Posted by
Steve on Friday, December 23, 2011 8:22:18 AM
This is the day before Christmas Eve. I am going to write my thoughts about Christmas. Christmas is the time we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Most people agree that Jesus was not born on December 25. The exact date he was born is lost to history. Any date suggested would be a guess. It might be a highly educated guess, but it is still a guess.
My church does not come out and state when Jesus was born. Though, in our scriptures one quote pretty much makes it clear that Jesus was born on April 6. Of course, the year is left for the reader to calculate. I have seen calculations from 7 BC to 4 AD. Officially, the calendar was supposed to take that into account and Jesus was supposed to be born in 1 BC. So, my official guess on when Jesus was born would be: April 6, 1 B.C. I could easily be wrong, so remember this is just a guess.
Why would I speculate that Jesus was born in the spring? One main reason is that the shepherds were guarding their flocks by night. They do that in the spring and fall. They do not do it in the winter when December 25 occurs. Also, guarding their flocks by night is more important in the spring because of lambing season. Since lambs are born in the spring and Jesus is the Lamb of God, I believe the spring is the more likely time for Jesus to be born.
It really does not matter what day you celebrate a birthday. With my children, we always celebrated their birthdays on a weekend day. Their actual birthday was more likely during the week than on the weekend. But, it was more convenient to celebrate it on a weekend. None of my kids thought it was a problem. They are continuing the tradition (if you could call it that) with their families. So, what day you celebrate a birthday is irrelevant. That you celebrate the birth is what is important, not when.
I believe the Biblical story of the birth of Christ. That Jesus was born to a virgin and her name was Mary. I believe that Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to be counted in the census. While they were there, Mary delivered Jesus into the world. The shepherds came when Jesus was a newborn baby after they were notified of the birth by an angel.
The wise men came some time later. Because King Herod killed all the male children 2 years old and younger, I believe that Jesus was most likely about a year to a year and a half old when the wise men came. So, the wise men saw a toddler, not a baby when they saw baby Jesus. Tradition says there were three wise men because of the three gifts mentioned in the Bible. There is no information on how many wise men there really were. Because of the terminology used, there would have to be at least two wise men with no upper limit. My guess is that there were most likely somewhere between 3 and 5 wise men that visited Jesus. A larger number does not make much sense and neither does a smaller one.
I love the Christmas traditions of having a tree and hanging stockings. I also like the Santa Claus story and the joy it gives to children. We keep the Santa Claus story alive until our children turn 8. Then we tell them the difference between real and fantasy. Santa does not bring large gifts to our house because we do not want Santa to be too important. We want him to be fun and nothing else.
The period between Thanksgiving (my favorite holiday) thru New Year’s Day is the best time of the year. People are happier and friendlier than the rest. We get to eat foods that we get only that time of year, like Lefsa and Swedish Butter Cookies. After the start of the New Year we get to start things fresh. That also helps to make things feel great.