Jim Mason holds a BSc in engineering physics and a PhD in experimental nuclear physics.The Christmas is here. This means different things to different people. For some, it means giving and getting gifts; for others, it means putting up and decorating a Christmas tree, or singing Christmas carols, or enjoying a family dinner built around a roasted turkey with all the trimmings. But what is the origin of all these festivities? Why are they held? Most people, including most Christians, will probably tell you that Christmas is held to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and, therefore, had its origin in the year 0 AD, AD standing for Anno Domini, meaning the year of our Lord, or the number of years since his birth, hence 0 AD being the year of his birth.Those wishing to appear more sophisticated will probably tell you — quoting their favourite AI engine — that, of course, Jesus was born in 3 AD and almost certainly not on December 25 and that the date was “chosen by the early Church in Rome (around 336 AD) to coincide with Roman winter solstice festivals like Saturnalia and the birth of the sun god Sol Invictus, co-opting existing celebrations to encourage conversion to Christianity, despite Jesus' actual birth date being unknown,” according to Google Gemini.In fact, while both responses may be true, they also both completely miss the point..As anyone who has heard a performance of the Messiah knows, the event that Christmas celebrates was celebrated in anticipation about 750 years earlier. As Isaiah wrote (KJV Is 9:6), and Handel immortalized in stirring music: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given:And the government shall be upon his shoulder:And his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”And elsewhere Isaiah wrote (KJV Is 7:14)“Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign;Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son,And shall call his name Immanuel.”So, there you have it. Christmas actually has its origins in the prophecies of the Messiah written by Isaiah some 750 years before the birth of Christ! But wait! There’s more to it! From even earlier! Over 3000 years earlier. In the Garden of Eden. Please note that the current year on the Jewish calendar is 5786 AM — Anno Mundi or “the year of the World” — meaning that the world began 5786 years ago, which puts Jesus' birth at AM 3761 and Isaiah’s prophecies at circa 3011 AM..The main events of the Garden of Eden are well known. Despite being put in a specially created, “very good” environment (Gen 1:31), Adam and Eve were seduced by Satan, evil incarnate as a serpent, to disbelieve God — “Has God [really] said …?” (Gen 3:1) and “You surely will not die” (Gen 3:4) — (yes, He did and yes, you will) — and, by trading on their hubris — “you will be like God” (Gen 4:5) — and eat the forbidden fruit. This disobedience — sin entering the world through one man, and death through sin, so death spreading to all men, as Paul put it (Rom 5:12) — resulted in God’s ineluctable judgement that, among other things, banished mankind from the garden where they had been able to enjoy God’s tangible presence.Also part of this judgement was this: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Gen 3:15)The significance of this has been discussed in many places, one of which I will quote.“Many have interpreted the seed in this verse as the Messiah, including the Jewish Targums, hence the Talmudic expression ‘heels of the Messiah.’ This verse hints at the Virginal Conception prophesied in Isaiah 7:14, as the Messiah is called the seed of the woman, contrary to the normal biblical practice of referring to the father rather than the mother of a child (cf. Genesis chapters 5 and 11, 1 Chr. chapters 1–9). The early church called this passage the Protevangelion, the first mention of the Gospel in the Bible.”.“But there was a very interesting sequel. When Eve bore Cain, she said something so apparently out of the ordinary that many Bible translators can’t believe she said it. The Hebrew literally says, ‘I have gotten a man: the LORD (YHWH)’, or ‘I have received a man, namely Jehovah’, as Martin Luther put it. The Hebrew Christian scholar Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum believes that Eve’s actual statement shows that she understood that the seed would be both God and man, but she was grossly mistaken in believing that Cain was the seed in question. Rather, the seed of the woman would be born about 4000 years later, to the virgin Mary in Bethlehem. I.e. Eve’s theology was accurate; it was only her application that was faulty.”This God-man duality (sort of like wave-particle duality in physics) is important.The God aspect is important because in the Jewish practice of sacrificing animals to cover the sins of the people — a practice instituted by God — only unblemished animals were considered capable of doing this. Since the sacrifice of the Messiah was to not just cover sins but was “for forgiveness of sins.” (Mt 26:28 NASB), the sacrificial “animal” had to be sinless and only God is sinless.The man aspect is equally important..The Messiah is also referred to as the “Redeemer,” as in the opening soprano air in part three of Handel’s Messiah, “I know that my Redeemer liveth” or in Isaiah 59:20. In fact, the word in Isaiah 59:20 literally means “Kinsman-Redeemer,” implying a familial relationship. In the cultures of that time, familial relationships were established through the fathers, as illustrated by the use of “ben” in Jewish names or “bin” or “ibn” in Arabic names, all meaning “son of.” Both Matthew and Luke enumerated the genealogy of Jesus in this manner to establish Jesus’ as descended from David, as it was prophesied that the Messiah would be of the house and family of David. Stopping here, however, given the Kinsman aspect, would mean that Jesus could only “forgive the sins” — that is, “save” — people who were likewise descended from David. However, Luke traces that genealogy all the way back to Adam and, by implication, Eve, “the mother of all living” (Gen 3:20), meaning that everyone has access to Jesus’ forgiveness of sins. Nowadays, of course, such genealogical tracing is not necessary, as genetic research has shown that we are, indeed, all descended from one man, dubbed Y-chromosomal Adam, and one woman, dubbed mitochondrial Eve, who was indeed, “the mother of all living.” So Jesus, by being a man, is a kinsman to all and can be everyone’s Kinsman-Redeemer.But why do we need a Redeemer… from what do we need to be redeemed… and why can we not redeem ourselves?We need a Redeemer because “the wages [just compensation/sentence] of sin is death” and “death entered the world through one man [Adam] and so death spread to all men [i.e. everyone]” and while it may be possible for an individual to redeem themselves through their own efforts from some trivial social faux pas, with respect to escaping the wages of sin, “by grace you [can be] saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8-9 NASB), with “the free gift of God [being] eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 6:23 NASB).And the truly amazing thing about this gift is that you don’t have to be on anyone’s “nice” list to get it. It’s offered to everyone. You just have to accept it.“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16. NASB, emphasis added). From the mouth of the Kinsman-Redeemer himself.While Christmas is indeed celebrating the birth of Christ, it has its origins well before the actual birth and is far more than a birthday party with its superficial gift giving, tree decorating, carol singing, and turkey eating. It is a necessary (but not sufficient… Easter has to happen) component of God’s plan for our salvation, the implementation of which started not long after the creation of the world.Wishing everyone a very merry, joyful, blessed, and thankful Christmas.Jim Mason holds a BSc in engineering physics and a PhD in experimental nuclear physics.
