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Lectionary Bible Study - Introduction to Christmastide

CHRISTMASTIDE

The second season of the Christian Year is Christmastide.  Some traditions begin it on Christmas Eve and others on Christmas Day.  Traditionally, Christmastide is a twelve-day holiday, beginning with Christmas Day (December 25), and running through January 5 (the “Twelve Days of Christmas”).  January 6 is then the celebration of the coming of the Magi, and thus initiates the season of Epiphany.  In our lectionary, we are following the traditional schedule that preserves the twelve days of Christmas, and therefore sets Christmas Eve as the concluding celebration of the season of Advent.[1]

In importance, Christmastide is one of the two most notable seasons of the Christian year.  It is dedicated to the festival of the birth of Jesus Christ and the consequent celebration of the incarnation.  Since it was first celebrated, Christmas has always been a time of joy, merriment and exuberance.  Its color, consequently, is white.

There is no indication that Jesus was actually born on December 25.  In fact, the likelihood is that he was born in April or in May.  That can be concluded on the basis that Luke’s account is built around “shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Lk. 2:8).  December 25 was much too cold and inclement for sheep to be bedding down in the fields; normally, shepherds didn’t take their flocks into the field until April.

Why, then, is December 25 the traditional day for Jesus’ birth?  The selection of that date represents a political and social coup on the part of the church.[2]  The period between December 21  (the winter solstice) and December 30 was the period of greatest celebration and worship of the sun, both in the Mithraic festivals of Egypt and in Rome.  This observance reached its climax on December 25, when the “birthdays” of at least five ancient gods were celebrated.  In essence, Christians decided to counter this pagan festival by worshipping the birthday of their god – Jesus, and they so overwhelmed the pagan celebrations that December 25 became a major Christian holiday (“holy day”).  In 336 A.D., December 25 was changed in the Roman calendar from Natalis Solis Invicti (“the birth of the Sun of Righeousness”) to Natalis Christus in Betleem Judeae (“the birth of Christ in Bethlehem of Judea”).  Thus, the “Sun of Righteousness” was eclipsed by the “Son of Righteousness”!

By the latter part of the 4^th century, the name given to December 25 was “Christ’s Mass”, stressing the idea that this was a day for consecrating the birth of Jesus in worship and in the celebration of the Eucharist.  As early as the 5^th century, Christmas music and “carols”, liturgies and customs began to be developed.  The name for December 25 evolved into “Christmas” by the eleventh century.

Whereas Christmas, as a religious holy day, concentrated upon the worship of the Christ Child, much of the festivals of the formerly pagan solstice carried over into the Christian celebration of Christmas.  Thus, for example, the giving of gifts was initially part of the Roman celebration of the solstice.  Germany contributed the evergreen tree as a symbol of everlasting life, and its decorations come from the hanging of the body parts of conquered enemies upon these trees.  The Druids gave their sacred mistletoe, under which the ill received the kiss of healing from a young virgin.  The holly, representing the crown of thorns with drops of blood, came from England.  The Yule log, receiving into its flames the hatreds and distrusts of the past year, came from Scandinavia, along with candles burning in the windows to light the way of the Christ child.  So one can say that, whereas early Christianity succeeded at “baptizing” the pagan holidays into the worship of Christ, the pagans “re-baptized” Christmas by diverting it into play, sport and finally into commercialism. 

The two major events of the Christian Year – Christmas and Easter – are the celebrations around which Christendom is centered.  One marks the birth of our Lord, the other his resurrection.  One celebrates the incarnation of our God upon the earth; the other celebrates our atonement and rebirth through his death and resurrection.  Both celebrate the transformational love of God for humanity, as God acts to give his son for the redemption and liberation of the world.