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CHURCH LETTER
The Christmas Story
The thorny question of `Christmas' is with us once again, during which time some Christians who are eager to `contend for the faith' present a very unattractive Christianity to other Christians and the world at large. And so "it sounded good to me also . . . to write to you . . . that you may know the certainty of those things . . .". The contentious date is of course the 25th December, which among certain of the brethren is deemed to be associated with pagan festivities such as Saturnalia and the sun god Sol Invictus - which then releases an attack on the Roman Emperor Constantine and the Roman Church in general.
However, in order to be accepted by the Jews a Jewish Messiah must be measured by the yardstick of the Jewish Scriptures. By ignoring this the Gentile Church throughout the ages had failed to `see' the truth that lies within the inspired pages of Scripture. which had been seen more clearly by the early Church Fathers who were so much closer in time to the early Apostles and the `Jewish Church'. The earliest written indirect reference to 25th December as being associated with the events surrounding the birth of Jesus is to be found in the Stomata, the writings of Clement of Alexandria around the beginning of the 3rd century AD. Clement would most assuredly have been aware of the date and timing of the birth of his Lord Jesus and would not have confused that date - as has occurred in the latter days of the Church, which knows that the various religious celebrations undertaken today around 25th December do not truly coincide with the actual date of the Lord's physical birth. The dates that follow this will of course coincide with the Jewish calendar, "so that you know the certainty of these things", and so we begin with Scripture.
The first chapter of Matthew records: (1:18-20)
" Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when His mother Mary
was espoused to Joseph . . . . Before they came together she was found
to be with child of the Holy Spirit. "
We have two events here: Firstly, that which is recorded in Matthew as `the birth of Jesus Christ', and secondly, that `Mary . . . before they came together was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit'. If we take the first `event' mentioned in this Scripture, that is, the birth of Jesus Christ, as occurring on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Ethanim (or Tishri) which coincided with the Gentile calendar date of 29th/30th September, this would have been the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles in the year 4 BC. With that we read afresh the words of the Apostle John, `The Word became flesh and dwelt among us'. Eight days later, the last day of Tabernacles, Jesus was circumcised and dedicated to the LORD. However we need to confirm that the date of 15th day of Ethanim (or Tishri), recorded in the Gentile calendar as 29th/30th September, is seen in Scripture. In chapters 9 and 10 of the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah we find recorded `the Feast of the Seventh Month'. This followed the rebuilding of the Temple which can be dated as BC 404. From that date there commenced the four-hundred year `Great Probation' of Israel which came to an end when on the 15th day of Ethanim (or Tishri), the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus was born of Mary (29/30th September BC 4).
Turning now to the second `event' concerning the birth of Jesus, when Mary `before they came together was found to be with child of the Holy Spirit', we need to move back in time from 29/30th September 4 BC some 280 days or 40 weeks - which is the perfect period of human gestation - and we arrive at the first day of the Jewish month of Tebeth, the tenth month of the Jewish calendar and corresponding to 25th December of the Gentile calendar. (In that particular year that date coincided with the Feast of Dedication (or Hanukkah) which occurs on the 25th day of Kislev.) Hanukkah is not a Levitical Feast but is counted as a traditional Feast springing from the time of the victory of the Maccabees over the Greek armies in BC 164. The Maccabees found the Temple that Ezra and Nehemiah had rebuilt desolate and the Altar of Burnt Offering broken down. Not knowing what to do with the sacred stones they built an Altar and re-dedicated it with ceremonies lasting for 8 days in accordance with their understanding that the LORD was indeed tabernacling amongst them and establishing His Kingdom with total victory over His enemies. The ceremonies consisted of lighting 8 candles which were served by one other candle, the Servant Candle. An understanding of the meaning of the word `dedicate' gives these comments further understanding for it means `to give up exclusivley some thing or person for sacred use'.
It is now time to set out the background of this Feast. The fact that it is recorded in the John's Gospel tells us there are certain spiritual lessons to be drawn from it: (John 10:22-23)
" Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter,
and Jesus was in the Temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. "
This passage of Scripture shows that, even though the Feast of Dedication was not a Levitical Feast nevertheless Jesus Himself kept it by attending the Temple celebrations - and by that act He confirmed that it was worthy to be observed. It is also known as the Festival of Lights, although this name does not appear in Scripture. The title ` Festival of Lights' comes from the writings of Josephus Flavius. He was a well-known Jew who switched sides from the Romans to the Jews and back again when it suited his purpose! It is from his writings that Bible scholars draw much of their background material for this period, and Josephus no doubt obtained his information from mystical Jewish teachings of this period.
