The Everlasting Gospel
Stephen Terry
Commentary for the December 27, 2014
Sabbath School Lesson
And there were shepherds living out
in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the
Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they
were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good
news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a
Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign
to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
Suddenly a great
company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the
highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor
rests.”
When the angels had
left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to
Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us
about.” Luke 2:8-15, NIV
We do not
know the precise moment of Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem. For some this is
troubling. There have always been those who are uncomfortable unless every
aspect of belief is nailed down and neatly packaged for latter distribution and
consumption. I admit that I also get uncomfortable when things don’t follow a
prescribed and expected plan. However, I have discovered that no matter how
much effort has gone into preparing for every eventuality, things can and do go
wrong. Oftentimes it happens precisely because we have ordered things so well.
Then, when one part becomes derailed, the rest can go awry just like several
cars following a derailed train from the track. Perhaps, in light of this, God
has purposely not nailed down everything about Him and our relationship to Him
so that we are less likely to be derailed by things we cannot understand from
His perspective anyway.
For
instance, some have used the fact that God has not preserved the date of Jesus’
birth in the Bible as a reason not to celebrate it. But is that a valid reason?
During World War II, the Allies landed in Normandy on D-Day to begin the
liberation of Europe. The war was not over. This was just the beginning of the
assault on Hitler’s fortress, but it was significant enough that the event is
still celebrated today, over seventy years later. Now even if the exact date of
June 6, 1944, was not known, many might still celebrate that genesis of liberation.
Anyone who caviled over whether or not the celebration were taking place on the
exact anniversary date would probably be looked at a little strangely and may
even be seen to be unappreciative of what had taken place. Christians, who
refuse to celebrate the nativity for similar reasons, may be similarly
perceived.
Some point
to the dates of December 25 and January 6 when the celebration commonly takes
place and their proximity to the winter solstice as evidence that anyone
participating in the celebration is a heathen observing pagan days and rites.
However, when this claim is made, a couple of important points are overlooked.
First, the pagan associations are not as solid as is often presented, and
second, they may have failed to understand a likely reason the December 25 and
January 6 dates were chosen by the early church.
While there
are undoubtedly many things that influence us today that were once done by non-Christians,
this does not mean that the association remains. For instance, ancient peoples
would build their homes and dedicate them to non-Christian deities, a practice
still followed in several modern cultures today. Do Christians then avoid
living in houses because of the “pagan” associations? To make a more direct
comparison, virtually every day of the year is associated with a pagan deity in
one way or another. Even days of the week[i]
and names of the months[ii]
are derived from dedication to non-Christian gods. Do we throw out our
calendars and cease referring to these names in order to avoid contamination
with those influences? Some may have done so, but what has been the result of
identifying these things as pagan? Has it not been a virtual resurrection of
heathen gods long dead and forgotten? Well-meaning Christians have re-introduced
not only the names of these deities but also the forms of worship used in
honoring them as they misguidedly reveal these things in an effort to declaim
against current Christian celebrations. Sadly these associations, based on a
poor bit of scholarship called “The Two Babylons,” done by a Professor Alexander
Hislop in the 19th century, still persist. This book, although
nearly two centuries old, continues to spark interest on Amazon Books. This in
spite of critiques done by those inclined to do more careful research, as in
the review “The Two Babylons: A Case Study in Poor Methodology.”[iii]
Perhaps
those who associate such things with paganism or even devil worship have
forgotten that mankind, in Adam, turned over rulership of this world to the
Evil One. Man held suzerainty over this world in the name of God.[iv]
But instead of serving God faithfully, he chose to follow another, and took the
world with him in a downward spiral into wickedness.[v]
In short, there is little on this planet that does not have an association at
one point or another with that taint of evil. To avoid that, we would likely
have to leave the world, as Paul the Apostle intimated.[vi]
Perhaps we
have belabored the issue of pagan influences enough. What about the second
issue, the timing of the date of the celebration? Why December 25 or January 6?
Was it as some say an attempt by the church to combine paganism with
Christianity by placing Jesus’ birth on a pagan feast day? Perhaps it was not. A
belief commonly held in Judaism was that auspicious events tended to coincide.
Since Jesus’ death on the cross occurred in the spring it was thought,
according to this principle, His conception occurred at the same time. The early
church was not united on the date of the commemoration of the Crucifixion, with
the Western Church favoring March 25, and the Eastern Church favoring April 6. But
the import of these dates is their impact on the dating of the Nativity. If we
calculate the nine months of a normal pregnancy from those dates, they give us
December 25 and January 6. These two traditions eventually united in the Twelve
Days of Christmas from Advent to Epiphany. But the important point here is that
the dates may have been determined without any intentional desire to reach pagans
or incorporate paganism into Christianity. An excellent paper that explains
this particular perspective has been often published by The Biblical
Archaeology Society.[vii]
A perplexing
feature of those who are often in the forefront of the Christian anti-Christmas
movement is that they not only are opposed to celebrating Christmas in
December, they do not chose to gather to celebrate the birth of Jesus at any
time of the year. Some do not sing hymns about His birth at any time. They may
not allow their children to re-enact the Nativity as children often do at
Christmas. It is as though the birth of Christ does not exist for them. Yet,
that event was so significant that Isaiah proclaimed it hundreds of years in
advance.[viii]
It was so special that Matthew[ix]
and Luke[x]
gave detailed accounts of it in their gospels. According to Luke, even the
angels celebrated Jesus’ birth and invited others to the celebration.[xi]
I cannot help
but wonder, in the face of all of this celebration, what could be behind those
who wish to suppress it? What would Christians have to gain by ignoring the
birth of Jesus? Nothing it would seem. Why
would they suggest that God would want them to ignore it if all heaven seemed
to be ablaze with the celebration at the moment of Jesus’ birth?
The
everlasting gospel is contained in the hope that buoyed mankind for thousands
of years. The message from the time of man’s fall into sin was, “He is coming!”
Adam through Noah, the patriarchs of old, kings and prophets, and a multitude
of faithful people looked forward to that promise with joy. When He was born,
angels proclaimed “He is here!” Prophets and Apostles also shared that message.
After He was taken into heaven, throughout the succeeding generations, many,
even in trials and afflictions brought about those who did not want the message
proclaimed, nonetheless raised the cry, “He is coming again!”
Can we then,
as believing Christians, remove the central lynchpin of that glorious story and
act as though His birth was irrelevant or doesn’t matter? In doing so, are we
relegating the King of Glory once more to the stable rather than welcoming Him
with open arms into our homes and lives? Everything within me cries out with
joy at the thought of what God brought into our world on that night in
Bethlehem. May no one be ashamed to celebrate it because of the accusations of
others. A little child in a manger, carrying the hope for all mankind, truly is
the reason for the season.
