Day 6 - Xmas is Wrong?

Growing up, we always heard that it was wrong to write Xmas instead of Christmas. It was said that those who do are x-ing out Christ and removing Christ from Christmas.

 

In studying Koine Greek (the language the New Testament was written in), you discover that the name Christ starts in the Greek with the letter that looks like our “x.” Here’s a couple things from the Wikipedia article about Xmas:

 

“In ancient Christian art, χ and χρ are abbreviations for Christ's name. In many manuscripts of the New Testament and icons, Χ is an abbreviation for Χριστος, as is XC (the first and last letters in Greek, using the lunate sigma); compare IC for Jesus in Greek.”

 

“The word "Christ" and its compounds, including "Christmas", have been abbreviated in English for at least the past 1,000 years, long before the modern "Xmas" was commonly used. "Christ" was often written as "XP" or "Xt"; there are references in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle as far back as AD 1021. This X and P arose as the uppercase forms of the Greek letters χ and ρ used in ancient abbreviations for Χριστος (Greek for "Christ"), and are still widely seen in many Eastern Orthodox icons depicting Jesus Christ. The labarum, an amalgamation of the two Greek letters rendered as ☧, is a symbol often used to represent Christ in Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox Christian Churches.”

 

So, when one writes Xmas, they are really just shortening Christmas by using the age-old common abbreviation for Christ. They are not really removing Christ from it. (Whether they realize it or not).

 

So, I see both sides of the coin. For those who are not in the know, using the full Christmas would be better. Yet now that we are in the know, let’s now not get bent out of shape over the word Xmas.

Day 5 - Hark the Herald Angels Sing?

Every year, we sing songs such as “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” in which we refer to angels singing at the birth of Jesus. But did they actually sing?

 

In the story of the birth of Jesus, the Bible states that the angels said, "Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people…” It also records, “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!’”

 

Nowhere in the Christmas story does it record an angel singing. Actually nowhere in the Bible does it ever record that any angels sang. I believe that this is one of the things that set us as humans apart from the angels.

Day 4 - The “3” Wise Men

Now I’ve grown up watching plays and manger scenes which all have 3 Magi or Wise men. I’ve sung the song “We Three Kings.” Yet, the Bible does not tell us how many Wise Men came to see Jesus.

We know, from Matthew 2:11 that they came bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Common sense, and tradition, would then suggest that there were 3, each bearing a gift. However, there could have been 2 (with one bearing 2 gifts) or more than 3 (with a couple bearing the same gift, or a couple bearing no gift).

Though tradition says there were 3, let’s not be too insistent on this point.

Day 3 - Magi in a Manger Scene

We usually don’t put the Magi in our manger scene at home when we put it out. One year, I actually set the Magi in the kitchen with the rest of the manger scene in the Living Room. Why? Because the Magi actually were not at the manger at Christ’s birth.

I know, I know, we always picture the manger scene with Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Shepherds, Cattle, etc., and the Magi. Yet, what does the Scripture say?

Luke chapter 2 tells about Christ’s birth and the visit of the shepherds. It continues with His circumcision (on the 8th day), Mary’s purification (40 days), and their sacrifice at the Temple.

Matthew chapter 2 tells us that after Jesus was born, the Magi went to Herod to find out where Jesus was. Herod refers to Jesus as the young child (not baby). The Bible records that the Magi entered a house not a manger, stable, or Inn. Later, the Bible says that after the Magi departed, Joseph was told to go to Egypt and so he went.

Since Joseph was told to go to Egypt right after the Magi left, and so he did, that most likely took place after Mary’s 40 days of purification. By this point, too, they would have been in a house. Also, since Herod wanted all children under 2 killed, Jesus could have been up to 2 years old by the time the Magi visited Him, and would not have been at the manger at that time.

Day 2 - Epiphany

Another thing that we sometimes don’t understand is the Epiphany.

We may see it on a calendar and think, “ok, what is that?” Or we think, “Doesn’t epiphany mean a sudden realization of truth?”

On January 6, many churches celebrate the Epiphany, which is the traditional day on which the Magi visited the baby Jesus. Here’s part of the Wikipedia article about it:

“The observance had its origins in the Eastern Christian Churches and was a general celebration of the manifestation of the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. It included the commemoration of his birth; the visit of the Magi (‘Wise Men’, as Magi were Persian priests) to Bethlehem; all of Jesus's childhood events, up to and including his baptism in the Jordan by John the Baptist; and even the miracle at the Wedding of Cana in Galilee. It seems fairly clear that the Baptism was the primary event being commemorated.

“Christians fixed the date of the feast on January 6 quite early in their history. Ancient liturgies noted Illuminatio, Manifestatio, Declaratio (Illumination, Manifestation, Declaration); cf. Matthew 3:13–17; Luke 3:22; and John 2:1–11; where the Baptism and the Marriage at Cana were dwelt upon. Western Christians have traditionally emphasized the ‘Revelation to the Gentiles’ mentioned in Luke, where the term Gentile means all non-Jewish peoples. The Biblical Magi, who represented the non-Jewish peoples of the world, paid homage to the infant Jesus in stark contrast to Herod the Great (King of Judea), who sought to kill him. In this event, Christian writers also inferred a revelation to the Children of Israel. Saint John Chrysostom identified the significance of the meeting between the Magi and Herod's court: ‘The star had been hidden from them so that, on finding themselves without their guide, they would have no alternative but to consult the Jews. In this way the birth of Jesus would be made known to all.’.”

Day 1 - The Twelve Days of Christmas

The first thing that we sometimes get wrong at Christmas is the concept of the 12 Days of Christmas.

When I was younger, I seem to recall people using the concept of the 12 days of Christmas as a countdown to Christmas. This seemed to progress to the 25 days of Christmas, as a countdown to Christmas day.

The 12 days of Christmas actually refer to Christmas Day and the 11 days after Christmas, leading up to the Epiphany (January 6). Here’s part of the Wikipedia article about it:

“The Twelve Days of Christmas are the festive days beginning Christmas Day (25 December). This period is also known as Christmastide and Twelvetide. The Twelfth Night of Christmas is always on the evening of 5 January, but the Twelfth Day can either precede or follow the Twelfth Night according to which Christian tradition is followed. Twelfth Night is followed by the Feast of the Epiphany on 6 January. In some traditions, the first day of Epiphany (6 January) and the twelfth day of Christmas overlap.”