It’s About Why He Was Born!

manger scene Thomas Kinkade
“The Nativity” by Thomas Kinkade

I was thinking about Christmas and reading about the birth of Jesus in the Book of Matthew today.  I am always struck by the power of the angel’s statement to Joseph regarding the reason he was to call him Jesus.  Remember, Christmas is all about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and giving Him glory for who He is and why He was born!  It is the greatest birthday celebration in the whole world!

I have been blogging on WordPress for over a year now.  I started in August of 2018, so last December was my first Christmas as a blogger.  Unfortunately, I ran into quite a few legalistic believers and false preachers during that time that were very hateful and judgmental about Christmas.  As a matter of fact, in all my time blogging, those are the people that have given me the most trouble, not unbelievers!  In the most loving way I can say this, I am not putting up with it this year or any other year.

There are a lot of people out there that claim to know Jesus and they pretend to have fellowship with us, but they are actually legalistic wolves that believe they can earn their salvation through works.  All they want to do is tear at you with their vile lies and point their bitter judgmental fingers at you while they try to beat you over the head with verses they don’t understand.  And they don’t understand them because most likely, they don’t have the Holy Spirit.  Beware of such “believers.”  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying Christians who don’t celebrate Christmas are false believers (although it makes me wonder).  Some are real believers that have somehow got mixed up with legalism, but others are straight up false preachers.

They came at me with their misunderstandings of Jeremiah 10 and condemned me for having a Christmas tree.  I have never carved an idol in my life, that’s not what a Christmas tree is, and I sure don’t worship it!  It’s a decoration for crying out loud!  Some people are so legalistic it’s ridiculous.  Such people still think they can fulfill the Law on their own and they are not trusting in Christ’s finished work on the cross.  They act as if they are still under Old Testament Law as if they could be righteous on their own.  Jesus fulfilled the Law because we can’t!  No one will be justified by observing the Law.  Read Galatians and Romans.  God’s Word will prove it to you!

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Here is our Christmas tree. The star at the top represents the star of Bethlehem. We string it with lights because Jesus is the Light of the world. The ornaments show the love our family has for Him and each other. God is love and Christmas is all about His love for us!

Other people don’t like the word Christmas and want to argue about the origins of the word.  One of them even told me it “grieves her heart” to here the phrase “Merry Christmas.”  She was a former Catholic and her reasoning for being grieved was based on some weird Catholic painting depicting King Herod’s orders to kill the boys in Bethlehem (not sure why someone would want a painting like that).  She tried to tell me Christmas is celebrating Herod’s slaughter (still one of the weirdest things I’ve ever heard).  Then a couple of her friends jumped in the conversation pointing their fingers at me with all kinds of accusations and judgments.  It was quite strange and crazy, and I still shake my head at that one.  We know about King Herod trying to kill Jesus and we know he ordered the murder of all the boys in Bethlehem aged two and under (Matthew 2:13-18), but that is absolutely not why we celebrate Christmas.

Others want to argue about the date of Christmas as if we don’t know that Jesus wasn’t born on December 25th.  That’s not the point in our time.  The point is we celebrate Jesus and He is glorified worldwide through the celebration of His birthday!  Christmas puts the focus on Jesus and shares the Gospel with the world!

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

John 8:12

I don’t understand why a believer in Jesus Christ would not celebrate the birth of their Lord and Savior, but if that’s you, I don’t judge you.  I am not here to argue with legalistic people.  I am here to preach the Gospel!  I love Jesus Christ with all of my heart and I’m going to celebrate Him and worship Him in spirit and in truth!  Judge me if you want to.  Jesus is my Lord and Savior and He deserves all the glory and praise!

I say “Merry Christmas” and if that offends you, tough cookies.  All of the people who subscribe to my blog now have never treated me that way and I thank you all for that.  The false preachers who attacked me learned pretty quick not to mess with me and they are gone now.  I preach the truth boldly and I will not back down.  If you are reading this blog for the first time and you are a legalistic Christmas hater, you will probably want to stay off my blog in December.  Your hateful comments will just get blocked, you won’t like talking with me anyway because I will preach the truth to you, and your misunderstandings of Scripture will never defeat the truth of God’s Word.  Your legalism will never defeat my freedom in Christ either (Galatians 5:1)!

