There are many questions that, as a congregational leader, I am confronted with this time of year in regards to Christmas. Messianic Judaism is exciting and made alive in part by the extreme diversity of those that are drawn to it. Within our little congregation we have Jews and those not born Jewish. Among those of Jewish ancestry, we have those raised with a strong Jewish understanding, those raised with a very nominal awareness of their Judaism, and those who didn’t discover until they were adults that they were halachically Jewish. Among the non-Jews we have those who were raised Christian, those raised with little or no religious background, and those raised within Messianic Judaism. It is this diversity that is so exciting…It points to the greatness and divinity of our Messiah that people of all ages, customs, and backgrounds should see in this Jewish descendant of David someone worthy of their lives and worship, and that it is a good thing to worship the Jewish Messiah in a Jewish way.
With diversity, however, comes issues that must be addressed so that those things which must be discarded are thrown out, those things that must be taken up are taken up with gusto, and those things that must be left to the side as something to “agree to disagree” over are not made into divisive issues. In this article, I will make the case against what I consider to be the two extreme views on Christmas within Messianic Judaism. I do not believe that we should wholly embrace Christmas as a part of our congregational life, but neither do I believe we should demean the practice of Christmas for those families who choose to celebrate it in their homes by derogatory comments that equate Christmas with paganism.
I will begin with my argument against Christmas as a congregational practice. My argument is not that of many modern “Jewish Roots” teachers that call Christmas a pagan holiday (I will deal with that issue next). Nor is my argument that we need to appear Jewish in order to save Jews (that is, bring them to faith in Messiah). To create, maintain, or dismiss practices because of what non-Messianic Jews will think, even if our goal is to bring them to Messiah, is to be exactly what we are often wrongly accused of – those who deceptively practice elements of Judaism simply to bring Jews to Christianity. If our practices (or our avoiding practices) are for appearances, or if our congregational life is merely to missionize Jewish people, then it is not a true Judaism. We do want to see our people saved through the atonement of Messiah, but I learned long ago that to try to sway Jewish people with our Jewishness leaves them unimpressed, and leaves us with an empty shell of Judaism with no true yolk.
My argument against Christmas in the congregation is not about appearing Jewish but about being Jewish and celebrating our Messiah’s Jewishness. All of the Jewish holidays relate to Yeshua. In Passover we celebrate Yeshua, the Passover Lamb (1 Corinthians 5:7); in Shavuot (Pentecost), we celebrate Yeshua, the Bread of Life (John 6:33) and the outpouring of the Spirit (Acts 2); during Rosh Hashana, we celebrate Yeshua, the coming Judge who will bring justice to the earth (2 Timothy 4:1); during Yom Kippur, we celebrate Yeshua our High Priest who brings atonement (Hebrews 5).
While I remain unconvinced that the timing of Yeshua’s birth at Sukkot (the Feast of Booths) can be determined from the biblical record, the themes of Sukkot are a perfect time to celebrate the birth of Messiah. Consider that Sukkot celebrates God’s glory dwelling with us in the desert and compare that to John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us. We looked upon His glory, the glory of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth”. Consider also that Sukkot is a time that points forward to the final ingathering that will happen under the fullness of the Messianic Kingdom (Zechariah 14:16ff). What a great time to celebrate the incarnation – God’s glory in Messiah dwelling with us in the One who will bring in the fullness of God’s Kingdom!
Chanukah is also a great time to celebrate and remember the miracle of God’s incarnation. When lighting the menorah, the shamash (servant) candle lights the other candles. What a beautiful picture of the Messiah who was a shamash/servant who came not to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:28) and to bring light to all in the world (John 1:9). In addition, Chanukah was a time in Judaism of great Messianic expectations. Who will rise up and save us as the Maccabees did in that great Chanukah story? Who will be our shepherd instead of the cruel and selfish leaders we must endure? Yeshua is the fulfillment of the Messianic hope and the search for the true shepherd of Chanukah. This past Chanukah, as my family lit the first lights of the chanukiah (Chanukah menorah), I read John 1 about Yeshua, the Light of the world, coming to dwell in our midst. I think that this should be a yearly tradition for all us.
So…we celebrate the Messiah in all of our Jewish holidays, but perhaps Sukkot and Chanukah contain the teachings that most closely relate to His birth. In celebrating His incarnation at these times, we bring fullness to the holidays and a greater understanding of the miracle of Messiah’s birth. Whether others will see it or not, this is a true relationship with the holidays – this is genuine Jewish worship. To celebrate Messiah’s birth at Christmas lacks Jewish and biblical context. It does not point to fulfillment of Jewish hopes and beliefs as expressed in the Bible and in history.
