7 Things you might not have known about Christmas…

7 Things you might not have known about Christmas…

Were you born in a barn?

     No where in the Bible does it say that Jesus was born in a barn or a stable.  In Jesus’ day, it was quite common to have a two story building where the top would be the living area, sometimes rented out as an “inn”.  The bottom floor would be where the animals stayed, and it wasn’t uncommon for people to stay on the bottom floor if there wasn’t room upstairs.  So it’s quite possible that Jesus was born in this part of a house, and laid to sleep in a manger or feeding trough where he’d be off the floor and comfy.

Silent night

     Of course, you can figure this out for yourself.  So many carols speak of this sleepy, quiet town of Bethlehem.  This wasn’t Sunday morning in a little winter village.  This was tax time in a bustling middle eastern town.  After all, the inn was full!  Not sure how peaceful it would have been!

The 12 Days of Christmas

     You’ve heard the story that the song, The 12 Days of Christmas, was written to explain things about the Bible.  The Protestants claim that it was written when they were persecuted by the Catholics.  The Catholics claim that they wrote it during a time of persecution under the Protestant.  Supposedly it was a Bible lesson “in code”, the various gifts representing different points, such as the four Gospels or five books of the Torah.  The problem is, there’s no evidence for the story, and it appears that the hidden meanings are actually a modern invention.  But as long as we don’t start rewriting history, why not give the words extra meaning?

How many Kings were there?

     Ok, you probably know this one.  There weren’t three kings – there weren’t any!  The Magi from the east, also called wise men, were likely advisers to a king, who among other things watched for omens in the sky.  They gave 3 types of gifts, but there’s no reason to believe that there were 3 of them, although it’s possible.  But they probably brought a whole caravan with them.
     You probably also know that the Magi didn’t arrive on the first night.  The Bible indicates that Jesus was no longer a baby but a young child when they arrived.  The time frame probably went like this:
* Jesus is born in Bethlehem
* 8 days later He is circumcised
* About a month later, the family goes to Jerusalem, then returns to Bethlehem
* Several months or maybe 1-2 years later, the Magi arrive.  Likely Joseph was doing carpentry work in Bethlehem
* The family goes to Egypt (the trip may have been funded by the Magi’s gifts)
* Herod dies and the family returns.  It sounds like Joseph would have simply returned to Bethlehem, but hearing that Herod’s son still ruled in Judea (the south) he decided to take the family back to Nazareth.  By this time Jesus was probably 2-3 or older.

Joy to the world … when?

     If you’ve ever read or sung the words to Joy to the World, you’ve probably noticed it’s not talking about Christmas at all.  The time when Jesus will rule as a King in righteousness is His second coming, not His first coming that we celebrate at Christmas.

No sing, no fly zone…

If you’ve learned the Christmas story from carols alone, you may envision a huge choir of angels filling the sky, singing the first Christmas songs.  But if you read the story in the Bible, you’ll make the shocking discovery that it doesn’t say anything about singing at all.  The angels spoke the good news…if they sang, the Bible doesn’t tell us.  The first angel was standing, not flying around, and the Bible says that the big crowd of angels joined the first one.  So it sounds likely that this huge crowd was standing there in front of the shepherds, light shining all around, as they talked about the wonderful things God had done.
Note: Bible versions vary on how they describe the other angels. Some say that they were in the sky, but most translate the word “heavenly” or “coming down from heaven”. So maybe they were in the sky…at least part of the time!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from our family to yours!