We’re coming up on Christmas again (yea, Christmas… not the “holidays”), the birth of Jesus, and in keeping with the original theme of this site, I thought I’d take a look at the traditions that surround the event and compare them to the scriptures.
There are several traditions I want to look at:
-
The Christmas tree
-
The Yule log
-
The three wise men (and the three gifts)
-
The date – December 25th
The Christmas Tree and Yule Log
Where did this tradition come from? There is absolutely no mention of the Christmas tree in the scriptures. I doubt, although I’m not certain, that pine trees aren’t even grown in Israel. So why do we even associate the tree with the birth of Jesus?
The origin of the tree is tied directly with the second tradition I want to look at, the Yule log. In Genesis 10 there is a guy named Nimrod. Nimrod was the Noah’s great-grandson (Ham’s grandson) and the first ruler of a large empire. He worshipped nature and most pagan practices can be traced back to him. I read one account, although I can’t find or verify it right now, that Nimrod was born from an egg that was laid by a rabbit (sound familiar?). It is known, however, that he was associated with the sun god and was worshipped as such.
Genesis 10 (New King James Version)
8 Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. 9 He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.” 10 And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. 11 From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, 12 and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).
|
After Nimrod’s death, his wife, Semiramis, had an illegitimate son named Tammuz. Semiramis claimed that the inception was immaculate and that Tammuz was Nimrod reborn. Since Nimrod was considered the sun god and Tammuz was born on the winter solstice, the date was celebrated as holy. The winter solstice is the shortest day of the year and to signify the death of the sun god a log was burned. The following day, when the days started to grow longer, a tree was placed in the ashes of the log, decorated and surrounded with presents to signify the birth of the infant. In Chaldean, the word for infant was yule.
In the fourth century A.D., Constantine legalized Christianity and made it the state religion of the eastern leg of the divided Roman Empire. In an effort, some believe, to bring the pagan and Christian people together, the commemoration of the birth of Jesus and the celebration of the winter solstice were combined into a single holiday.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that any good Christian should never put a tree up for Christmas. But we should be aware of the origins of some of our traditions and not get caught up in them. I like to measure everything against the yardstick of salvation. Salvation only comes through giving your heart and mind to Jesus Christ, everything else is a non-issue. Getting too concerned with side issues, like this, can lead into false legalism and can divide the body of Christ, needlessly. Jesus should be the focus of our attention, not some dead tree.
The Three Wise Men
Another tradition we are all aware of is the three wise men. Every manger scene in the world shows three kingly men attending the birth of Jesus. But what do we really know about them?
Nowhere in the scriptures does it tell us how many wise men there actually were.
|
Matthew 2
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
|
To really understand who these guys were, we have to dig into a little history.
When the Hebrew nation was forced into exile under Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel rose to a place of authority was put in charge of a group of priests called the Magi. The Magi were a special group of people that had two main functions. They were dream interpreters and the political body that decided who was to rule the empire. In short, they were king makers. When Daniel was the head of the group, he, no doubt, told them of the coming Messiah and charged them to watch for the signs of His birth.
Later, when the Parthian Empire became the ruling power in the east, the Magi were incorporated into the government and maintained the powers that had been handed down through the generations. The Parthian Empire was a serious thorn in the side of the Roman Empire and the Romans had been severely defeated in numerous battles with them. In 55 B.C., just prior to Herod’s rule in Judea, Crassus led the Roman army in an attack on the Parthian Empire. The Battle of Carrhae cost the Romans 30,000 men and the life of Crassus, himself. The Parthians were not someone the Romans or Herod took lightly.
Israel was, for many years, a disputed buffer zone between the Roman and Parthian Empires. When Herod was named King of Judea he had to live in exile until it was finally safe for him to move to Jerusalem.
Herod wasn’t Jewish and wasn’t well liked among the people. The wise men were dignitaries with the power to appoint a new ruler over the disputed territory. When they showed up in Judea from the Parthian Empire with probably more than three and, most likely, escorted by the customary armed guard, it caused a serious bolt of anxiety to run through Herod’s heart. The Jewish people could easily welcome the Parthians into the land and help them overthrow the hated Herod.
The idea that there were three of them comes from the verse in Matthew that describes the gifts they brought for Jesus.
|
Matthew 2:11 (New King James Version)
11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
|
Since there were three gifts mentioned, it has always been assumed the there were three wise men. These may not have been the only gifts. The reason they are mentioned is because of their significance.
-
Gold: Signified Deity. They recognized Jesus as God.
-
Frankincense: Signified Priesthood.
-
Myrrh: Death. Myrrh was ground and used in burial ceremonies. It would seem that the Magi were aware of the sacrifice the Messiah would make on their behalf.
It’s interesting to note that the Magi, even though they had the authority, didn’t set Him on the throne of Judea. That would be at His second coming.
The idea that they were kings didn’t appear until the 3rd century. Later, in the 6th century, they were given names. Originally they were called Bithisarea, Melichior and Gathaspa. In the 14th century these names became Balthasar, Melchior and Gasper. This is how we know them today.
If you really want to be scriptural about it:
-
We don’t know how many there were
-
They weren’t kings
-
We don’t have any idea what their names were.
As far as the date of December 25th, I’m going to cover that in a second post. This one has run a little longer than I intended and the issue of when Jesus was actually born is a bit involved.
Randy Reed Christmas Traditions Balthasar, birth of Jesus, Christmas, Christmas Traditions, frankincense, Gasper, gold, herod, Jesus, Melchior, myrrh, three wise men
