Day 20 - The 25 Days of Christmas

The Three Kings

Three Kings came riding from far away,

Melchior and Gaspar and Baltasar;

Three Wise Men out of the East were they,

And they traveled by night and they slept by day,

For their guide was a beautiful, wonderful star.

The star was so beautiful, large and clear,

That all the other stars of the sky

Became a white mist in the atmosphere;

And by this they knew that the coming was near

Of the Prince foretold in the prophecy.

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

We Three Kings

(by Lucy Adams)

“They offered him gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.” (Matt. 2:11b)

     Thousands of children have portrayed the wise men who brought gifts to the Christ Child at his birth.  The story is derived from Matthew 2:1-12, which is the only biblical reference to this even.  It is beautifully captured in the majestic hymn. “We Three Kings.”  Although there is no specific number of kings mentioned, it is assumed that each gift was carried by one man.

     The number involved is not essential for this Christmas message.  The gifts are symbols that explain the purpose of Jesus’ coming.  In stanza 2, “gold I bring to crown him again”, signifies that Jesus is the King.  Stanza 3 speaks of the gift of frankincense, which is the incense that denotes prayer and praise in Jesus’ priestly ministry.  In stanza 4, the gift of myrrh and “as bitter perfume breathes a life of gathering gloom” points to Jesus’ suffering in death.

     John Henry Hopkins composed the words and music in 1857.  His intent to lift up this great event of praise and worship was eagerly received by his congregation and continues to add beauty to the Christmas season.

     Hopkins was born in Pennsylvania in 1820.  As a minister ordained into the Episcopal Church, he was also a leader in the development of hymnody in that denomination.  He was the first instructor in church music at General theological Seminary in New York City.  His popular publication, CAROLS, HYMNS AND SONGS was reprinted four times.  “We Three Kings” is the most well known song from that collection.

     After the first stanza, the words move from the activity of the three kings to a personal involvement.  Did I bring him gold, frankincense, or myrrh? Do I offer him “prayer and praising, voices raising, worshiping God on high?”

     The message is clear; I am responsible for my gifts to Jesus.  I chose to give my heart to him years ago.  Each morning when I awake, that continues to be my choice.

     Lord Jesus, like the wise kings of long ago, help me to give Christmas gifts that reflect my love for you. Amen.

“We Three Kings”

We three kings of Orient are
Bearing gifts we traverse afar
Field and fountain, moor and mountain
Following yonder star

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to thy Perfect Light

Born a King on Bethlehem's plain
Gold I bring to crown Him again
King forever, ceasing never
Over us all to rein

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light

Frankincense to offer have I
Incense owns a Deity nigh
Pray'r and praising, all men raising
Worship Him, God most high

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light

Myrrh is mine, its bitter perfume
Breathes of life of gathering gloom
Sorrowing, sighing, bleeding, dying
Sealed in the stone-cold tomb

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light

Glorious now behold Him arise
King and God and Sacrifice
Alleluia, Alleluia
Earth to heav'n replies

O Star of wonder, star of night
Star with royal beauty bright
Westward leading, still proceeding
Guide us to Thy perfect light 

Day 19 - The 25 Days of Christmas

THE ORIGINS OF CHRISTMAS

It’s hard to imagine a time with Christmas was not observed as a holiday.  Even the oldest among us can recall childhood memories of waking up to stockings filled with toys or presents under the tree, local malls filled with holiday music and city streets decked out in garland and lights.  Although Christ’s life was celebrated even during his life, the holiday as we have come to know it is much more recent.

     Christmas came from two words compounded together from the English “Christ’s Mass.”  But how is it that the abbreviation from Christmas came to be known as Xmas.  In both the Greek and Roman writings, X was known as the first letter of Christ (Greek letter chi) as well as an abbreviation for Christ since the mid-16^th century (Roman letter).

     Christmas for Christians is a celebration of Jesus’ birth but was Jesus really born on December 25^th in the year 1 CE?  One truth is that the New Testament does not provide us with the exact date or year jesus was born.  There have been fourhighly recognized calculations made regarding the date and year Jesus was born.

     The best calculation Dionysius Exiguus (a Scythian monk of a Roman monastery) came up with was put Jesus’ birth was 754 years after the founding of the city of Rome but as close as he came his calculation would still be off by 4 years.  The others were anonymous document called theDePascha Computus which was believed to have been a calculation made about 243 CE placing the birth of Jesus on March 28, Clement (bishop of Alexandria) placing Jesus’ birth on November 18, and Joseph Fitzmyer placing His birth on September 11, 3 BCE.

     So how is it that Christmas is celebrated by Christians around the world as the birth of Jesus if these other calculations are truer to the case?  One tradition has it that Roman pagans celebrated the holiday of Saturnalia which was a week-long celebration of lawlessness of every kind.  The week this holiday was celebrated was December 17-25.  During the 4^th Century CE, Christians leaders were able to convert many of those who celebrated Saturnalia with one promise – that they could continue to celebrate Saturnalia even though there was nothing Christian regarding this celebration only to mark the last and final day as Jesus’ birthday.  The goal was to take the observance of pagan holidays and through the effort of aligning Christian observances alongside the pagan traditions with the hope of transforming pagan traditions into Christian ones.

     There are other reasons as to why December 25^th may have been chosen by Christians to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.  Isaac Newton stated the date must have been set aside to join the winter solstice celebration.  German paul Jablonski believed it was celebrated at the same time as the Roman solar holiday Dies Natalis Solis Invicti.”

     Despite the reasoning as to why the early Christians chose this day, the main emphasis remains which is to ensure Jesus’ birth does not go unrecognized and is tradition to be celebrated as Christians remembering the birth of their Savior.

                            By John Bates

P.S.  In case you are wondering what CE and BCE represent, these have replaced what we are familiar with BC and AD.  AD represented “After the death of Christ”, but if continued to be used, religious leaders discovered, we would have a 33 year gap between BC and AD, because of the life of Jesus there on this earth.  Therefore, the religious leaders came up with CE and BCE.  “CE” represents the “Christian Era” and “BCE” represents “Before the Christian Era”.  This information was gathered from one of my classes taken from Trinity College and Theological Seminary.