How well do you know the story of XmasThe atmosphere of the coming season is already showing signs Christmas is advancing. The sights, aromas, sounds may cause us to think the Christmas season is already here. For most Christians Advent is beginning, a time of preparation for the celebration of Jesus’ birth. All the signs of Christmas we may experience now are premature. I hope we can hold off as much as possible and truly prepare ourselves to celebrate our Savior’s first coming into the world. That is the purpose of Advent, which means coming. Advent has four Sundays, the first of which is the closest to St. Andrew’s Day, Nov. 30.As we think about Christmas, how well do we know the story as told in the Bible? We may have certain imagery of the biblical story picked up from pageants, Sunday School Christmas programs or television and movies. For some fun, answer true or false to these questions on the story of Christmas as told on the pages of Holy Scripture. ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE:1) Jesus was born in the winter.2) Mary came to Bethlehem before the birth of Christ riding on a donkey.3) Three Wise Men visited the infant Jesus4) The Wise Men traveled by camels.5) The shepherds and Wise Men visited the Christ Child on the same night.6) A multitude of angels told the Shepherds that Jesus Christ was born.7) The message for the shepherds is summed up in the Angels’ Chorus: "Glory to God in the highest and peace and good will towards all men."8) The sign for the Shepherds to know this Savior-Child is they will find a baby dressed in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. 9) All four Gospel accounts in the New Testament tell us of Christ’s entrance into the world. 10) XMAS is the world’s attempt to stamp out "Christ" from Christmas; therefore, we should avoid using this so-called abbreviation.The answers: Only 8 is true, look up Luke 2:12. Swaddling clothes are bands of cloth used to wrap newborn infants. Also bands of cloth we used to wrap the remains of the dead for burial. Could it be that Luke was implying the reason for our Savior’s birth was for him to die for us? The Bible does not tell us the time of the year Jesus was born. During most of the centuries of Christianity the Western Church has celebrated Jesus’ birth on Dec. 25 while the Eastern Church waits until Jan. 6. The Bible makes no mention of the means by which Mary or the Wise Men traveled. We are not given a count of how many wise men there were but they did give Jesus three gifts. Luke tells us the Shepherds visited the Christ Child the night he was born in the manger scene. Matthew tells us of the Wise Men visiting the Holy Family in a house in Bethlehem. Only one angel gave the birth announcement, after which the Hosts of Heaven raced across the night sky to sing praises to God in the highest. The message in the announcement was "For to you is born this night in the City of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." Matthew and Luke tell the story of Christmas. Mark says nothing of it at all. John 1:14 speaks of Jesus’ entrance into the world: "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth … "The "X" in XMAS is not the English letter X, but the Greek letter CHI (it corresponds to our English "ch" and pronounced like a K). Throughout history the Church has used this Greek letter as shorthand for Christ as it is the first letter in its Greek spelling, i.e., CHRISTOS. The second letter of the Greek spelling is RHO, and it looks like the English P. Sometimes the two letters have been superimposed on each other as another symbol for Christ. This abbreviation originated in the Church itself and should not be pronounced "ex-mas" but "Christmas." I hope you had some fun with this little quiz. I also pray you will find meditative times during Advent to prepare yourselves for our Lord and Savior’s birth.
