A White Christmas
There was no white Christmas this year in Lagrange, Indiana. As a matter of fact, we have had very little snow so far this winter. It's actually kind of disappointing. My family and I usually hope for at least one "snow-in" each year, and so far this year we've only had about three or four inches.
There's been talk among the people with whom I used to rub elbows that Christ was not actually born during this time of year. Some say that He was born during October or even April. I really don't know that much about it. However, I am glad that we celebrate His birth during this time of year.
Having a white Christmas is, for those of us who believe in Jesus, a great reminder of His work. He came to Earth as a baby, grew up, gave a great example of how to live...but this does not encompass His full mission. His mission was death...and in dying, to bring life to all who would accept Him.
Having a white Christmas is a reminder of what that death has accomplished for us. That death was the full and complete payment for our sins. Having taken our sins upon Himself, we have been made righteous in the sight of God--there is no more sin, no more stain, no more imperfection--we have been made fully and completely white in His sight.
Seeing the snow fall on everything, covering all the dirty browns and grays of the season, brings joy during the Christmas season. And for those of us who have accepted this payment, this atonement, the snow covering all things dirty carries a weightier connotation--it reminds us of Him making us completely white, His grace falling on everything so gently, so beautifully, eliminating all vestiges of brown and gray. Surely this another expression of His great love for us.
Perhaps you didn't have a white Christmas this year either. But in another very real sense, you can have a white Christmas. All you have to do is believe in that sacrifice that Christ made. And your life also can be made white as snow. His grace will cover all things brown and gray in your life, fully and completely, in much the same way a snowstorm covers everything in white.
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands...." ~ Rev. 7:9
~
BS
3 comments:
Speaking of the nativity falling in modern December, someone on another message board list posted an excerpt from an article at http://nabataea.net/birthdate.html.
Here are a few bits from it:
Readers of Scripture who possess first-hand knowledge, or have acquaintance with authoritative works on the climate of Palestine, recognize that the arguments against the December date, based upon wintry and snowy conditions, are untenable. The facts have long been known.
As far back as 1863, Smith's Bible Dictionary, under the heading 'Palestine: the Climate', explained the rarity of snow in southern Palestine, while it conceded its more frequent occurrence in the northern parts of the land. The mean temperature at Jerusalem during December is said to run around 47 to 60 degrees F.
It certainly would not hurt sheep to be out at night in that sort of temperature. The Dictionary further states:
"As in the time of our Saviour (Luke 12: 54), the rains come chiefly from the S. or S.W. They commence at the end of October or beginning of November, and continue with greater or less constancy till the end of February or middle of March, and occasionally, though rarely, to the end of April. It is not a heavy continuous rain, so much as a succession of severe showers or storms with intervening periods of fine bright weather, permitting the grain crops to grow and ripen. And although the season is not divided by any entire cessation of rain for a lengthened interval, as some represent, yet there appears to be a diminution in the fall for a few weeks in December and January, after which it begins again, and continues during February and till the conclusion of the season."
It may be noted that the traditional date .for the birth of Christ falls in this period of the diminution of rainfall toward the end of December.....
The course of Abia
From the evidence for date furnished by the narrative of the shepherds we turn to that supplied by 'The course of Abia', mentioned in Luke 1:5. King David had divided the priests into 24 courses, to serve in rotation. This they evidently did down to the time of the Babylonian Captivity. After the Captivity the courses were started again, and were still officiating in weekly rotation in New Testament times. It appears, however, that only four of the original 24 courses returned with the remnant of the nation to the land of Israel, the missing courses being filled by proxy from the four. To make matters even more difficult, the Bible names several 'courses' after the Captivity which cannot be identified with any of the original ones. It therefore follows that there is no certainty about the time of year when the course of Abia would be officiating. Nevertheless, such evidence as is available is favorable to the December dating of the Incarnation. It is necessary to look for the nearest datable reference to one of the courses, and from that to reach by calculation the year mentioned in Luke 1:5. On this matter it is helpful again to quote from the pages of Dr. Edersheim:
"In Taan. 29"-i.e., the Talmudic Tractate Taanith, on Fasting and Fast-days -"we have the notice, with which that of Josephus agrees (War 6:4, 1, 5), that at the time of the destruction of the Temple, 'the course of Jehoiarib, which was the first of the priestly courses, was on duty.
That was on the 9-10 Ab of the year 823 A.U.C." (i.e., in Roman reckoning), "or the 5th August of the year 70 of our era. If this calculation be correct(of which, however, we cannot feel quite sure), then counting 'the courses' of priests backwards, the course of Abia would, in the year 748 A.U.C. (the year before the birth of Christ) have been on duty from the 2nd to the 9th of October. This also would place the birth of Christ in the end of December of the following year (749), taking the expression 'sixth month' in St. Luke 1:26, 36, in the sense of the running month (from the 5th to the 6th month: comp. St. Luke 1:24).But we repeat that absolute reliance cannot be placed on such calculations, at least so far as regards month and day".
For what this evidence is worth, therefore, it would appear that the Bible's mention of 'the course of Abia' is in favor of a December Nativity for our Lord Jesus Christ.
Later bro,
Joel
Joel:
I really appreciate your comment. Thanks for the info!
In another sense however (and I'm sure you would agree), the time of year does not matter nearly as much as the fact that He DID come. I don't care if it was March 9 or July 4 or whatever. He did come, and that's what matters.
Absolutely! The Word made flesh - that is the most important part of it. But I can't help but get annoyed at people exploiting their assertion about his birthdate to support their own theological agenda.
But anyway, hope you and the family had a merry Christmas!
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