Romans 8:1-2 burns bright in my heart!  I am not a slave to the law of sin and death!  I am righteous through His blood alone and I celebrate and worship Him because He died to save my soul and set me free from sin and death!

Now that I have been clear on that, let’s take a look at the birth of Jesus and what the angel of the Lord told Joseph:

“This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.  Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”–which means, “God with us.”

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.  But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son.  And he gave him the name Jesus.”

Matthew 1:18-25

That is why we celebrate the birth of Jesus!  He was born to save us from our sins!  His Name in Hebrew is Yeshua, which literally means “the Lord is salvation.”  The root verb of His Name means “to deliver, to rescue, and to save.”  He is God in human flesh!  God with us!  Jesus rescues us, delivers us, and saves us from sin and death!  The greatest gift God ever gave to mankind was coming to earth as a beautiful little baby boy to save the world!

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?  We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

Matthew 2:1-2

Don’t ever forget why Jesus was born and why we celebrate Christmas!  Jesus is Lord and He is our only Savior!  It is His birthday and just like the Magi did, I want to honor and worship Him as I celebrate His birth!  Jesus Christ is Lord!  May He be celebrated and glorified throughout the whole world!

Grace and peace to you all, and Merry Christmas!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus speaking in John 3:16

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Author: Ryan Callahan

Hello, and welcome to my site! I am an independent Christian author (One Man's Very Strange Supernatural Life), blogger, and evangelist for Jesus. My main goal with this blog is to help people come to know Jesus, help people understand the Bible, and to minister to a lost and hurting world. This site is about hope, new beginnings, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and love! I'm glad you are here, God bless you! Copyright © 2024 Ryan Callahan. All rights reserved.

60 thoughts on “It’s About Why He Was Born!”

  2. Yes. Beware the “legalistic wolves”, brother. Beware the trolls. Beware the false brethren. It’s a melee out here. It’s a jungle. Hard to find a little ledge of peace to roost at times. I like your strong stance! Indeed, I whole-heartedly concur: “don’t put up with it.” Send most of those miscreants packing. Let them practice torment somewhere else. I agree, Ryan. You shall know them by their fruits. Do they lift up the name of Jesus! Do they demonstrate love, one to another. If their paradigm is to forever torment and criticize, release them back into THE WILD. Love you, brother. Peace out ☮️✝️❤️

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  3. Now seekers and searchers are a different matter. Those people are sincerely trying to find themselves… to find some meaning to their lives. We empathize with those people. Those people we will minister too. It sometimes takes Holy Spirit discernment to separate the *seeker* from the *tormentor*. And some of those people actually reside in the ugly land *in between*. The Holy Spirit will guide us though. I believe He is faithful to give us supernatural perception in this regard. Sometimes it takes a little time and further revelation to understand… but ultimately (though we are not perfect vessels) God will show us when and where to speak. Love you, brother. ☮️✝️❤️

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    2. I applaud your message! 👏🏼 👏🏼
      “TOUGH COOKIES!!!” (Sorry that just tickled me! 😁 thanks for that!) to anyone who wants to fight over trivial things. (Here in the South, we call it gagging at a knat and swallowing a camel!) I also have a Christmas tree and say Merry Christmas….
      Lovely tree and great post!

      MERRY CHRISTMAS Ryan!!!

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  6. There are a lot of unhappy people in this world, as we all know, and they delight in spilling their ugliness into the lives of others. Very sad for them, and I say a prayer for them. I’m glad to hear you are blocking them on your blog. Absolutely no need to deal with that. There is so much good in God’s Word for us to share, cherish and celebrate! “Praise God!” He is so good to us! I really liked reading your thoughts and reasons why you decorate your Christmas tree…beautiful, Ryan. Rejoice!!! Celebrating baby Jesus’ birth, and knowing what all that means for His believers, is the reason Christ’s birthday is the most wonderful and cherished time of the year! I was tickled to see our nativity scene so beautifully displayed, too, Ryan! “Merry Christmas!”

