Why Do We Celebrate Christmas on December 25th?

Christmas is around the corner. This is a special time for churches and Christian homes across the globe as we use this season to pay special attention to the birth of our Savior. While Christians commonly proclaim, “Jesus is the reason for the season,” there are other cultural traditions we recognize that mark the Christmas season: decorating a tree, stringing lights across your home, drinking hot chocolate, exchanging gifts, and the list goes on. Perhaps you watch A Charlie Brown Christmas in which Linus reads a passage from Luke 2. It is in this passage that Luke writes, “And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” [Luke 2:8, ESV] This verse has often raised questions on the time of Christ’s birth. If Jesus was actually born in the winter, why are shepherds out in the field?

Some argue that this definitely points to Jesus’s birth being in a warmer season. Many shepherds during this time would migrate with seasonal shifts and would not be out in the fields during the winter. Others say that it would be possible for shepherds to stay put during the winter months as Israel experiences a milder winter compared to winters further from the equator. Others support their arguments on the basis of the timing of the census, the appearance of the guiding star, or extrabiblical texts that attempt to add to the birth narrative. Regardless of who is right, tradition has held that the Church celebrates the birth of Christ on and around December 25th.

Many people claim that early Christians celebrated Christmas in December as a way to adopt or even overtake the pagan celebrations surrounding the winter solstice. These claims come with the support of Constantine, a Roman emperor famous for backing the Church, officially establishing December 25th as Christmas as a Roman holiday in A.D. 336. While this does seem to support a secular start to the holiday, there are historical evidences that point to early Christians before 336 celebrating the birth of Christ in the month of December.

There are several early church documents that hold to a tradition that states that Jesus’s conception fell on the same day of his death. Tertullian of Carthage wrote in the year A.D. 200 that the crucifixion occurred on the 14th day of Nisan, March 25th on modern calendars. Later, Augustine would agree with these calculations in On the Trinity. There are also documents from anonymous Christians in Africa around this time that agree with Tertullian’s date as well as the matching conception and crucifixion dates. Having that date and tradition set, celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25th makes sense as it is exactly nine months after March 25th. With multiple people from different regions of the world holding to the same tradition, it seems plausible that many Christians were celebrating the birth of Christ on December 25th without the influence of Constantine or pagan holidays.

As the church, we follow a deeply rooted tradition of celebrating the birth of our Savior on December 25th. At the end of the day though, the Bible does not state the exact day of Jesus’s birth. We need not worry whether or not Jesus was born in the spring or in the winter. What we do focus on is the fact that He was born, and He was born so that we may be adopted into the family of God. Paul writes in Galatians 4, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” [Galatians 4:4-7, ESV]

This is the truth of the gospel, and we should celebrate this great truth all the time, not just on Christmas. In a Christmas sermon, 19th century British theologian Charles Spurgeon said this on the matter, “You may keep his birthday all the year round, for it were better to say he was born every day of the year than on any one, for truly in a spiritual sense he is born every day of every year in some men’s hearts, and that to us is a far weightier point than the observation of holy days.” This Christmas, allow your traditions to be a reminder of the birth of our promised Savior for the upcoming year. May time spent with family be a reminder that you have been adopted into the family of God by a heavenly Father. May the giving of gifts be a reminder of the great gift of salvation. May the beauty of Christmas lights be a reminder of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ. May your Christmas be filled with the joy of the gospel.