God became man at Christmas

Dr Onesimus Ngundu

THE origins of the Christmas celebration and the time or date of the incarnation of God the Son are separate but related questions. In Christianity, the Christmas celebration is in recognition of the miracle of incarnation, when God the Son became man at the divinely appointed time in human history (Galatians 4:4).

The Creator of all things and the eternal God the Son became man and lived among people for 33 years before returning to His former abode – Heaven. By becoming fully man at Christmas, the sinless second member of the Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit) did not think of equality with God as something to be grasped (Philippians 2:5-8).

He humbled Himself by taking the very form of man so that He, the sinless God the Son, could eventually die on the cross in place of the sinful mankind who had rebelled against a Holy God (Philippians 2:5-8).

God the Son became man

According to the Bible, the only reliable record about the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ, the unique miracle of the incarnation of God the Son took place 700 years after Isaiah’s prophecy (Isaiah 7:14): “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will name him Emmanuel – which means God with us (Matthew 1:18-25).”

Before Joseph and Mary consummated their marriage as an engaged couple, “Mary was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit” and the couple did not have any sexual relationship as wife and husband until after the birth of God the Son, Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:18-25).

This unique act of the incarnation of God the Son was a truly divine miracle. A divine miracle is an act or occurrence that is contrary to the ordinary laws of nature. During His earthly life and ministry, Jesus Christ declared His eternal existence, and the Jewish leaders of His day sought to stone Him to death for blasphemy: “Before Abraham was I am (John 8:58)”. The Greek grammar and meaning of John 8:58 echo the words of Exodus 3:14, where the eternal Yahweh, the Lord said to Moses: “I am who I am.”

In John 10:30, Jesus Christ, God the Son, publicly declared: “I and the Father are One,” and not two. The Bible teaches that “the Lord our God, the Lord is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

He alone is the object of our worship. So, when people worshipped Jesus Christ after recognising who He was, they were worshipping Him as God. For example, when the wise men or magi saw the newly born Jesus, they “fell to the ground and worshipped Him” (Matthew 2:11). And Thomas, one of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ worshipped Jesus Christ after realising who Jesus Christ was: “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28).

Origins of Christmas celebrations

In scholarly discussion regarding the origins of Christmas and the date of the Incarnation of God the Son goes back to the third century of the Christian era. In AD 274, following his victories in the east, the Roman Emperor Aurelian built a temple and instituted quadrennial games on behalf of Sol Invictus, a pagan sun god to whom he attributed his victories.

An illuminated codex manuscript (an ancient manuscript in book form) produced for a wealthy Christian named Valentinus contains, in part six, a calendar for the year AD 354 (the Chorography of 354). This calendar bears the following inscription for December 25: “N INVICTI CM XXX”. N= Natalis (“birthday/nativity”). INVICTI= “Of the Unconquered one”. CM= Circenses missus (“games ordered”). XXX= 30. Thus, that year, 30 games were ordered for the birthday of the “unconquered one”. In part 12 of the same codex, there is a set-in calendrical order devoted to annual commemoration of the martyrs.

Remarkably, it also contains reference to the birth of Christ. The first entry given in the Depositio Martirum reads: “VIII kal. Natus Christus in Betleem Iudeue.” Eight Kalends of January is December 25. It is generally agreed that the Depositio Martirum originally dates to AD 336 but was updated to AD 354 for inclusion in the codex.

The Depositio Martirum is arranged from December 25, indicating that, in Rome, in AD 336, the birthday or nativity marked the beginning of the ecclesiastical year.

This is the earliest undisputed evidence we possess for celebrating the birth or incarnation of God the Son on December 25. It is interesting to note that both the natulis solis invicti and the nativity or birthday of Jesus Christ appear in the same codex, shared the same date, and were both kept in Rome. The latter was derived from the former. Moreover, dating as it does within the reign of Constantine, and considering his programme to make Christianity the religion of the empire, it is argued that Christmas observance and celebration were instituted in Rome by Constantine.

The word Christmas is derived from the Old English word Cristemasse, which was first recorded in 1038. Because of its known pagan origin, Christmas was temporarily banned by the Reformation Puritans, who sought to purify Protestant Christianity from the practices of the Roman Catholic Church.

Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th Century. Most of them fled to America in fear of persecution. Between 1659 and 1681, the Puritans made any Christmas observance and celebration illegal. Any Christmas celebration was considered an abomination, punished by civil court. However, with the passing of the Puritan government, Christmas celebrations began to flourish around the world.

It is true that the Christmas celebration over the centuries has adopted some, but not all, pre-Christian practices. It is always good to remember that the Christmas celebration, like any other form of celebration or expression of faith, does not take place in a cultural vacuum. Just as in pre-Christian Rome, when the emperors compelled their most despised citizens to bring offerings and gifts during the Saturnalia, later, this ritual expanded to include gift-giving among the general populace.

In Matthew 2:11-12, we read of the wise men joyfully giving gifts to the newly born King, God the Son. Today, most people celebrate Christmas by the giving of presents or gifts, and sometimes by excessive drinking, and by family meals and spending time together.

The Catholic Church gave this custom a Christian flavour by re-rooting it in the supposed gift-giving of Saint Nicholas, a fourth Century bishop, who, when his bones were moved from Turkey to Rome in 1087, was believed to have supplanted a female boon-giving deity called the Grandmother or Pasqua Epiphania, who used to fill the children’s stockings with gifts and distribute them on December 25.

If we put it in its historical context, we can draw at least this conclusion: The Christmas celebration was an alternative Christian response to the celebration of Saturnalia in honour of a pagan god Saturn.

Just as worshippers of Saturn celebrated Saturnalia with feasting and joy, there is nothing wrong with people today celebrating the incarnation of the Saviour of the world, the unconquered One, Jesus Christ, in God-honouring joyful ways.

In Christianity, the incarnation of God the Son is the greatest divine gift God the Father sent to the underserving sinful people like us.

To Christians, the Bible exalts them: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

So, as we celebrate Christmas this year, let us not only be preoccupied with the how-to but also with the “why Christmas”.

Merry Christmas!

 

Dr Onesimus A. Ngundu is an academic and a theologian. Email: [email protected]