Christmas
By Paul Ravenhill

300 years after Jesus' death the church set December 25th as the day of commemoration and celebration of His birth.

Was Jesus born December 25th?... Possibly not!

Does the exact date matter? I don't think so! Some people have a problem with December 25th because it was the date of the heathen celebration of the mid-winter festival. As Studdert-Kennedy (to whom I am indebted for his notes which lay the basis for this writing) has pointed out, for the heathen it was based in a time of dread
          (dread of the winter cold which had taken the life from the trees and plants and
          touched the waters and the fields with frost,
          dread of the darkness which had taken over a greater portion of every day,
          dread of the scarcity the uncertainty, the unrelenting attack of winter) from this fear was born the custom of lighting fires and burning logs to "warm up the sun" lest he flicker out and die and never rise again.

Studdert-Kennedy relates:

"The instinct that made the early Christians keep the festival of Christ's birth upon midwinter day was the result of a very vivid experience. They felt that the coming of Christ into the world had been like the return of the sun, the winter of the world's soul was over and the spring had come. The contrast between the darkness before Him and the Light which He brought was to them a glaring and startling contrast because the memory of the darkness was still fresh..."

Historically December 25th was probably not the date of Jesus' birth, but symbolically, in a spiritual sense, it most certainly was!
          The day in the fullness of time
                    The day in the depth of earth's winter
                              The day when darkness covered the nations
                                        When mankind had lost hope in the universe
                                                  The day when death seemed ready to swallow up all
This day became
          The day of the dawning of the Light,
          The beginning of the end of Darkness
          The birth of the Salvation from eternal Night.
          The day of overcoming of Despair and Hopelessness.
          THE DAWNING OF THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS whose Light must shine more and more until the perfect day when
                    ALL Darkness is past,
                    All sin is vanquished
                    And the Light of Life, unfettered and unchallenged, fills all
                    eternity.

"Christ that was born on Christmas day                           Laid on the world His two small hands,                     Lifted it worlds and worlds away                           Up to the level of Love's demands.                     And those Hand's hold, though pierced with nails,                           They hold on still in power and pain,                     And they shall hold till Satan fails                           And Love comes to His own to reign."                                         ~ G. A. Studdert-Kennedy

Copyright © 1997 by Paul Ravenhill - http://www.ravenhill.org/