The Feast of Dedication comes from the Jewish legends surrounding the revolution of the Maccabees under the leadership of Matthathias Maccabeus and his sons, of whom Judas Maccabeus is the more well known through the oratorial works of Handel and the poetry of Longfellow. He assumed leadership of the revolution on the death of his father in 166 BC, and legend has it that when Judas and his army recaptured the desecrated Temple on the defeat of Lysias he said: (1 Maccabees 4:36-56)
`Behold, our enemies are crushed. Let us go up to cleanse the Sanctuary and dedicate it'. So all the army assembled and they went up to Mount Zion. And they saw the Sanctuary desolate, the Altar profaned and the gates burned. In the courts they saw bushes springing up as in a thicket or as on one of the mountains. They also saw the chambers of the priests in ruins. Then they rent their clothes and sprinkled themselves with ashes. They fell face down on the ground and sounded the signal on the trumpets and cried out to heaven. Then Judas detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the Sanctuary. He choose blameless priests devoted to the Law, and they cleansed the Sanctuary and removed the defiled stones to an unclean place. They deliberated what to do about the Altar of Burnt Offering, which had been profaned. And they thought it best to tear it down, lest it bring reproach upon them, for the Gentiles had defiled it. So they tore down the Altar and stored the stones in a convenient place on the Temple hill until there should come a prophet to tell them what to do with them. Then they took unhewn stones, as the Law directs, and built a new Altar like the former one. They also rebuilt the Sanctuary and the interior of the Temple and consecrated the Courts. They made new holy vessels, and brought the Lampstand, the Altar of Incense and the Table into the Temple. Then they burned incense on the Altar and lighted the lamps on the Lampstand, and these gave light in the Temple. They placed the bread on the Table and hung up the curtains. Thus they finished all the work they had undertaken. Early in the morning on the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month of Kislev, in the one hundred and fourty-eighth year, they rose and offered sacrifice, as the Law directs, on the new Altar of Burnt Offering which they had built. So they celebrated the Dedication of the Altar for eight days. "
The legend is built into those events. It goes on to say that when they had rebuilt the Altar and placed the Candlestick upon it they found that they had only one day's supply of oil. As it would take eight days to prepare a new supply they decided to go ahead and burn this one day's supply - only to find that it lasted for eight days! From that legend comes the title `The Feast of (eight days) Lights'. We say again that this legend has no Scriptural basis but is one of many legends that spring up in any period of national restoration. Nevertheless it is found in Talmudic writings which Josephus probably used when writing his `Antiquities of the Jews'. However it would seem that the basis of the thinking of Judas Maccabeus in instituting the Feast of Dedication was based on his understanding of the Feast of Tabernacles - a time of praise and thanksgiving after the affliction of the Day of Atonement. In this case the affliction was caused by the wars against the Seleucid army which ended in the defeat of the army of Lysias (recorded in 1 Maccabees 4). The fact that the Dedication was to last for eight days and was to be accompanied by the lighting of candles on the newly-built Altar, and it was also to be a time of praise and thanksgiving for the restoration of the kingdom of Israel all point to Judas Maccabeus' understanding of the purpose of the Feast of Tabernacles - which was an eight-day Feast. You will recall that the central act of this Feast was the lighting of the candles in the Temple compound and the pouring out of the Water Libation, signifying the long-awaited outpouring of the Holy Spirit to bring about the coming of the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. We see this in the Gospel of John where it is recorded: (John 10:22-23)
" Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter,
and Jesus was in the Temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade. "
And so we leave the background of the Feast of Dedication and return to dates, `times and seasons'.
The Feast of Hanukkah had fallen from popular use until the 1970's, until Rabbi Menachen M. Schoneerson called for a public awareness of this Feast. You will recall that this is not a Levitical Feast and as such there are no restrictions on the people - they were required to carry on their normal day-to-day activities with any personal thanksgiving to be observed within the confines of their homes. A Jewish saying concerning this says: `Hanukkah candles are not for lighting the house within but for the illumination of the house without'. And so the Hanukkah candles are traditionally set in the windows of the houses to illustrate the `Miracle of God' on the 25th day of Kislev. And so we bring this `Christmas Story' to a close.
The early Church Fathers, closer in time and understanding of the `Jewish Roots' of their Lord and Saviour, understood that the 25th December (BC 5), the first day of the Jewish month of Tebeth, was joined in that particular year to the Feast of Hanukkah, when before that the Archangel Gabriel had announced to Mary: (Luke 1:31 and 35)
" And behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a Son,
and shall call His name Jesus . . . . . The Holy Spirit shall upon you,
and the power of the Highest shall overshadow you . . . "
However they were also concerned about the Church's sliding into apostacy, which had begun to bring into its own celebrations pagan celebrations of the Winter Soltice, which in the western world occurred around 22nd/23rd December. Finally, in AD 274, the Roman Emperor Aurelian decreed that 25th December would become the birthday celebration of Rome's chief god under the title of `Natalus Invicta Solis' - the birthday of the invincible sun - which coincided in that particular year with the Feast of Hanukkah! And so the Christian Festival of the 25th December, Christmas, came about, thereby avoiding the threat of persecution by the Romans! In no way was it intended to be connected with pagan festivals but was set aside by the early Church Fathers as a day when all Christians could unite without compromise and give thanks for the Miracle of God in anointing the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit. Nine months later the Saviour of the world, Jesus, would be born on the 15th day of Ethanim (or Tishri) on the Gentile date of 29th/30th September BC 4.
Most certainly the Western world has taken to itself the 25th December with a confusion of sentimentality, myths and folk-lore all mixed up with passages of Scripture, all spun together into a time-scale of its imagination and undergirded by popular folk songs and carols of dubious `truth' - and in more recent years driven by the greedy god of consummerism! But this should not in any way cause criticism in some Christians, and guilt in others who may not have understood what Clement of Alexandria and other early Church Fathers were alluding to when writing concerning the 25th December. It was not a big issue for them but an acknowledgement of a fact which could unite Christians on one particular day to give thanks to the LORD for His faithfulness to His Covenanted Word given to His people. In the understanding of the early Christian Church the date December 25th was set aside as a day when the Family of God, either in their Church Assemblies or in the quietness of their family homes, could unite in thanksgiving and re-dedication to the Lord.
In 2016 Hanukkah begins on the eve of 24th December, and so we can rejoice in the wisdom and knowledge of Clement and the early Church Fathers and enjoy our Feast of Dedication on 25th December! We have much to give thanks for, for our Lord Jesus dedicated His life for all who would accept Him.
Selah!
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