Here’s What We Really Know About Christmas
You might be surprised to learn that much of the Christmas story has been shaped more by tradition and assumption than by Scripture itself.
Here’s What We Really Know About Christmas
For many of us, the stories surrounding the night of Jesus’ birth are among the most beloved and charming aspects of our faith. Who doesn’t love stories of angels and shepherds, kings and peasants, stables and palaces? But what do we really know? How much of what we believe about Christmas is true, and how much of it is simply tradition—or even wrong?
The other day, as I was preparing my hymn story for this coming Friday about the great Christmas carol “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” I found it amusing that the song became so popular despite being wrong about so many details. The Bible never calls them kings. It never tells us how many there were. They were not from the Orient, and Scripture does not place them at the manger.
That got me thinking: what else do we get wrong about the first Christmas?
You might be surprised to learn that much of the Christmas story has been shaped more by tradition and assumption than by Scripture itself. Here are some examples.
When was Jesus actually born? Was He born in a stable? Was there a choir of angels present? Where did the wise men come from, and how did they know where to find The King? How many of them were there?
Why did the angels announce the birth to shepherds instead of priests? What was so special about Bethlehem? Why were those particular gifts chosen?
Those questions alone should cause us to pause and reconsider what we think we know. From the very beginning, God was drawing unexpected people to Christ—people who surprise us and don’t fit our assumptions. Their stories invite us to do something uncomfortable but necessary: to let Scripture correct what tradition has filled in.
Christmas is not diminished when tradition is stripped away. It is clarified. And in that clarity, we begin to see Christ more clearly.
That is where this journey begins. Before we rush to the manger, before the angels sing and the shepherds arrive, we must ask a deeper question:
Are we seeking the King as He truly is?
Let’s begin exploring the real Christmas—starting tomorrow.