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  8. Hi brother here is part of a post I did before Thanksgiving that you might have seen. Let us not hit each other over the head with a club or baseball bat about the origins of Christmas those are secondary non-essential and I don’t see people balk or complaining about birthdays, wedding rings, etc why not complain about those why single out Christmas? Instead of being cannibals toward each other why don’t we this year share the Gospel with the lost. It’s no wonder the lost don’t want to list to us when they see us fighting each other it needs to stop and quite frankly these Christmas debates hit believers over the head every year has become an idol. Let’s do this.
    1 Corinthians 9:19-23 English Standard Version (ESV)
    19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

     

    This site will most like do Christmas post and maybe post Biblically sound Christmas music this year and if you don’t like Christmas then this site isn’t for you. I’m sorry if this post offends anyone but I’m tired of these origin of Christmas debates that don’t matter what matters is the Gospel and the lost If you don’t like the post don’t comment I have no time for pointless debates and don’t stand for them at all. And if I get an anti-Christmas comment they will be deleted immediately because this is my site a Christmas celebrating site.  Now if you have any positive Thanksgiving or Christmas comment please comment. If all this Christmas all I get is anti-Christmas comments this year I will leave and take a break maybe even for good I don’t need the stress of bickering. And pray for those of us who have loved ones in heaven like grandmas,  moms, dads, uncles, etc Christmas can be very tough.

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      1. And amen God bless you. I had a conversation with a former Catholic who agrees with everything I say biblically but defends Catholicism saying Catholics and Protestants believe the same thing.

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  11. Thanks, Ryan. I used to be one of those who crusaded against Christmas and Easter the first couple of years after I was saved. These holidays do have some pagan connections, but after a couple of years I decided it was an issue for each believer to decide upon for themselves. Believers can certainly use Christmas and Easter as opportunities to reach out to the lost with the Gospel. Some Christmas haters are absolutely consumed with this issue and insinuate those who don’t toe their line aren’t genuine believers because they commit idolatry. If these folks were to seriously eschew all connections to paganism and false (c)hristianity they would have a lot of work to do, like abstaining from wedding rings, birthdays, funeral rites (embalming, etc.), and then there’s the months and days of the week named after pagan gods, and then there’s the cities in the U.S. named after Catholic saints like San Francisco, St. Louis, etc. So many things in American culture have pagan or Catholic origins. What are we supposed to do? Live in underground bunkers? Let’s not get wrapped around the axle over Christmas and Easter. Christians in good conscience use these celebrations to worship the Lord. This is definitely not the hill to die on. Right, there’s no use even conversing with the Christmas haters on the issue because they view anything besides strong opposition as supporting idolatry.

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    2. Well said I agree 100% and it makes us look bad to the unsaved we should be sharing the Gospel at Christmas not fighting over Christmas orgins.

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  12. Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupted. 🙂

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  16. Love this! Never gave much thought to the legalism that’s out there about Christmas, but you got the mail on the head.. tough cookies! Haha… who gets uptight about the birth of Christ?! Anyways, happy for your voice and writings and I think your decorations are fantastic!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

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  17. Amen Ryan! For me Christmas is a sacred day. I realize it’s a man made holiday, in terms of it not being the exact day and also mixed with pagan influences, but for me it’s an opportunity to recognize the birth of my Savior in spirit and in truth and not according to the pagan tradition. And since we don’t know the exact day, one day is as good as the next. Should I not recognize the birth of my child just because the day is the same as a pagan holiday, for example? Of course not. With that reasoning we would, as the JW’s, not celebrate anything.

    As for those Christians who choose not to celebrate Christmas, that is their God-given prerogative and I don’t think I would go so far as to say it reflects the condition of their heart or devotion toward Christ.

    Romans 14:1-7 tells us: “Now receive the one who is weak in the faith, and do not have disputes over differing opinions. One person believes in eating everything, but the weak person eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not despise the one who does not, and the one who abstains must not judge the one who eats everything, for God has accepted him. Who are you to pass judgment on another’s servant? Before his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. One person regards one day holier than other days, and another regards them all alike. Each must be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day does it for the Lord. The one who eats, eats for the Lord because he gives thanks to God, and the one who abstains from eating abstains for the Lord, and he gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for himself and none dies for himself.”

    In fact, the entire chapter of Romans 14 is all about allowing each other to have our own convictions about disputable matters. It doesn’t matter if there are those who choose not to celebrate Christmas due to their conviction about its pagan influence. And it’s fine for those who do choose to celebrate it as a holy day in honor of the birth of Christ. What we are not to do is judge or condemn each other for choosing differently.

