Christmas Myths Debunked (Was Jesus Born in a Stable? Were There 3 Wise Men? Is Christmas Pagan?)

Thank you for watching When We Understand the Text. The following are some of our Christmas videos, taking a look back at the Christmas story no, not that Christmas story, there we go and understanding what the Bible has to say.

Be sure to check out the book, 25 Christmas Myths and What the Bible Says, available in paperback or for your e-reader. Get your copy by going to www .utt .com.

The Birth of Jesus Was in a Home, Not a Barn

Here are 10 of our most popular videos. Luke 2, 7 says that Mary gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

This one verse is why we think of Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem at the last minute, being turned away by an innkeeper, and then giving birth to the Savior of the world in a barn, but none of that is accurate.

Due to the census decree, Mary and Joseph journeyed to Bethlehem and verse 6 says, while they were there, the time came for her to give birth, so they'd been there for a while, it wasn't like she arrived in labor pains, Joseph didn't drag his wife from Nazareth nine months pregnant.

Because they went back to the place of their lineage, they would have been staying with family. We get the idea that because the inn was full, and Mary laid Jesus in a manger, he must have been born in a stable, but scripture doesn't say that.

The Greek word for inn is katalouma, which also means guest room. The same word comes up in Luke 22, 11 to describe the upper room where Jesus and his disciples had their last supper. A typical dwelling had two levels.

The upper room was for dining and sleeping, the lower level for work and fellowship. At night, the animals would be brought inside to ensure they wouldn't run away or be stolen, and that's where the manger would have been.

Mary may have preferred to have her baby downstairs because the guest room was full of people who were there to register for the census. But Jesus was born in a home, not in a barn. Now if that ruins your perspective of Christ's lowly beginnings, it shouldn't.

Instead of being born in the palace, which would have been visible from Bethlehem, the king of kings was born in a peasant's home, in the part where the animals sleep. Though he was God, he made himself nothing so that through him, we might have everything when we understand the text.

The Census in Luke Is Historically Reliable

Luke chapter 2 begins, In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria, and all went to be registered each to his own town.

Now critics love this verse because, as everyone with Google who can look up someone else who did all the research for their skepticism knows, Quirinius was not governor of Syria until 6 AD. Luke 1 .5 says this was in the days of Herod who died in 4 BC.

The two weren't even ruling at the same time. Luke got his dates wrong. That means the Bible is flawed, none of this happened, now stop celebrating Christmas and have a happy winter solstice. Oh please.

The response to this is very simple. Look at it again. In those days is a broad period of time. This is not saying Jesus was born at the time Quirinius was governor, only that he was born after the decree but before the completion of the census.

In Acts 5, Luke said that particular census faced a lot of resistance, so it took some time to complete. Luke 3 .1 says, in the 15th year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, etc.

Luke is way more specific with his dating there than in chapter 2. Also consider this, we get the dates of Herod's reign from the historian Josephus, who got many of his dates wrong. Why would you assume Josephus, who was not alive during the time of Christ, is more trustworthy than Luke, who is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit?

Luke set out to write an orderly account, and that's what we have. God's word is always reliable when we understand the text. And there were out in the field shepherds, keeping watch over their flock by night, when suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared before them, and they were greatly afraid.

But the angel said to them, Fear not, for I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you.

You will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Seven hundred years earlier, the prophet Isaiah said, The Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel, which means God with us.

So the sign announced by the angel was that the prophecy had been fulfilled. Christ the Savior is born. But this was a sign to the shepherds in another way. See, shepherds practically lived with the sheep and goats they tended.

They were considered unclean by Jewish standards. But the angel said the Christ child could be found in a manger. This meant he slept where the animals sleep. They could go right to the place and see the Messiah for themselves.

The shepherds weren't scholars. They wouldn't be invited to the palace. They couldn't even enter the temple without a bath. But these lowly shepherds were the first to hear the good news that a king was born for all people.

When they heard the gospel, they came to Jesus. Then they went out and told others what had been told to them. And we should do the same. Tell everyone the good news that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners when we understand the text.

The Virgin Birth Is Essential to the Gospel

Andy Stanley claimed in a Christmas message that the virgin birth of Jesus really isn't all that important.

