12/25 Was An Inside Job
Yes, it was once a pagan celebration. No, it's likely not the actual birth date of the Messiah. And yes, even so, Jesus of Nazareth is worthy of our Christmas worship
Here we are again.
Another year. Gone.
Another Christmas season spent measuring and counting, worrying and waiting.
And of course, another round of bickering and berating from so-called “Jesus freaks” who demand we bow the knee to their version of what Pure and Undefiled Religion™ looks like.
It’s all so exhausting.
I have a Christmas confession: as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a pretentious douchebag, both B.C. and after.
I remember upon my conversion in 2008 grieving how I had once viewed Christmas as a time of family and cookies and pine scents and, above all, love.
I know, right? What an absolute abomination!
I even made videos urging Christians to rethink what they thought they knew about the “Christ Mass,” warning them about “the pagan roots of the winter solstice ritual” and that the “alleged holy day is merely a centuries-old myth intended to ultimately replace the worship of Christ with something far more sinister."
When I wrote those words, I was still a so-called "baby Christian," learning to cling to what is good and abhor what is evil.
What a moron I was.
the ‘death of the sun’ vs. the death of the Son
Let’s just say after I came to Christ, I abhorred a lotta stuff. Like, a lot. Maybe too much.
My now-renewed and often self-importantly pious mind came to see the holiday marking the Incarnation of God here on Earth as a sort of bastardized version of what those (ewww) pagans used to celebrate: the winter solstice, or the "death of the sun".
Mind you, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of the Son of God, not the death of anything and certainly not any star. But for whatever reason, I was too discerning, too utterly wise to notice that little discrepancy.
The more I read about those “silly Christians” in millennia past who couldn't keep themselves from the idol of Christmas tree - because we worship it, don't ya know - the more I was convinced the whole holiday was one big conspiracy to defraud the world.
And here's the thing: I still do, to some extent, believe that.
History teaches us that in the early 4th century, the Roman emperor Constantine, in his zeal to convert his kingdom to the seemingly unstoppable spread of the Gospel, instituted Christianity as a state sponsored religion that coalesced pagan festivals of Saturnalia, a Roman festival honoring the sun god, Saturn, which lasted from December 17 to 24, and Sol Invictus, a holiday instituted by Roman emperor Aurelian in 274 AD.
With the Edict of Milan in 313, Constantine solidified his strategy of unifying Rome through the establishment of a "catholic"— which means “universal” — church that would blend elements from many religions into one, otherwise known as syncretism.
Yet as I grew in the Lord and the knowledge of His Word, I began to understand that the Incarnation wasn't merely a holiday to be celebrated or a date to be marked - it was a truth to be lived.
a Gift worth celebrating
Much like the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, His humble entry into time and space transcends the scope of culture and even history itself. In fact, the clock of history was re-calibrated when the Son of God was born in that filthy manger in Bethlehem 2,000-plus years ago.
Strangely enough, as more time passes, the conspiratorial edicts and imperial diktats surrounding the Incarnation pale in comparison to the majesty and the humility of God taking on flesh and coming in the likeness of men to save His own.
So when churches across the U.S. and the world memorialize that event with stage productions of their own, oftentimes our fragile psyches will compromise with the eternal significance of Christ’s birth so that we might enjoy the “Christmas spirit” - whatever/whoever that may be.
But this season, something amazing happened. At least for me.
It came in the form of one of those dreaded church productions, one in which I expected little more than some quaint Christmas carols and maybe a clunky Gospel presentation.
What my family and I were treated to instead was nothing short of stunning.
This isn’t intended to be a review - which I encourage you to read here - but rather a reminder, as the “Gift of Christmas” was to me, that the Incarnation was more than the fulfillment of Biblical prophecy, though it certainly was that.
It was more than just a blessing poured into a blasphemous world, though it was certainly that as well.
No, the Incarnation was an invasion by God into His creation, which was - and remains - at war with its Creator.
It was the ultimate inside job, accomplished by a God Who doesn’t ask for permission nor requires our participation, but Who still bothers with both and stoops to conquer.
Under the cover of prophetic silence following the book of Malachi, the God of Jacob wasn’t scrambling to come up with a Plan B. He wasn’t distressed or disillusioned about what had led up to that moment.
Unlike in the days of Noah, He wasn’t even considering doing away with all life itself.
Rather, the Father was conspiring with the Son and the Spirit on an eternally-conceived conspiracy, one that would be met with both ridicule and redemption. There were no details left to chance, no logistical oversights, nothing at all that could derail what the Everlasting God had conceived in eternity past.
