Though the actual birthday and year of birth of Jesus Christ, have not yet been established, the 25th December leaving much room of controversy, is observed annually as the birth of the ‘Son of God’. Besides date and year, the birth of Jesus Christ is all shrouded in mystery and charms. As per theological doctrine, Jesus had no human father. It is believed that Old Testament prophecies proved true with the birth of Jesus attended by miracles. Therefore, Nativity or Virgin Birth is celebrated at Christmas.
The Origin
The word ‘Christmas’ is the abbreviation derived from ‘Christ’s mass’. The use of the expression Christenmas though considered now-a-days as archaic can be discerned in history books. Another popular nomenclature of Christmas is Xmas. The “X” is derived from the Greek letter ‘Chi’, the first of the Greek word ‘Christos’ that became Christ in English. The ‘mas’ comes from the Old English word for ‘mass’ denoting a church service in the Roman Catholic Church including a celebration of the Eucharist. A stylized version of Greek ‘chi’ (X) and ‘rho’ (P) is ☧; a symbol of Christ called a ‘Christogram’. When parchment papers were very pricy, the abbreviation XPmas further contracted into Xmas for space constraints.
Legends surrounding birth of Jesus
The theme of Christmas story commences with the prophecy of nascence of an exceptional baby Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Gabriel, the chief messenger angel, selected Joseph and Mary out of three nominated couples. He appeared before Virgin Mary, a teenage girl between 14 and 16 years of age, and delivered the message that she had been selected to be the earth mother of the bestowal. Gabriel was sent from God to Nazareth of Lower Galilee in Northern Israel; to virgin Marie pledged to be married to Joseph. According to one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church, Mary was a virgin ante partum, in partu, et post partum – before, during and after the birth of Christ.
According to the Gospel of Matthew, Joseph, the human father of Jesus, was a carpenter and contractor by profession. Joseph’s lineage is traced through King David. But Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. Therefore, Jesus’ Davidic lineage claimed by Matthew is a paradoxical genealogy. When Joseph, a righteous person, became aware of the conception of his betrothed wife Mary without mating between them, he did not want to expose her to public grace. When he was hesitant about his decision to divorce Mary, an angel of the Lord instructed him in his dream not to be afraid of taking Mary home as his wife for the child in her womb was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The angel also prophesied that Mary would give birth to a son. The child would be named as Jesus, the saviour of humanity from sins. As per the command of the Lord’s angel Joseph took Mary home but did not solemnize their marriage until she gave birth to a son who was called Immanuel i.e. ‘God with us’.
But the Gospel of Luke does not entirely match with Matthew’s version. According to Luke’s genealogy, Joseph’s lineage goes back to Adam, the first man on the earth. During Mary’s pregnancy as a virgin, Joseph was living in Nazareth. Mary after spending several months at the house of Zechariah, the husband of her cousin Elizabeth, returned to Joseph who was not anguished seeing his betrothed wife pregnant. When Joseph went to Bethlehem, the city of David, to comply with a census order of Caesar Augustus, Jesus was born in a manger. Jesus was circumcised on the 8th day and then Joseph returned to Nazareth with his family.
According to the Gospel of Luke and in the Acts of the Apostles, John the Baptist is described as the forerunner and as inaugurator of the time of fulfilment of the prophecy. Even in his mother Elizabeth’s womb John when Jesus was also in Mary’s womb, leapt with joy as he recognized Jesus, the Prince of Peace. He realised that Christ had come to bring the good news for the humanity. Six months after her cousin Elizabeth giving birth to John the Baptist, the angel appeared once again and said to her, “Greetings, favoured one. The Lord is with you”. According to the gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament and the Quran, Mary is a virgin who is betrothed to Joseph.