    My stance is this: We should ‘teach’ the Word, and ‘live’ our convictions (as they line up with the Word). Not the other way around.

    God bless you and your family, Ryan! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas season.

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    2. Well said and I agree at the same time if any Christian does not want to celebrate Christmas that’s fine they just shouldn’t beat those who do celebrate Christmas over the head nope.

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      1. Agreed, ReformedBeliever. We, from both camps, should not judge and criticize those who differ in opinion and practice ‘as it pertains to disputable matters’. Especially in such an argumentative and public way. I think Romans 14 is very clear on that fact.

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      2. Hang on a sec Dee. Did I miss something? Are you saying my post was inappropriate? If so, I wasn’t judging or criticizing anybody. I am preaching the truth and there is nothing wrong with discussing truth in public. If you have a problem with my post, I disagree with you.

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      3. No Ryan, I’m not saying your post was inappropriate. I was agreeing with you on preaching the Truth. We are not to judge one another over disputable matters and certainly not in the manner of publicly attacking fellow believers.

        My only additional thought was that I wouldn’t go so far as to judge their devotion to Christ solely on the fact that they don’t celebrate Christmas.

        Does that clear things up?

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      4. Yeah, thanks. Like I said in my post, I don’t judge a Christian who doesn’t celebrate Christmas, but it does make me wonder why and what kind of legalism they have fallen into. Usually it’s the Jehovah Witnesses that do stuff like that and they are not Christians. I would never publicly attack a fellow believer and I didn’t do that in my post. I just stated my faith and the truth of God’s Word and glorified Jesus. I also cleared up the giant misunderstanding of Jeremiah 10 that legalists misuse all the time. Blessings!

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      6. Yes it makes us look bad to the unsaved who we could be sharing the Gospel with on WordPress instead of fighting over Christmas orgins I saw the fighting last year.

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      8. Remember though, many of the people who misuse Jeremiah 10 and are legalistic really are false preachers, so they are not saved. Many times they are very legalistic about other things, like the core doctrine of salvation for example. It’s not a “fight” with a brother or sister in Christ. Like I said in my post, I don’t judge a fellow brother or sister in Christ who doesn’t celebrate Christmas. I wrote this post to tell legalists and false preachers to leave me alone. I’m sick of their lies. I am not fighting with anyone. I am stating my faith and glorifying Jesus.

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  18. It’s about His birth, Ryan! Unfortunately so many that claim they are free, are still living in bondage… in a legalistic mindset! The bible says, WHO Christ has set free, in forever free indeed! The Old Testament is there to show Gods love, and faithfulness! No one could live up to the law, WHY Christ Jesus came to set us free! Share your heart brother, your light is shining! Blessings!

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  20. Actually, most of those who don’t celebrate Christmas (Messianics & Jews) DO celebrate His birthday: on the first day of Tabernacles/Sukkot, which if the clues in the Bible are to be followed, is His real birthday. (Which makes sense, prophetically: He “tabernacled among men”.)
    It’s actually kinda funny, if you think about it: God set it up so that His chosen people (the Jews) would continue to celebrate their Messiah’s birth almost 2000 years after they rejected Him – without even realising it!
    Also, most of us celebrate Hanukkah, which if one does the math, is actually when He was conceived (which again makes sense prophetically: the Light of the World being conceived during the Festival of Lights). And it occurs at the same time as Christmas (for me, Christmas literally falls in the middle of Hanukkah – every year!). So, we’re (often unintentionally) celebrating the Messiah’s conception at the same time you’re celebrating His birth (and Hanukkah today is often celebrated in a similar fashion to Christmas: with the giving of gifts, albeit accompanied by the lighting of the Menorah over 8 days, rather than setting up a tree for one day). (Another great set up by God: ensuring the Jews would continue not only celebrating Christ’s birth, but also His conception, almost 2000 years after rejecting Him, without knowing it!)
    https://jewishroots.net/library/messianic/was-the-birth-of-christ-during-tabernacles.html
    https://jewishroots.net/library/messianic/was-jesus-conceived-at-hanukkah.html

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