Jesus: The Reason for the Season

TRUTH FOR TODAY

By Jun Malazo

I recently had to travel to the big city of Manila.  Though I do not particularly like leaving Sagada, I had to attend to an official matter of business.  My meeting was in Makati—the commercial district capital of the Philippines.  Makati boasts towering skyscrapers, malls the size of a provincial town, and all the modern amenities one could ever imagine. 

I was mesmerized by the Christmas lights and decorations that surrounded the city.  Whoever decorated these buildings did not spare any effort in doing their best to decorate for Christmas.  Every imaginable display was out in full and no lights were spared.  As I walked into the shopping malls I saw more displays.  The music that played through the speaker systems played both the classic and modern Christmas songs in every style and rendition known to man.  Stores and restaurants changed their themes to match the occasion.  Christmas is definitely in the air.

I was also taken aback by the number of people that were shopping looking for discounts and deals for the perfect gift for their friends and loved ones.   Like a wild stampede in the wilderness, shoppers go from store to store trying to find each item on their Christmas shopping list. 

As I sat and contemplated all of this in my mind, I begin to wonder if people completely understand what Christmas is all about?  I also wondered if they realized the significance of the songs they hear so often like Holy Night or Joy To The World.  Do the lyrics of these classic Christmas songs mean anything to them?  Or is it lost in the flood of commercialization and busyness of the Christmas season? They may know that this is the season of Christmas because of the displays and the influence of media, but I wonder if they know the real reason for the season.

The central theme of Christmas is Jesus Christ.  Our society as a whole has been trying to change the meaning of Christmas by eliminating Christ from the picture.  In their effort to change its meaning they offer alternatives such as believing in Santa Claus.  The Santa Claus phenomena has its origin in the Roman Catholic Church.  Just like any other pagan festival and belief the Roman Catholic Church has adopted, Santa Claus comes from a pagan belief as well.  Notice what the Catholic Pocket Dictionary of Saints said about Santa Claus:

“His popularity, already great, increased enormously in the West when his relics were brought to Bari in 1087, and his shrine was one of the great pilgrimage centers of medieval Europe.  He is the patron of storm-beset sailors (for miraculously saving doomed mariners off the coast of Lycia), of prisoners, of children…which led to the practice of children giving presents at Christmas in his name and the metamorphosis of his name, St. Nicholas, into Sint Klaes, into Santa Claus by the Dutch.  It should be noted that the figure of Santa Claus is really non-Christian and is based on the Germanic god Thor, who was associated with winter and Yule log and rode on a chariot drawn by goats named Cracker and Gnasher” (Dictionary of Saints, pp. 369,370).

I very well understand that most children grow out of believing that the presents they receive on Christmas come from a seemingly obese man dressed in a red suit that supposedly rides in a sleigh pulled by magical reindeer zooming through the sky at staggering speeds.  Santa Claus supposedly is able to deliver all the presents for all the billions of “good and well-behaved” children all over the world.  He supposedly accomplishes this incredible feat every year on Christmas Eve.  For most people who realize that there is no such thing as a Santa Claus, the transition from fantasy to reality is somewhat subtle and less disturbing.  However, there are many children whose transition is a little more traumatic.  Regardless of the case, most people do outgrow this fantasy.  What I find interesting about this subject is that while adults do not believe in Santa Claus they still repeat the lie to their children.

Is promoting the idea of Santa Claus just cute and harmless fun for children during Christmas?  Is there a conspiracy perpetrated by parents to control the behavior of the pre-adolescent members of our society?  Is Santa Claus nothing more than just a commercial marketing ploy to pressure consumers to over-spend during Christmas?  Or is there something more under the surface?

The popular song called Santa Claus Is Coming To Town has been sung countless times during the Christmas season.  Popular rock, pop, rap, and country artists all have their own renditions of it.  It seems that Christmas is not the same without hearing this song played over the radio or on some personal audio device at least 500 million times.  The song is so popular that even the first few lines of the song already make people sing along with it.  But notice one of the verses of the song which says: 

He sees you when you're sleeping

He knows when you're awake

He knows if you've been bad or good

So be good for goodness sake.

How does a man who supposedly lives up in the North Pole with midgets in green costumes manage to accomplish what the song suggests?  No technology in the world would allow him to accomplish these things.  Does he use Facebook?  I don’t think so.  According to the latest statistics there are 2.45 billion Facebook users which is a staggering number nonetheless.  But in comparison to the population of the earth which is 7.7 billion in barely scratches the surface.  Besides one has to be at least 13 years old in order to create an account.  So in essence, if Santa Claus spies on children via social media, everyone that is 13 and below will have to miss out on their presents year after year.

In order for him to see every child in the world when they are asleep, he would have to be present everywhere at the same time.  In order for him to know when every child is awake and if they are good or bad he would have to be all knowing.  This sounds very much like being omnipresent and omniscient—two of the distinct attributes belonging only to God.  Notice the following verses:

"Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD."  (Jeremiah 23:24, KJV)

"To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether."  (Psalms 139:1-4, KJV)

Is the world trying to redefine Christmas by attributing Santa Claus with the character of God?  Satan is very clever in trying to do away with the real meaning of Christmas.  There are many other ways that he is doing this.  Santa Claus is just of one the ways that Christians and non-Christians alike fall trap to this subtle attack of Satan.  His aim is to take the focus of Christmas away from Christ.  This is because the real meaning of Christmas carries with it a powerful message that Satan does not want the world to realize.  He wants people to be kept in the dark especially children.  The Apostle Paul describes this reality in the following verse:

"But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."  (2 Corinthians 4:3-4, KJV)

What is it that Satan is trying to withhold from people? Jesus is the reason for the season.  Christmas is all about the greatest gift that God gave to all mankind.  While Satan brought sin into the world and put man into bondage, God gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to be offered for our freedom from the punishment of sin.  The greatest gift ever given is eternal life in Jesus Christ. 

Christmas is more that just the display of lights and decorations.  It is more than just the events and festivities.  It more than being reunited with friends and love ones.  It is all about Jesus Christ.  It is all about Him who gave Himself so that we can be free.

Have you received the gift of eternal life?  Jesus is waiting for you to receive Him.  This Christmas season think about the real reason for the season and accept the greatest gift of all—eternal life.