Just consider: there are dozens of prophecies in the Old Testament that point explicitly to the coming of the Messiah, including when (Daniel 8 & 9), where (Micah 5:2), and to whom He would be born (Isaiah 7:14), and how He would die (Isaiah 53:5-6).
You see, a true God - with sovereign authority over His creation, absolute power and knowledge, not just of things to come, but of all eternity, already declaring the end before it ever began - that God cannot be bound by any limitations, even those imposed by Himself as a curse for the rebellion of sin.
No, this King of Glory has zero issue with entering into creation itself and playing by its rules - the water birth, the circumcision, the hunger, the thirst, the despair of life itself.
He has no issue submitting to a wrongful conviction and a criminal’s execution as he takes on the suffering of humanity, the very agony of what it means to live and die and then triumphs over it, making a spectacle of the Adversary, nailing every law to the Cross in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.
And then, that promise not to revive the dead covenant of circumcision which could never justify Israel, but to promise a new covenant, one based on the circumcision of the heart.
It’s a marriage vow - a reconciliation, to be precise - that can never again be broken.
And all of it possible because of the advent of a crying babe in a backwoods manger in the dark of night.
This event, this begetting of the only Begotten of the Father, was hatched in the mind of Yahweh long before a Redeemer was ever needed, before He had ever called a “peculiar people” into fellowship, when the Cornerstone had been laid before the foundation of the world.
none dare call it Conspiracy
While these events and those leading up to the Cross were “not done in a corner” but publicly and openly, history recalls it as a mixed bag of fact and fiction, of theological truth and conspiracy theory.
You know, the whole “She obviously wasn’t actually a virgin, obvi,” et al ramblings we hear around this time of year. Romans 1 scrooges who not only hate a God they don’t believe exists, but also the notion that He would ever condescend to human flesh. “I mean, who does that?”
The whole notion of Christmas undeniably has a conspiratorial ring to it. Think of it: the idea that God would sovereignly orchestrate the events of history not just for His glory, not just according to His will, but for our blessing and peace on earth and goodwill toward men.
He brings kings from the East, edicts from Rome, an unbroken and genetically perfect lineage that runs back all the way to Adam, and a young teen who has no idea she’s about to become the second most important woman to ever live.
In fact, I like to think of the Old Testament book of Isaiah as the Building 7 of this grand conspiracy.
If you don’t know about Building 7, here’s a quick primer. In short, Building 7 is considered by architects and other 9/11 researchers as the one irrefutable piece of evidence pointing to - at a minimum - foreknowledge of the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. 1
Without the book of Isaiah, one might be forgiven for thinking the Bible, which claims to be the very Word of God itself, is in fact fallible, since it could not foretell of history’s central event - the Cross of Christ - without which would not have been possible but for His birth.
But through the prophet, God announces that yes, there is a plan. Yes, there is a future King who is coming as a baby amid farm animals and the stench of pigs.
And He wasn’t taking surveys. He wasn’t conducting public opinion polls on whether sending His Son to redeem His people from their sins was a good idea.
He didn’t do a deep dive with the religious leaders of the day.
No, the Father just followed through with what He had decided before the foundation of the world. He willed it. He who promised is faithful.
And He did it when none were even asking, when all was forgotten and seemingly lost over those 400 years of revelatory silence.
Not only was he working His will through History, he was doing something different. This time, there wouldn’t be the lip service and external religion of a outward law. There would be no more sacrifice beyond that which was to come.
This time, God purposed to reveal Himself in the hearts of those He foreknew, to conform them to the image of His Son.
And then, finally, they would know Him as He is.
And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them; I will remove their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh,
so that they may follow My statutes, keep My ordinances, and practice them. Then they will be My people, and I will be their God.
Ezekiel 11:19-20
This is the actual Christmas “inside job,” that instead of us flailing our way through life in the vain hope to somehow force God to love us more, He would demonstrate His eternal love for us by giving us the only thing He could swear by, since God can swear by none greater than Himself.
Yes, as it was 2,000 years ago, there is a Redeemer on His way, and there is nothing anyone can do to stop it.
Not even pagan fables.
Not even our unbelief.
And certainly, not a poorly narrated YouTube video.
For fear of diverting into a woods from which many never return, I won’t go into the conjecture about Sept. 11 being the true date of Jesus’ birth, however compelling the evidence may be.)