A legitimate question posed during the month of December is perhaps, what is the true meaning of Christmas. At a glance, one might consider the meaning to be shopping for gifts, decorating houses and yards with Santa Claus, reindeer figures, lights and an array of holiday cheer.
These holiday elements may portray Christmas, but the very title of the holiday signifies truth. The actual day of December 25 has been set, at least by many biblical scholars and ancient historians, as the commemorative birthday of Jesus Christ celebrated as the Mass of Christ or Christ Mass.
Two main approaches have been used to estimate the year of the birth of Jesus: one based on the accounts in the Gospels of his birth with reference to King Herod’s reign, and the other by subtracting his stated age of approximately30yearswhen he began preaching. These measuresseemtobepuzzling attheleast;however,noexact conclusion is stated.
For the United States, December 25 is the legal wording of the official Federal Holiday called Christmas. There is much conflicting evidence of rejection in Christmas celebration before this date in part due to the melting pot of culture as well as the government’s first amendment clause prohibiting government from imposing one religion upon the citizens.
Much debate on the actual birth of Jesus Christ is available, however, in the U.S., a commemorative birth date is set as December 25. Moving on to the reason for the season, one might consider the title of this article. The title is borrowed from the late Billy Graham, an Evangelistic Southern Baptist minister. On December 16, 1973, Graham addressed The White House where he summed up Christmas in three words: a cradle, a cross and a crown.
Grahamfurtherexplained that the message is “relevant, revolutionaryandreassuring in a world of crisis”. It seems the three words he used to sum up the true meaning of Christmas could be easily as descriptive of the current year 2024.
Grahamcontinuedsumup his statement. “At the cradle, He was in the stall of an animal. At the cross, He wore a crown of thorns but when He comes again, it will be as the Commander-in-Chief of the armies in Heaven.”
Grahamtoldhowthethree words and what they signify cannot be separated and that the meaning of Christmas appliestoallmankindincluding all societies and governments. Graham concluded with the most important part of all about Christmas.
“This is God’s gift of Christmas. The Cradle-His Son. The cross-His life. The Crown-HiscomingKingdom. But… a gift to be complete, must be received.”