Listen, folks, I’ve been around the block a few times, and I’ve heard all the sermons, read the articles, and listened to comments like:
“Christmas is just Saturnalia with a Jesus sticker on it.”
“December 25th was a pagan sun-god birthday.”
“Don’t put up a tree – that’s straight outta Jeremiah 10!”
I used to wrestle with that stuff too.
But when you return to the Book and to genuine history (not the conspiracy websites), the entire scare story collapses like a cheap suitcase.
And once it falls apart, you’re left with one of the greatest evangelistic opportunities on the calendar.
So, grab your Bible, open it to Luke chapter 2, and read it. Spend time on a great website and app called Blue Letter Bible, going through “Christmas: Celebrating the First Advent of Christ”, and read, listen, and watch the accounts in honour of the birth of Christ.
- Where Did December 25 Come From?
People say the early church stole the date from the Roman festival of Sol Invictus.
Wrong direction, folks.
Go back to the second and third centuries – long before Constantine was even a gleam in his daddy’s eye.
Church fathers like Hippolytus (AD 170–235) and Sextus Julius Africanus (AD 220) sat down with the Scriptures and did the math:
- They believed (based on Jewish tradition) that great prophets were conceived and died on the same day of the year.
- They held that Jesus died on March 25 (the 14th of Nisan).
- Therefore, he must have been conceived on March 25.
- Nine months later? December 25.
That calculation shows up in writing 150 years before any Roman emperor ever declared a “Birthday of the Unconquered Sun” on that date.
In other words, the pagans were copying the Christians, not the other way around.
- What About Saturnalia and All the Feasting?
Saturnalia ran December 17–23. Presents, parties, role-reversal, sure.
But here’s the deal: when the gospel hit the Roman world, people didn’t stop being human. They took the same winter cheer and filled it with brand-new meaning; the Light of the World had come into the darkness.
Paul already told us how to handle that: “Eat whatever is sold in the meat market, asking no questions for conscience’ sake; for ‘the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.’” (1 Cor 10:25-26)
If the Lord owns it all, we can redeem it all.
- The Christmas Tree Freak-Out
Every year, somebody sends me Jeremiah 10:
“They cut a tree from the forest… they decorate it with silver and gold… they fasten it with nails so it won’t fall over.”
Folks, read the next verse: “They are upright, like a palm tree, and they cannot speak; they must be carried, because they cannot go by themselves.”
That’s a description of carving an idol, covering it with metal, and then nailing it down so it doesn’t topple.
That ain’t my Douglas fir in the living room with lights and a nativity scene beside it!
The true story of the evergreen tree is pure gospel:
- Boniface in the 700s chopped down an oak used for human sacrifice and said, “See that little fir? It points to heaven and stays green all year; that’s everlasting life in Jesus.”
- Centuries later, believers hung apples on it to tell the story of the Fall and the Redeemer.
- Luther saw starlight through the branches one night and went home and put candles on his tree so his kids could see the beauty of Jesus, the Light of the world.
It’s a sermon in 3-D, not a pagan relic.
- The Real Danger at Christmas
The only thing that’s ever been wrong with Christmas is when we let the merchants and the movies push Jesus out of the middle.
But that’s not the fault of the date or the tree; that’s the fault of sleepy Christians.
This season, the whole world is singing about a baby in Bethlehem.
They may not know what they’re singing, but we do!
So, let’s sing louder, love bigger, give more, and preach clearer than we ever have.
- Bottom Line from the Book
Romans 14:5-6 – “Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. He who observes the day, observes it to the Lord.”
Colossians 2:16 – “Let no one judge you regarding a festival.”
John 10:22-23 – Jesus Himself walked in the temple at Hanukkah (a holiday not commanded in the Torah) and used it to proclaim, “I and My Father are one.”
If Jesus can do that, I reckon we’re safe to use December to shout, “Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord!”
So put the tree up.
Turn the lights on.
Eat some Christmas cake.
Have a fellowship around this time.
And every chance you get, tell them the story all over again: God became a Man so that men could become sons of God.
That’s not pagan.
That’s the gospel with tinsel on it.
So, Merry Christmas.
Now let’s go love on some folks for Jesus.
Peter