A Johannine Christmas - Part 1

I once observed a little child when she was given a present. The wrapping paper was quickly removed. The box was opened and when she saw her present, her eyes lit up like any child’s would.

She played with her gift for a while. But soon, her attention shifted to the box and the colourful wrapping paper. I was amused to see her more interested in the box and the paper than in the actual gift she had been given.

We may laugh, but we often do the same at Christmas time. We celebrate Christmas with gusto, but our attention is often given more to the boxes and wrapping paper than to the actual Gift of Christmas. I am not talking about the gifts we spend hours buying and exchanging at Christmas. I am referring to the greatest gift – the gift of God’s Son, which Christmas celebrates.

The biblical Christmas stories in Matthew and Luke are wonderful in their beauty and simplicity. We commonly act them out, sing carols and preach their message at Christmas. But the stories have been embellished with traditions and customs that have been collected over the centuries.

For example, we sing about the ‘three kings’ who visited the baby, but Scripture does not mention they were kings, nor that there were three. Perhaps the number developed because there were three kinds of gifts mentioned (Matthew 2:11). These men were magi who were practitioners of astrology and alchemy. The word

‘magician’ is related to the word ‘magi’.

Is it true that when Jesus was about to be born, Joseph and Mary could not find any room at the local inns? Were they turned away by some heartless innkeeper? Or perhaps an innkeeper, with some pity, suggested that they spend the night at the stable? Joseph and Mary probably stayed in a relative’s house. It was an affront to a relative if one were to stay at an inn; if there were any inns in Bethlehem like our hotels today.

The Greek word kataluma, translated as ‘inn’ in Luke 2:7 actually has the meaning of ‘guest room’, as in Luke 22:11. The word for ‘inn’ is actually pandocheion, referring to a roadside inn for travellers as in the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:34).

It is likely that Jesus was born in a house (Matthew 2:11) of a relative, and because there was no space in the guest room, Mary and Joseph spent the night where the manger was. It was common to have the manger not in a separate stable but in the main living room, where the animals were brought in at night, or in a backroom of the house.

There are many other Christmas ‘facts’ that are often inaccurate versions of what we actually read in the Bible. The popular cultural distortions that have been added on to Christmas celebrations (such as ‘white Christmases’, Santa Claus, Christmas trees, mistletoe, turkeys …) are nice to observe – as long as they don’t obliterate the real reason for celebrating Christmas. We are often so obsessed with the wrapping paper and the packaging that we pay scant attention to the real

Christmas Gift.

Consider this:

Reflect on the ‘wrapping paper syndrome’ discussed in this chapter. How do popular Christmas celebrations in homes, churches and the wider community distort the real meaning of Christmas and distract us from meeting the Jesus of Christmas?

Excerpted from Apprenticed to Jesus by Robert Solomon. © 2023 by Robert Solomon. Used with permission. All rights reserved.