Was Yeshua Born on December 25?
“Christianity has always been aware that December 25 is almost certainly not the actual date of Jesus’ birth. The early church did not celebrate December 25 as a day of any significance, and it wasn’t connected to the birth of Jesus until sometime during the reign of Constantine, several hundred years later.” (Excerpt from Got Questions).
For the longest time, I believed my Savior, Yeshua, was born on December 25. This is the date we all know as the Christmas holiday. From my youth I did not question Christmas and I was taught that this holiday is meant to celebrate the Messiah’s birth.
Then several years later, I learned Yeshua was not born on December 25. However, that’s the day Christians commemorate His birth. Still, I saw no issue with this because it came straight from my pastor and I never questioned spiritual leaders. Another reason was because neither my family nor anyone else in the church we attended seemed to find any issues with Christmas so I continued to celebrate it. I’m not saying the way I was raised was wrong or incorrect. Now that I am older, I’ve come to learn more of the holiday’s origins.
Looking back, I feel that I should’ve asked a few questions at that time. Questions like: why are we celebrating our Savior’s birth on a day He wasn’t born? If it doesn’t matter the day He was born, then why do we choose to celebrate it on December 25 instead of any other day in the year? What makes December 25 so special to the Christian faith?
The answers to my questions began with my study of Constantine. Constantine was the Emperor who Christianized Rome and was foundational in establishing the Roman Catholic Church. Many occurrences during Constantine’s reign led to Christianity being the most widespread religion at the time. Widespread customs included the celebration of Christmas.
As I was studying Constantine and the origins of Christmas, I read this article from Got Questions. The article began to answer some of my questions but also left me wondering more: https://www.gotquestions.org/Christmas-Saturnalia.html. My understanding after researching is that pagan celebrations, including Saturnalia and Sol Invictus, existed before and throughout Constantine’s reign. In Christianizing Rome, concepts and beliefs of pagan celebrations were altered and blended together. This led to new meanings to align with the Christian faith.
In my post, I break down some of the statements from the Got Questions article that aided my studies further. I pray my post will compel you to ask personal questions and help you in your study about the holiday. Ultimately, you will come to your own conclusions. As the Scriptures teach: “Test all things; hold fast what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21, New King James Version (NKJV)
The Got Questions article discusses how some of the Sol Invictus beliefs became absorbed by Christmas:
“There is another Roman holiday, Sol Invictus, that seems to have been gradually absorbed by Christmas, too. Sol Invictus (“Invincible Sun”) celebrated, on December 25, the renewing of the Sun King and was linked to the winter solstice (although the solstice itself never falls on December 25). Constantine, the first Christian emperor, was raised in this cult of the Unconquered Sun God, and he had a hand in turning Roman culture toward Christ and away from paganism. The first reliable historical evidence of Christmas being observed on December 25 dates from his reign.”
So who is this Sun King? The article bypasses this question. In my research, I found that it’s more simple to ask, “Who is this Sun god?” – who is known by different names. By doing a simple Google search, you’ll see that the Sun god celebrated on December 25 is known as Sol, Mithra, Ra, Nimrod, and others. In no instance did I see the Messiah’s name listed. If it was, it was listed in comparison to pagan deities.
Some arguments debate whether Christmas came first or Saturnalia or Sol Invictus. Whichever celebration came first, my question remains. If the Christian community knows that Christ was not born on December 25, but instead, a pagan deity is known to be born on that day, then why do Christians feel that it is acceptable to Yeshua to also celebrate His birth on this day?
There is another argument to justify Yeshua’s birth on December 25 and that’s due to Mary’s conception on March 25. I’d say that is a convenient happenstance and is worth further study.
Does the Mass of Christ Replace Passover?
The Mass of Christ is the breakdown of the word Christmas. During Mass, Catholics receive the Eucharist which supposedly symbolizes the Last Supper. This is also known as communion. My understanding is that the Mass of Christ honors Christ’s death and speaks to other Catholic tenets. I feel this contradicts if honoring Christ’s death is also done on a day observing His birth. I understand that without Christ’s birth, there is no death. I know our salvation is due to Yeshua’s sacrifice unto Yah by dying on a tree. However, when looking deeper into the Scriptures, the Last Supper occurred during the Feast of Passover. So now my question becomes, why aren’t believers of the Messiah observing Passover? And what does Christmas (which some celebrate as the birth of the Messiah) have to do with Passover (which biblically signifies Yeshua’s sacrifice for our sin)?
Should We Examine Our Cultures and Traditions?
One of the article’s concluding statements is: “But the meaning of any cultural custom, including a Christmas celebration, is determined by current usage, not origin.”
This leads me to ask: Is it okay to Christianize worldly traditions and customs? In other words, is it acceptable for believers of the Messiah to take any part of traditions and customs that are not of Yah and render them righteous unto Yah by inserting His name within those practices?
“These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.” Deut. 12:1-4 NKJV
We must not worship the Most High Yah in the same manner that pagans worshiped their gods. I don’t believe it is acceptable to take a holiday that originally had nothing to do with Yeshua and now tailor it to mean “it’s all about Jesus” through our current customs surrounding the holiday such as Mass and nativity sets.
I don’t believe Saturnalia, Sol Invictus, and Christmas are the same holidays. However, I personally believe they all have commonalities and ultimately lead to the worship of a pagan deity. Moving forward, I will learn more of and memorialize the appointed feasts of Yah.
Questions Recap
As I continue on this walk to worship the Most High in spirit and truth, I encourage you to seek Yah and do as His Spirit leads you. Here’s a list of the questions I presented in the article. I encourage you to answer these questions for yourself. Press into these for yourself, independent of religious doctrine or sermons. The hope is that you will be able to affirm the belief you have or re-align your belief.
- Why are we celebrating our Savior’s birth on a day He wasn’t born?
- If it doesn’t matter the day He was born, why do we choose to celebrate it on December 25 instead of any other day in the year?
- What makes December 25 so special to the Christian faith?
- Who is the Sun god and when is this god’s birth celebrated?
- If the Christian community knows that Christ was not born on December 25, but instead, a pagan deity is known to be born on that day, then why do Christians feel that it is acceptable unto Yeshua to also celebrate His birth on this day?
- Why aren’t believers of the Messiah observing Passover?
- What does Christmas have to do with Passover?
- Is it okay to Christianize worldly traditions and customs?
- In other words, is it acceptable for believers of the Messiah to take any part of traditions and customs that are not of Yah and render them righteous unto Yah by inserting His name within those practices?
Although I choose to refrain from celebrating this holiday, I have no authority to tell readers to do the same. I am sharing information for individual study. If readers are questioning this holiday, I would encourage them to pray to Yah on the matter and seek it out for themselves. I pray that my experience, journey, and the resources I share are helping readers in some way. All glory to Yah. Shalom (Peace, Wholeness, Well-Being).
Continually, Abiding. 
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