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Bible Truth Ministry On The Internet Christmas Pages
Christmas Traditionsfrom the December 1997 issue of our former email newsletter "Truth vs. Tradition". Tradition: Truth: The Biblical record of the visit of the Magi is found in Matthew
2:1-12. In (v.8, 11) Jesus is described as a "young child". This
description is repeated in (v.13,14) when Joseph was spoken to in a dream
by the angel of the Lord immediately following the visit of the Wise
Men/Magi. Matthew's term "young child" differs from Luke's description
"the babe" in Luke 2:12 which describes Jesus on the night He was born.
In the half century or so that I have observed and celebrated
Christmas, Santa Claus has increasingly moved to the forefront. Although
he is probably not the "Triple-Threat" some would make him out to be, he
is given three very important attributes that only God possesses.
The first of these is omniscience. Everybody knows that he knows
"whether we've been naughty or nice" right? Wrong, only God can and does
know if we have sinned against Him or whether we have obeyed Him. To tell
our children otherwise is not right!
He is also said to have the power to be in every home in the world on
Christmas eve. This might not be considered omnipresence, but it is close
enough to replacing God in the mind of a child.
Santa Claus is also given credit for being the provident one who can
supply the needs or wishes of any child, all they have to do is ask.
Sounds like the same relationship we all should have with our Lord.
He, Santa Claus, in essence, is the counterfeit god of Christmas and
thereby replaces the real need of every empty-hearted child, the need to
receive and know Him whose birth we celebrate, the Lord Jesus Christ!
In every extra-Biblical account of the Christmas story, three is the
usual number of the Wise Men/Magi. However, the Bible never tells us how
many there were. Because of the three different gifts: "gold and
frankincense and myrrh" (Matthew 2:11) presented to the young child Jesus,
it is assumed that three different Wise Men/Magi came to visit and honor
the King of Jews the Lord Jesus Christ. But, there could have been two,
twenty two, two hundred or maybe there really were three. In reality,
there just had to be more than one because plural forms of the word magi
are used (Matthew 2:1,7). Regardless of the number, they surely were men
who knew the importance of the star of the King of kings and rightly
responded: "They saw the young child ...and fell down and worshipped
Him"(Matthew 2:11), the Lord Jesus Christ the One Who alone is worthy!
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