, preserving the memory of the birth of the Son of God, the promised Messiah of Israel.

Yet, even so, more and more Christians are realising that Christmas was not celebrated by the first disciples of Jesus the Messiah (Yeshua HaMashiach), who would have recognised only the biblical feasts. More and more, the traditional Christian interpretations of Christmas are found to carry errors of interpretation – even in the wording of some of the favourite traditional carols.

It is all too easy to either blind oneself to the reality of Christmas all around, or, at another extreme, reject the season’s celebrations outright with rather a negative response. It would seem that the Lord is taking us through a period of transformation – gradually – in preparation for, not his first coming, but his second coming.

So, what about this year? What is the real priority?

Meeting Us Where We Are

When Jesus was here in the flesh he entered a world with established traditions. Among those traditions were two feasts added on to the main Levitical feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. The feasts of Purim and Hanukkah were part of the yearly traditions of the Jews. They were not given as part of the Mosaic Law, so it is surprising that Jesus seemed to celebrate them, rather than correct them.

It is all too easy to either blind oneself to the reality of Christmas all around, or, at another extreme, reject the season’s celebrations outright.

Some would consider that his lack of opposition to these feasts meant that he accommodated them as correct traditions. Perhaps so. Perhaps, however, we could look at it from another angle. Could he not simply have taken things as he found them and focussed positively on his chief purpose: to minister to the poor and to proclaim the Kingdom, leaving it to his hearers to respond in all aspects of their lives?

What would Jesus do if he came to earth this Christmas? What would be his priority in our season of a non-biblical festival? Perhaps he would not confront it, but accept the context in which he found the world – meeting us where we are. Would his priority, despite so much wrong, still be to minister to the poor and to proclaim the Kingdom, rather than argue about the trappings that have accumulated around Christmas?

Our Task

We know that Jesus is unlikely to come down to earth on 25 December 2017. However, he does still move among the people of our modern world – in his people, by the power of his Spirit. Therefore, it is up to us to fulfil his priorities for the season.

With that in mind, whatever we think of Christmas today, let us consider the poor and proclaim the Kingdom – the season affords us great opportunities.

Among all others at Prophecy Today I extend my seasonal greetings.

Immanuel – God be with us.

Clifford Denton
Chairman of the Board