Christmas without Christ
A few days ago an anchorman blared on the TV screen: “‘Thirty days na lang, Pasko na.’ [In just 30 days it will be Christmas]. Well, folks, are you ready? It’s almost here. You can feel it in the air. Heavier traffic. Crowded malls and bazaars, bright lights, glittering window displays, the presence of that fat man in red in department stores. Everything in place? Your Christmas tree, your gifts ... your Christmas cards ... your party clothes ... and, of course, the ham and ‘queso de bola’ [ball of cheese] on your menu. ‘Sigurado’ [For sure] you’ve already received your bonus. ‘At sana manalo kayo sa raffle’ [And may you win in the raffle].”
The things the broadcaster mentioned are indeed common during this season. Isn’t it disturbing that the most significant event in history has been reduced to pagan rituals and capitalist traditions, none of which can be found in the Bible, or has something to do with the birth of the Messiah? Jesus Christ is the least thought of in most of our present-day Christmas celebrations.
In today’s confused and material-driven world, this is what the coming of the Savior has come to mean generally among Christians. Profit-making is omnipresent in every aspect of the celebration, now devoid of its spiritual meaning. And couched in ignorance, Christmas has become a mere economic stimulus.
Matthew 21:12 relates that Jesus overturned the tables of vendors out of the Temple grounds for turning His Father’s house into a place for the conduct of business.
The abject poverty, simplicity and lowliness of the birth of the One who created this world and all the worlds beyond, who calls each star by name, are searing the appalling shallowness of our celebration, its ostentation, arrogant consumption and lavish feasting inherited from paganism. (God solemnly exhorted His people, the Israelites, to stay away from these abominations and to keep their worship pure.)
I heard an evangelist say that all this is a sign of a lost generation. And a generation that has lost its way in search of God is in for great trouble.
The word Christmas (the Greek “kristes” for Christ and the Latin “missa”) is not mentioned in Scriptures. The apostles and early Christians did not observe a day called Christmas, whose celebration started between 300 and 400 A.D. Dec. 25 was originally a Roman festival in honor of the sun. Pagan tribes elsewhere also honored their various solar deities on this date. Jesus didn’t ask His disciples to mark His birthday. The only event He directly asked them to preserve in His memory was the Last Supper.
The Messiah’s coming as well as the unique circumstances that attended it, was predicted by several prophets—Daniel, Isaiah, Micah, Jeremiah, among them—with absolute accuracy hundreds of years before it took place. But when the appointed time came, God, knowing that the coming of the Savior would be demeaned and subjected to ridicule, hid the defining moment from the prying eyes of the curious unbelievers, and announced it only to a small band of shepherds and three important personages “from the East,” who represented the three main economic, social and racial classes of humanity.
How about that character in red, white cuffs, black leather belt and boots—popularly known as Santa Klaus (called also St. Nicholas, Kris Kringle) and Father Christmas in Europe and whose existence was first recorded in the 15th century—with a bagful of toys and goodies slung on his shoulder and with his team of flying reindeers? Santa Claus is a product culled from the combination of Nordic and pagan mythology. Today’s Santa was a creation of German-American cartoonist Thomas Knast after the US Civil War. Santa evolved into his present appearance in 1880. This figure became more known in the 1920s when American business adopted him as the centerpiece of its advertising and marketing campaign.
Christian parents during that time protested the teaching about Santa Claus to their children, calling him “an elaborate lie, a commercial concoction” that detracts from the real purpose of Christmas. But Santa’s growing advertised popularity swept the protests away. When an American journalist wrote in his column “Yes, Virginia, there’s a Santa Claus,” the myth became a reality in the minds of “kids from one to ninety-two” around the world.
The Christmas tree, another ubiquitous adjunct of the season, was a pagan custom honoring the Yule tree as a symbol of fertility. To this day, Christmas is also known as Yuletide, which however does not make it Christian.
As regards the European-born practice of exchanging gifts, it should be interesting to note that the wise men didn’t exchange their gifts among themselves; they offered these to the Babe in Mary’s arms.
Why was Jesus born in a stable in the company of farm animals? Replying to this question from a boy in a children’s Bible study class in a small southern American church, the pastor said, “Because animals will welcome Jesus, but people, generally like the innkeeper, will reject Him.”
“God must be very sad,” the boy said.
“Then,” the pastor said, “if you want to celebrate Christmas, cast aside the meaningless trinkets and trimmings you see around, and just say a little prayer in your heart, thanking and praising the Father for giving us His beloved Son to restore our broken relationship with Him, and to regain the paradise that we lost. I’m sure you’ll brighten up God’s face and there’ll be shouts of joy in heaven—that out of the millions who have forgotten, there are still a few people like you who remember the real and only reason for the season.”
George J. Mañalac, 73, is a retired media relations manager of Corporate Affairs and Communication at United Laboratories.
When A Child Was Born - Twinkle B.
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