“ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord”–Luke 2:11
My Beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord,
One of the real oddities of early Church history is the fact that for the first three-hundred years of the Church’s existence, Christians did not celebrate the birth of Jesus.
Oscar Cullmann, the noted Lutheran theologian and Church historian, has claimed that, “ Our festival of December 25th was unknown to the Christians of the first three centuries” ( The Early Church, p. 21). The simple fact was that these early believers felt “ no need to celebrate Christ’s coming down to earth at all” (p. 23).
A number of other Church historians have affirmed the same truth. For example, Paul Bradshaw, theology professor at Notre Dame, asserts that there is “ no firm evidence for the Christian observance of either December 25 or January 6 before the fourth century” ( Early Christian Worship, p. 86).
For the first few hundred years, Christians were singularly focused upon the resurrection of Christ rather than His birth. Every Sunday morning when they gathered early (often in the dark before sunrise) for worship, the first Christians celebrated the empty tomb of the Lord. The day we now call ‘Sunday,’ they referred to as ‘the eighth day.’ That is, the day of new creation, brought about by the bodily resurrection of Christ. This was supplemented by the celebration of Easter Sunday once per year, as well as “ the holy days associated with it,” such as the days we now refer to as ‘Maundy Thursday’ and ‘Good Friday’(Cullmann, p. 23).
However, in the early fourth century, serious theological debates and controversies about the nature and identity of Jesus began to rise. Some argued that Jesus was only an exalted creature, and not fully divine. Others claimed that Jesus was only divine, and not human at all. Still others asserted that the ‘eternal Christ’ came upon ‘the man Jesus’ at His birth, and then departed from Him at the time of His death.
It was from these very controversies that the Christological Creeds of the Church were born. We know them as The Nicene Creed (AD 325), The Definition of Chalcedon (AD 451), and The Athanasian Creed (AD 500). Each of these Creeds sets the record straight on the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. He is the Divine Son of God, incarnate in human flesh, fully God and fully man.
It was during these serious debates that Christians first began to celebrate Christ’s birth, the season we know as ‘Advent.’ As Cullmann states, “ the first impulse to celebrate Christ’s appearance on earth was provided, not by date, but by theological considerations” (p. 23). In other words, believers in the fourth Christian century felt it absolutely necessary to argue and boldly affirm that the One crucified, entombed, and resurrected on the third day, was indeed the Divine Son of God who had taken on human flesh. So, in the end, Christmas was celebrated for apologetic reasons. The day of the Lord’s birth provided the Church with the opportunity to affirm both His full humanity and His full deity! By celebrating His birthday each year, the Church would say to the world that the One born of the virgin, who had died upon the cross for our sins, and who was raised for our justification, was the God-man! It was to affirm exactly what the angel declared to the shepherds on that most holy night: A Savior had been “ born,” and He is none other than “ Christ the Lord”!
This, then, is why we celebrate Advent!
As we rejoice in this season, we too are declaring to the world that God Himself came down to save us. Christmas Day includes Easter! One is meaningless without the other. A Divine Savior becoming a man cannot save anyone from God’s wrath unless He dies for our sins and is raised on the third day. And a mere man dying upon the cross, and even, by some miracle, being raised from the dead, is no help if He is not the Divine Son of God, incarnate in human flesh!
When we faithfully observe this blessed season of Advent, we join with past generations of Christians in declaring the whole Gospel to the whole world! And as we rejoice in our Lord and Savior, who first came to us in Bethlehem’s manger, we discover anew the real source and foundation for our joy and peace! This, then, is why we celebrate Christmas!
I love you all so very much, and I rejoice with you in the coming of our King!
May your celebration of our Lord’s birth be filled with His love and joy!
Mike