If somebody can predict their own death and then their own resurrection, I'm not all that concerned about how they got into the world because the whole resurrection thing is so amazing. And in fact you should know this, that Christianity doesn't hinge on the truth or even the stories around the birth of Jesus.

It really hinges on the resurrection of Jesus.

Okay, so the claim is that Christianity does not hinge on the truth of the birth of Jesus even though it's literally the first event we read about in the New Testament? Matthew 1, 22 -23 says,. Just how important is the virgin birth?

Well, if Jesus was not conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, that means he was conceived by the seed of man. The Bible says everyone born of Adam is born under the curse of Adam, inheriting his sin nature, as in Adam all die.

We would not be able to call Christ sinless if he were in Adam. But because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is perfect. When the angel said he will save his people from their sins, we know that's true because he was virgin born.

He is God incarnate, the pure and spotless lamb who takes away the sin of the world. Without the virgin birth, Christ's death on the cross is meaningless and the resurrection wouldn't happen and you would still be dead in your sins.

The virgin birth is as important as his death and resurrection, when we understand the text. In Matthew 27, Jesus was brought before Pilate, who asked him,. At the start of Matthew's Gospel, Magi from the East came to Jerusalem and asked,.

The Magi, the Star, and the Flight to Egypt

Nativity scenes depict the Magi as three wise men, but there were many more traveling in a large caravan. The Bible says that all of Jerusalem was troubled by them, attracting enough attention to earn an audience before King Herod.

Herod's own wise men said the prophets pointed to Bethlehem, so Herod sent the Magi on their way and to report back and tell him where to find the child. The Magi came from the area of Persia and Babylon.

Six hundred years earlier, the Israelites were exiled into Babylonian captivity, and the Babylonians cataloged the writings of many Hebrew prophets, who wrote about a star and the coming of a great king.

The Magi knew who the star was leading them to because they read the scriptures. When they found him, they worshipped him and presented gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The Magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, who then ordered that all the boys in Bethlehem under the age of two be killed.

More than thirty years later, when Pilate asked,. In the context of Matthew's Gospel, he was saying,. Even to this day, the world stirs at the mention of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, when we understand the text.

In Matthew 2, we read about wise men known as Magi following a star from Persia to Judea in search of the Christ child. The Magi were kingmakers who studied many ancient writings. Six hundred years earlier, the Jews had been exiled into Babylon and then Persia, so these Magi had the Hebrew prophecies foretelling the birth of the king.

Moses said,. And Daniel, a prophet revered by the Persians, wrote about when this would happen. Since the prophecies were Hebrew, they assumed any Jew would know where to go. But Israel was so far from God, King Herod had to consult his own wise men to know what the Magi were talking about.

The Magi followed the star until it came to rest over the place where the child was, and they found Jesus in Bethlehem, just as the scripture said. The Magi worshipped him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

Much speculation has been made about the star of Bethlehem searching history for some kind of astral phenomena. The most popular theory is that the star was a conjunction of Jupiter and Venus in August of 3 BC and again in June a year later, but that's not a very bright idea.

According to Matthew, the star was always ahead of them and it moved, stopping over the house where Jesus was. Clearly there's no natural explanation. The Magi were led by something supernatural, and so are we to worship Christ the Lord when we understand the text.

In Matthew 2 .13, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said,. So Joseph took his family to Egypt and remained there until Herod died. Now some have claimed this means Jesus was a refugee.

Usually this is to score political points or make some kind of argument about immigration. Generally speaking, a refugee is someone who is forced to flee their own country because of violence or a natural disaster.

Given that Joseph with his family were fleeing the wrath of Herod, maybe they could be considered refugees, but recognize the family never left the Roman Empire. They left Bethlehem and fled to Egypt to the Jewish settlement at Alexandria.

This means they were staying with their own people in a thriving community, and likely used the gifts the Magi gave Jesus to pay for their stay. When Herod died a short time later, they returned to Joseph's hometown of Nazareth.

The politicians who say Jesus was a refugee are often quite liberal. They advocate for the murder of the unborn and the redefinition of marriage. This means they're not of the court of King Jesus, but with the court of King Herod, who killed children and hated God's definition of marriage.