Is it wrong, then, to celebrate Christmas? Allow me to critique some of the arguments of those who consider Christmas anathema.
Argument 1 - Christmas is not commanded in the Bible. Those who make this argument often do so while relating it to the commandment not to add to or take away any of the laws given to us by God (Deuteronomy 13:1/12:32). Those who celebrate Christmas (or Chanukah, which is also not commanded in the Bible) are not adding to the laws of the Bible unless they say that one must celebrate Christmas (or Chanukah). If it is celebrated out of freedom and not in an obligatory manner, there is no adding to the laws of God here. In an ironic twist, it may be those who say we must not celebrate Christmas who are actually implementing a new commandment.
Christmas is a pagan holiday. Those who make this argument point to similarities between Christmas and pagan customs and to the date of Christmas, which corresponds to a pagan holiday. The reason for the choice of the date of Christmas is hotly debated and is probably lost to antiquity. Some argue that it was syncretism, that is, a desire to mix paganism with messianic beliefs. Others argue that it was to combat pagan practice by giving people a choice to celebrate something holy instead of participating in the revelries of the pagan holiday. A few argue that it may indeed have been the date of Messiah’s birth. Others believe Messiah was born on the 25th of Kislev (the first day of Chanukah) and that Kislev being the month closest to December, the jump from the 25th of Kislev to the 25th of December is reasonable.
Let me first say that customs that are similar to paganism, or even derived from paganism, are not the same as paganism. In all areas of life, there are things that can be used for good or evil. Because some people use a computer for pornography does not make the computer evil; someone else may use it to study the Bible. Much of the history of rock music is quite evil, but that doesn’t mean that others can’t be blessed by Jewish or Christian rock music that honestly seeks to glorify God. The Bible itself teaches customs derived from paganism and reformats them to give a message of righteousness. For example, the tzit-tzit (fringes) commanded in Numbers 15 were first developed in pagan nations often as part of a caste-system. In the Bible, all Israel is commanded to wear fringes and to wear the royal color on them (blue) as a symbol that all are under the Torah of the Lord and all are part of a kingdom of priests. So God took a pagan custom and used it to communicate His holy message. The same could be said of the book of Proverbs, which utilized a writing style developed in pagan nations, or the music in the Temple that used instruments derived from pagan nations. It is not the customs but the message that they relay that matters. It is not the background or where something first derived (as if we really know the true origins) that matters, it is the heart, the intent, and the fruit that matter.
Christmas is neither pagan nor holy. It is simply a day. It is a day that can be made holy by those who celebrate it when they keep the message of the Messiah first and foremost. It is a day that can devolve into paganism when finding or receiving the perfect present replaces focusing on the perfect gift of God in Yeshua.
To conclude, allow me to state my desires for Tikvat Ami. First of all, it is my desire that we celebrate the birth of Messiah as a congregation during Sukkot and Chanukah as opposed to Christmas for the sake of a fuller understanding of the incarnation within a Jewish and biblical framework. Secondly, I desire that each person and each family decide for themselves the way they will celebrate and whether or not to celebrate Christmas. The issues to consider and pray about are issues of identity and love. If your mother invites you to Christmas dinner, in my estimation, it is against Torah’s commandment to honor your father and mother to not go (if you can), and definitely wrong to preach to her about what you perceive as the evil of the day she holds dear. Thirdly, it is my desire that this not be an issue that divides us. Let us live in peace with one another (Romans 12:18). Likewise, let us also allow other congregations and congregational leaders to decide for themselves, under the guidance of scriptural principles and the Holy Spirit, if it is right or not to celebrate Christmas within their communities. Paganism is a term reserved for polytheism and hedonism. To apply it to a day in which people genuinely celebrate the birth of Messiah is a misuse of the term and a judgment against them that is not ours to make.
Romans 14:5-9, 19 (Tree of Life Bible)
One person esteems one day over another while another judges every day alike. Let each be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes that day does so to the Lord. The one who eats, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and the one who abstains, abstains to the Lord, and he gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for himself, and none dies for himself. For if we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this reason Messiah died and lived again, so that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living…So then let us pursue what makes for shalom and for the building up of one another.