Christmas without You

This time of the year is a torture for me to be in any store. Within a month from now there will be an old man with a red suite running around and dropping gifts off through houses chimneys. I always wondered how would he fit in them with his fat big tummy? Christmas is a hugely popular holiday celebrated by some 2 billion people worldwide. It’s become such an ingrained part of modern culture that even people in nations with little or no Christian history or tradition are celebrating it in increasing numbers.

Let’s face it, Christmas is big— very big. Schools and colleges commonly take a week or longer break at this time, some businesses shut down to give their employees time off, many families plan trips and get-togethers, and some people darken the door of a church for perhaps the first time all year. So it’s not surprising that I get some pretty shocked looks when I tell people I don’t celebrate Christmas, because that’s pretty unusual for anyone. So, what’s up with this? Why would anyone not want to celebrate Christmas like nearly everybody else? Are there valid reasons for not participating in all the holiday hoopla? Here are some of my reasons for not celebrating Christmas.

Christmas is nowhere mentioned in the Bible.

Yahweh is an Elohim of detail. There are many Scriptures I can mention where He gave specific detailed instructions about a lot of things. The nature is also created in the finest detail and so are we. So, if He is an Elohim of detail, why didn’t He give us clear, specific details to celebrate His Son’s birthday, when we need to celebrate it and how? This is rather obvious, but most people never give it a second thought. The books of the New Testament cover 30+ years of Yahshua Mashiach’s life, then another 30+ years of the early Congregation following His death and resurrection, but nowhere do we find any hint of a Christmas celebration or anything remotely like it and not one of the disciples wrote one word of them celebrating it either?

Yes, the Bible does give us quite a few details of His birth—the angelic appearance to Mariam and then Joseph, the conditions surrounding His birth in Bethlehem, the heavenly choir’s performance for the shepherds in the fields outside the town and Mariam visiting Elizabeth when she was pregnant with John the Babtist. But nowhere in the Bible is there any record of anyone observing Christmas or any hint that Yahweh the Father or Yahshua Mashiach expects us to do so. If we are believers of Yahweh and stand in covenant with Him and obeying His Word, why are we celebrating a feast that is not mentioned in His Word?

Yahshua wasn’t born on or near December 25.

Surprising but true! Remember those shepherds who were “living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night”? (Luke 2:8). December weather around Bethlehem is often miserably cold, wet and rainy. No shepherd in his right mind would have kept his flocks outside at night at that time of year!

Also, Luke 2:1-4 tells us that Yahshua was born in Bethlehem because his parents came to that town to register in a Roman census. The Romans were well known as highly efficient administrators. It would have made no sense to have conducted a census in the dead of winter, when temperatures often dropped below freezing and traveling was difficult due to poor road conditions. Taking a census under such conditions would have been self-defeating!

Earlier this year I wrote a blog post on this subject about how we can find out with Biblical clues Yahweh left us to discover when Yahshua was born: http://mattaniahministries.co.za/2024/10/16/the-salvation-plan-of-yahweh/

The Christmas holiday is largely a recycled pagan celebration.

Again, surprising but true! Read it for yourself in just about any encyclopaedia. Consider the customs associated with Christmas. What do decorate, evergreen trees, holly, mistletoe, yule logs, a jolly plump man in a fur-lined red suit, sleighs and flying reindeer have to do with the birth of Yahshua Mashiach? None of these things have anything to do with Him, but they have a lot to do with ancient pagan festivals.

It’s difficult to determine the first time anyone celebrated Dec. 25 as Christmas, but historians generally agree that it was sometime during the fourth century—some 300 years after Mashiach’s death. And then a contrived date was chosen because it was already a popular pagan holiday celebrating the birth of the sun god! Similarly, virtually all of the customs associated with Christmas are recycled from ancient pagan festivals honoring other gods.

Yahweh condemns using pagan customs to worship Him.

Since Christmas is supposedly a day to worship and celebrate Yahweh the Father and Yahshua Mashiach, wouldn’t it be a good idea to look into the Bible to see what it says about how we should worship Elohim? The answer is quite clear. Yahweh gives specific instruction about using pagan practices to worship Him— the exact thing Christmas does! Notice what He says in Deuteronomy 12:30-32: “. . . Do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ You shall not worship the YAHWEH your Elohim in that way . . . Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it” (emphasis added throughout).
And lest some think this is simply an Old Testament command that no longer applies, the apostle Paul makes the same point in 2 Corinthians 6, where he addresses whether unbiblical religious customs and practices have any place in the worship of Yahweh’s people:
“What fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Mashiach with Belial [the devil and/or demons]? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the sanctuary of Elohim with idols? For you are the sanctuary of the living Elohim . . .“Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate, says Yahweh. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’ ‘I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says YAHWEH Almighty.’ Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of Elohim” (2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 2 Corinthians 7:1).

Rather than relabelling pagan customs as Christian or allowing members of the Congregation to continue their old pagan practices, the apostle Paul told them in no uncertain terms to leave behind all these forms of worship and worship Yahweh in true holiness as He commands. Yahshua likewise says His true followers “must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:24)—not revel in recycled pagan customs and symbolism.