They'd have done Herod a favor and killed Jesus before he was born. Jesus did not come to us as a refugee. He was born King of Kings, before whom every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, when we understand the text.

Christmas, Paganism, and the Date of December 25

Why do we celebrate Jesus' birth on December 25th? You've probably been told that Christmas was formerly the pagan feast of Saturnalia, but that feast has never been on December 25th. You may also have been told that Emperor Aurelian made December 25th the birthdate of Sol Invictus, the god of the unconquerable sun.

Years later, Emperor Constantine changed December 25th to the birthday of Jesus, but there's no proof that story is true. Constantine often gets far too much credit for a lot of Christian traditions, but has anyone ever questioned why Aurelian chose December 25th as the birthdate of the sun in the first place?

The winter solstice was on December 21st, the day the sun died, according to the pagans. Aurelian thought of the sun being dead for three days, the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th, and then it came back to life on the 25th.

Now where did he get that idea from? About 40 years before Aurelian's sun day, Hippolytus of Rome wrote in a commentary on Daniel that he believed Jesus was born on December 25th. The Christian tradition that December 25th is the birthday of Jesus precedes any pagan tradition that December 25th was the birthday of a false god.

It's more likely that Aurelian ripped off Christianity rather than the other way around. We don't know for sure on what day Jesus was born, but his birth, his life, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the grave on the third day are historical facts.

Whoever believes in him will be born again when we understand the text. Did you know Christmas trees are forbidden in the Bible? Jeremiah 10, 3 -4 says, For the customs of the people are vanity. A tree is cut down and worked by the hands of a craftsman.

They decorate it with silver and gold. What could that be but a Christmas tree? Verse 5 says it's describing an idol. And Christmas trees symbolize that we don't worship idols. The story goes that in the 8th century, a man named Boniface went throughout Germania sharing the gospel, a very dangerous mission.

He came upon a group of heathens who sacrificed babies to Thor under the thunder oak. Grieved by such barbarism, Boniface chopped down the tree and put an end to human sacrifice. The people were amazed Thor did not strike him down.

Upon the stump, Boniface declared that Jesus Christ is God, and their pagan gods did not exist. He pointed to a small fir tree that pointed up to heaven, its leaves evergreen like the everlasting life we have in Christ.

No longer worship the false gods in the wild wood, he said, but worship the true God at home with family. That was the meaning of the first Christmas tree. So again, a Christmas tree is not pagan, it's a reminder that we used to be pagan.

Besides, there's no difference between having a Christmas tree and any other kind of plant. Whether you have a Christmas tree or not, let your testimony be that of 1 Thessalonians 1 9 -10, how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God and to wait for his Son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come, when we understand the text.

Christmas Is a Christian Holiday, Not a Pagan One

Is Christmas a pagan holiday? No, it's a Christian holiday, a celebration of the birth of Christ. If that wasn't what Christmas was about, our secular culture wouldn't be so afraid of the name. But didn't Christmas start out as a pagan holiday?

Probably not. There have been many pagan festivals around the winter solstice, including the Feast of Saturnalia. In 274, Emperor Aurelian chose December 25th as the birth date of Sol Invictus, the Roman sun god.

Prior to that, Hippolytus of Rome tried to calculate the birth of Christ and came up with December 25th. The winter solstice was once a celebration of darkness on the darkest day of the year. It has since become a celebration of light when Jesus came into the world.

But aren't all these Christmas traditions a rip-off of former pagan customs? Some of them aren't. Christmas carols are rich with biblical truth and have impacted the world over. Giving presents comes from the magi bringing gifts to the Savior, and also the gift of the Savior himself to mankind.

The Christmas tree has roots in paganism, no pun intended. But so what? Redefining pagan symbols is in the Bible. In ancient Rome, Caesar rode on a white horse. In Revelation 19, Jesus returns on a white horse because he's greater than Caesar.

So at Christmas, some formerly pagan symbols have been Christianized to celebrate Jesus' greater-than-darkness. The Bible says nothing about Christmas, but it does say not to argue about days. Don't look down on the person who celebrates or the person who doesn't.

Let us agree that the advent of our Lord is worth celebrating every day, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, when we understand the text.

Pick up the book, 25 Christmas Myths and What the Bible Says, available in paperback or for your Kindle.