New Testament
Herod or Herod the Great (73 BC – 4 BC), Roman-appointed King of Judaea has been portrayed as a tyrant and cruel in the New Testament. During his reign Jesus of Nazareth was born between 6 BC and 4 BC. When he heard of the magi, he feared that he would be dethroned from his kingdom. He sent for the wise men that came to Jerusalem to pay homage to baby Jesus. He urged the wise men, “Tell me when you find this child so that I can honour him too!” But Herod had an evil intention to kill the child. However, God warned them in their dreams and divulged Herod’s secret plan. Therefore, they set out their return journey through another route to avoid Herod. Besides, one night Joseph also saw an angel in his dream. The angel advised him, “Hurry to Egypt and save the child! Herod wants to kill the child and the Lord needs to be saved.” Joseph and Mary complied with the angel’s instruction left for Egypt. After the demise of Herod, the angel again appeared in Joseph’s dream and said, “It is now safe to go back to Bethlehem with Jesus.” And Jesus grew up there.
Santa- the Principal attraction
There are many legendary stories surrounding Santa Clause, one of the prominent figures of Christmas celebrations. He can actually be traced back as a monk named St. Nicholas. He was born at Patara, a flourishing maritime and commercial city on the south-west coast of Lycia on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey around 270 A.D to 280 A.D. He spent a large part of his life in the nearby town of Myra. St. Nicholas, who earned much admiration for his piousness and kindness, gave away all his inherited wealth to help the poor and the sick. He is particularly the saviour of the children and the sailors. It is believed by many that he lives with his wife at the North Pole making toys for children with the help of his elves throughout the year. On Christmas Eve he riding on his sleigh loaded with toys and drawn by eight reindeer, slides down the chimney and leaves the gifts for children. He refreshes himself with the milk and cookies left for him by the children. According English legend Father Christmas visits homes on Christmas Eve and fills children’s stockings with holiday treats.
Jesus in Islam
Jesus is an important figure in Islam, too. Though many Muslims do not celebrate Christmas as a religious holiday, Jesus, Mary and the angel Gabriel are all prominent figures in the Quran. It is believed by many Muslims that Jesus or ‘Isa’ in Arabic was a prophet of God and was born to a virgin. They consider that Jesus will return to Earth before the Day of Judgment to restore justice and vanquish ‘the false messiah’ known as the Antichrist.
Christmas in Summer
When a white Christmas in winter is enjoyed by most parts of the world, in countries like Australia, New Zealand, Bolivia, South Africa etc that are in Southern hemisphere, are compelled to celebrate the festival in the summer. During December the weather in Northern hemisphere is mid-winter, whereas, Southern hemisphere passes through mid-summer. Therefore, to enjoy Christmas in cold weather ‘Christmas in July’ also known as Yulefest or Yuletide is celebrated in Australia. Yulefest in cold wintry July with the Blue Mountains wearing mist offering traditional Christmas style celebration extends festive cheer. When cold wind blows with occasional snowfalls, spicy mulled wine, roast dinners, log fire, singalongs, Christmas fare and Santa turn the Blue Mountains into ‘Winter Wonderland’.
When Christmas was banned
The Puritans banned Christmas. They sailed from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in pursuit of a utopian goal to found New World. Surprisingly, a group of devout Christians had much antipathy towards Christmas. As a mark of their aversion to Christmas, they would keep their shops and schools open, whereas, churches would remain closed. After the dethronement of King Charles, the monarch’s head was chopped off and Christmas was banned. Parliament decreed that December 25 should be observed as a day of ‘fasting and humiliation’ for Englishmen to account their sin. Even the celebration of the day was declared as criminal offence by the General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1659.
Christmas during pandemic
Christmas-2020 is going to face a different challenge in the pandemic situation. Scientists and governments all over the world are mulling over how to maintain family get together during holidays in the milieu of lockdowns and social distancing in the present pandemic situation caused by COVID – 19. They are in a dilemma. There is every reason of further spikes in coronavirus provided relaxing of the rules. On the other hand, it is admitted by many that allowing family get together will boost morale of the people. Therefore, countries like England, Scotland have allowed a Christmas bubble but not people to swap. Restrictions have been drawn on visiting pubs or restaurants together. Dr. Hans Kluge, regional director of WHO’s Europe office enkindles hope: “It will be a different Christmas, but that does not mean that it cannot be a merry one”
Buddhadev Nandi