Christmas is worshipping Elohim in vain.

Since Christmas is a jumble of ancient pagan customs invented by men, and a holiday found nowhere in the Bible, does Yahweh honor or accept such worship?

Yahshua provides the answer in His stern rebuke of the religious teachers of His day, men who had substituted human traditions and teachings for Yahweh’s divine truths and commands: “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites . . . ‘in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ . . . All too well you reject the commandment of Yahweh, that you may keep your tradition” (Mark 7:6-9).

In the 17th century Christmas was actually outlawed in England and some parts of the American colonies because of its unbiblical and pagan origins. They knew something most people today have forgotten or have never known!

You can’t put Mashiach back into something He was never in.

Some people admit the many problems with Christmas. But rather than face up to those problems, some assert that we should “put Mashiach back in Christmas.” However, it’s impossible to “put Mashiach back in Christmas” since He never was in Christmas in the first place! He never so much as heard the word “Christmas” during His lifetime on earth, nor did His apostles after Him. You can search the Bible cover to cover but you won’t find the words “Christmas,” “Christmas tree,” “mistletoe,” “holly,” “Santa Claus” or “flying reindeer.” Putting Mashiach back in Christmas may sound like a nice sentiment, but it’s really only a misguided effort to try to justify a long-standing human tradition rather than what the Bible tells us we should do.

The Bible nowhere tells us to observe a holiday celebrating Yahshua Mashiach’s birth — but it clearly does tell us to commemorate His death.

As noted earlier, the Bible nowhere mentions Christmas or tells us to celebrate Mashiach’s birth.
This is not to say that the Bible doesn’t tell us to commemorate a highly significant event in Yahshua Mashiach’s life on earth. It does —but that event is His death, not His birth. Notice what the apostle Paul, conveying the instructions of Yahshua Himself, tells Christians: “For I received from the Master that which I also delivered to you: that the Master Yahshua on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ “In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’ For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Master’s death till He comes . . . Let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup” (1 Corinthians 11:23-28).

Yes, many believers do what they consider a form of this today in taking communion or “the Master’s supper.” They fail to realize, however, the full significance of these acts, or that what Paul is actually describing here is the Passover — which is what Yahshua Himself called this observance (Matthew 26:18-19;Mark 14:14-16; Luke 22:8-13, 15). Many have no idea of the real date of Mashiach’s death and the annual Passover observance, but that’s an issue for another time. (Hint: It isn’t “Good Friday” prior to Easter as so many mistakenly believe.) The point is: Yahshua clearly expects His true followers to commemorate His death—not His birth—by observing the Passover.

Christmas obscures Yahweh’s plan for mankind.

Passover, mentioned above, has enormous significance in Yahweh’s plan for humanity. A central key to Yahweh’s plan for humanity is Yahshua Mashiach’s sacrificial death on our behalf. He is “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8)—meaning His death for our sins was planned before the first human beings were ever created (1 Peter 1:18-20). Only through His death to pay the penalty for our sins can human beings receive Yahweh’s gift of eternal life (John 3:14-17; Acts 4:12; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22). Christmas, in contrast, teaches us none of this. Regrettably, because it is a hodgepodge of unbiblical customs and beliefs thrown together with a few elements of biblical truth, it only obscures the incredible purpose of Yahshua Mashiach’s coming—as well as why He must return to earth a second time!

I’d rather celebrate the Holy Days Yahshua Mashiach and the apostles observed.

Yahweh in His Word sets out many choices for us. Will we do things His way or our own? Will we worship Him as He tells us to, or expect Him to honor whatever religious practices we choose regardless of what His Word says? It’s always good to ask the question: What would Yahshua do? The answer, from the Scriptures, is quite clear as to what Yahshua did. Yahshua didn’t allow His followers the option of adopting pagan practices in their worship. He and the apostles plainly kept Yahweh’s Holy Days and festivals that we find recorded in Leviticus 23.

As noted above, they kept the Passover (1 Corinthians 11:23-26). Scripture shows they also observed the Days of Unleavened Bread (Acts 20:6; 1 Corinthians 5:7-8). The New Testament Congregation itself was founded on the Feast of Pentecost (Acts 2:1), another biblical festival they clearly observed (Acts 20:16). They likewise kept the Day of Atonement (called “the Fast” in Acts 27:9) and the Feast of Tabernacles (John 7:2; John 7:10). Christmas, meanwhile, is totally missing from the biblical record.

Most people don’t know that the Bible includes a whole list of festivals that Yahweh commanded, that Yahshua Himself observed and that the apostles and early Congregation were still keeping decades after Mashiach’s death and resurrection. And unlike Christmas, these reveal a great deal about Yahshua Mashiach’s role and mission. Each one teaches us a vital lesson in what Yahshua has done, is doing and will yet do in carrying out Yahweh’s great plan for humankind. The differences between these and the tired old paganism and crass commercialism of Christmas is truly like the difference between day and night. Why not look into them for yourself?

I’ve given you my reasons for not celebrating Christmas. What do you suppose Almighty Yahweh thinks of your reasons for continuing to observe it?

Here are a few interesting teachings about the paganism of Christmas.