Pastor Mark Schwarzbauer PhD Family Worship Center

Matthew 1:20-23 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:20-23 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

Part One: The Cozenage

The Cozenage A cozenage is a deception or scam. There is a popular cozenage (deception) when it comes to Jesus’ Birth concerning the date of Christmas.

The Cozenage “The most loudly touted theory about the origins of the Christmas date(s) is that it was borrowed from pagan celebrations. The Romans had their mid-winter Saturnalia festival in late December; barbarian peoples of northern and western Europe kept holidays at similar times. To top it off, in 274 C.E., the Roman emperor Aurelian established a feast of the birth of Sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun), on Dec 25.

The Cozenage Christmas, the argument goes, is really a spin-off from these pagan solar festivals. According to this theory, early Christians deliberately chose these dates to encourage the spread of Christmas and Christianity throughout the Roman world: If Christmas looked like a pagan holiday, more pagans would be open to both the holiday and the God whose birth it celebrated.” Andrew Brian McGowan

The Cozenage The “War on Christmas” is NOT new. It is essentially a “War on Christ” and has been going on since Herod sent out his soldiers to kill the Christ child. To deny it shows both an ignorance of history and a lack of spiritual perception.

The Cozenage The cozenage (deception) about the date of Christmas being stolen from a pagan festival is based on a 12th century errant commentary. The lie has been repeated and embellished ever since

The Cozenage Fools logic- Sol Invictus is on Dec. 25. Christmas is on Dec 25th. Therefore Christmas is Sol Invictus. An elephant has ears. My Brother has ears. Therefore my brother is an elephant.

The Cozenage Rome adopted Sol Invictus in the year 274 A.D. BUT a group called the “Donatists” appears to have celebrated the birth of Christ on Dec. 25th as it was long before based on a North African Christian tradition.

The Cozenage So why aren’t there more writings from the early church on “December 25th being the date of the birth of Christ? It certainly isn’t because December 25th wasn’t the date of the birth of Christ. The reason is found in our errant ethno centric interpretation.

Part Two: The Conception

The Conception The problem is people have wrongly “westernized” the issue. In Africa as in the West it is common to celebrate the BIRTH of a child. That would account for the Donatists picking up an earlier North African tradition celebrating Christmas on the 25th of December. However, in Asia it is much more common to celebrate the CONCEPTION of a child.

The Conception There are two important factors we need to know – 1. The early church focused on “CONCEPTION” not birth. 2. The early church didn’t see the birth as the starting point because Jesus was the pre-existent Eternal Word of God. Birth was not even the transition point, much less the starting point. The conception was the transition of God becoming man.

The conception is prominent in Scripture.

Matthew 1:20-23 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Matthew 1:20-23 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

Luke 1:30-31 30 Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus.

In Luke 1, Elizabeth recognizes and honors Jesus in the womb BEFORE birth.

In our pro-abortion pro-choice culture, America shuns the celebration of conception. It doesn’t mean we can’t rightly celebrate birth. But it may contribute to why conception is not our focal point.

John doesn’t even mention the birth as he emphasizes the PRE-EXISTENCE of Christ.

So where do we get the date December 25th?

The date of December 25th for Christmas has absolutely nothing to do with Sol Invictus. The date is based on the understanding that Jesus was conceived and died on the Passover.

Tertullian of Carthage around 200 A. D Tertullian of Carthage around 200 A.D. (74 years BEFORE Sol Invictus was popularized) shared that according to the Gospel of John Jesus died on the 14th of Nisan. Tertullian shared his calculation that this date on the lunar calendar was March 25th on the solar calendar. 9 months later to the day is December 25th.

So the December 25th date of Christmas is based on Jesus being conceived on Passover, March 25th. This was established 74 years BEFORE Sol Invictus, and was based on Messianic expectation from BEFORE the Roman Empire even existed!

A Christian treatise entitled “On Solstices and Equinoxes” from the 4th century states “Therefore our Lord was conceived on the eighth of the kalends of April in the month of March [March 25], which is the day of the passion of the Lord and of his conception. For on that day he was conceived on the same he suffered.”

St. Augustine wrote in On the Trinity (c St. Augustine wrote in On the Trinity (c. 399–419) “For he [Jesus] is believed to have been conceived on the 25th of March, upon which day also he suffered; so the womb of the Virgin, in which he was conceived, where no one of mortals was begotten, corresponds to the new grave in which he was buried, wherein was never man laid, neither before him nor since. But he was born, according to tradition, upon December the 25th.”

In cultural and literary context, Jewish tradition links creation (conception) and redemption together. In the Babylonian Talmud there is dispute shared between two rabbis of the early 2nd century. Rabbi Eliezer states: “In Nisan the world was created; in Nisan the Patriarchs were born; on Passover Isaac was born … and in Nisan they will be redeemed in time to come.”

There is no doubt the church has been touched by pagan influence through the years. That’s not surprising. The church brings in people as they are. The church never has been perfect because it is composed of imperfect people. That’s why we need a savior. But, the date of Christmas wasn’t based on a pagan holiday. The pagan holiday came later; I think in a vain attempt to detract from the truly epic event of God becoming a man.

So how do we apply this in our lives and celebration of Christmas today?

Part Three: The Celebration

Don’t let the false philosophy of a stolen date steal your celebration.

Colossians 2:8 “Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.”

We relate to “birth” days in our culture. God wants to relate to you We relate to “birth” days in our culture. God wants to relate to you! What do you think He wants you to do with Christmas? Honor the Christ. Celebrate Jesus.

Don’t lose the true meaning of Christmas in the commercialism Don’t lose the true meaning of Christmas in the commercialism. John 3:16.

Like the Wise men who later followed, bring your gifts… bring your heart. Receive the joy.