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Let's take a little tour around the world to see how Christmas is celebrated in near and far-off lands.
Before we start our tour, let’s understand why Christmas is celebrated both as a religious festival for Christians the world over, and as a winter festival holiday for many millions more.
Historical Origins of Christmas Day (December 25th)
It is thought by modern historians that the date of Christ’s birthday has its origins in the date of birth of the Pagan Roman Sun God, Mithras, whose religious influence had become quite widespread during the first few centuries after Christ’s birth. Early Christians did not actually have a celebration for Jesus’s birthday, and it is thought that the Roman Emperor Constantine (who was baptized into Christianity on his deathbed) wanted to reduce the influence of Pagans across the Roman Empire and to unite the different Christian groups that were emerging.
To do this he decreed in 336AD, that henceforth the birth of Jesus Christ would be celebrated on December 25th. His reasoning was that because Christianity was growing so fast, celebrating the birth of Jesus on the same date as Pagans celebrated the birth of Mithras in a festival called Saturnalia (Winter Festival), the importance of Saturnalia and the influence of Pagans, would gradually be reduced. Constantine was a wise man, for not only did he, as a worshipper of Mithras himself, give Christians the most wonderful of celebrations, he also succeeded in his goal of beginning the demise of Paganism. Furthermore, Emperor Constantine also convened the first ever meeting of Christian Bishops from all over the world, resulting in the Nicaean Creed, which laid down the foundations for Christian worship that would last more than 1,700 years, right up to today.
At the Saturnalia festival (December 17-24), Romans would present each other with sprigs of holly as gifts for the holiday. When Teutonic tribes began to usurp power from the Romans in Europe, they brought their Yule, or winter feast, traditions with them. The Yule log and wassailing (i.e., toasting each others’ health with alcoholic drinks) are two of these traditions, which have continued into modern day Christmas celebrations.
Biblical Origins of the birth of Jesus Christ
In Nazareth, in the town of Galilee in the Holy Land, lived a young girl, who had just become engaged to be married to Joseph, a carpenter. Both Mary and Joseph were Jewish, and really very ordinary people of the times, who were to become revered all over the world, as the earthly parents of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Suddenly their lives would be changed forever. One night the Angel Gabriel came to Mary, who was fearful and troubled by the presence of the Angel. The Angel gave her the most amazing and wondrous news, that she would become pregnant and have a child and that her child would be the Messiah. Although she could not understand how she would become pregnant with the Savior, she responded to God with obedience and full belief in Him and His words.
The Messiah was the long awaited and promised spiritual leader of the Jewish people, but as we know, the Jews did not ultimately accept Jesus, and to this day they await the Jewish Messiah.
So Mary became pregnant through the Holy Spirit, but as she and Joseph were not yet married, Joseph had every right to feel disgraced. He knew the child was not his, and his initial reaction was to break off the engagement. But Joseph chose to treat Mary with the utmost kindness and care. God sent an Angel to Joseph in a dream to confirm to him that the child Mary was carrying was indeed conceived by the Holy Spirit and his name would be Jesus, and that He was the Messiah, the Son of God. The Angel also told Joseph that it was God’s will for him to marry Mary, and that he and Mary would be the Messiah’s earthly mother and father, an honor of incredible proportions.
Towards the end of Mary’s pregnancy, not long before Jesus would be born, Joseph had to take his wife to the town of his birth, Bethlehem, to register for the census decreed by Roman Emperor Caesar Augustus. Because of the census, the town was really full of people and there was no room for them at the inn (like a hotel), but they managed to find some comfort in the stable next to the inn.
That night, Mary gave birth to the baby Jesus. She wrapped Him in swaddling-clothes, strips of cloth that in those times were wrapped around new-born babies to keep them warm and to ensure they would come to no harm. She laid Him in a manger, a long, very simple, rectangular box usually used for horse or cattle feed and kept in stables!
Outside Bethlehem, in the fields, an Angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds who were looking after their flocks of sheep. The Angel told the shepherds, that Jesus had been born in the town of David, in the stables next to the inn. The shepherds decided immediately to travel to Bethlehem to see Jesus for themselves. The shepherds were in awe and from that moment on they told all who would listen about this amazing child and everything that the Angels had told them.
Interestingly, and contrary to popular myth, nowhere in the Bible are we told of the three wise men from the East, bearing gifts to the baby Jesus, laying in the manger in the stable. Let’s read from Matthew 2.1-12, where we learn of an unstated number of wise men bearing gifts, who were probably not Kings, but most likely were astrologers, visiting Mary and the infant Jesus in their house, not the inn:
“In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men* from the East came to Jerusalem, 2asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising,* and have come to pay him homage.’ 3When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; 4and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah* was to be born. 5They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet:
6“And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;
for from you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd* my people Israel.” ’
7 Then Herod secretly called for the wise men* and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. 8Then he sent them
to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also
go and pay him homage.’ 9When they had heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen
at its rising,* until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10When they saw that the star had stopped,* they were
overwhelmed with joy. 11On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage.
Then, opening their treasure-chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12And having been warned in a dream
not to return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.”
While of course, it took more than 30 years, Herod did eventually capture and crucify Our Lord Jesus, but that is an account for another time, when we take a look at the festival of Easter.
How about being able to say “Merry Christmas” in a few different languages? How many can you learn? Why not have fun testing your friends?
Albanian:Gezur Krislinjden
Arabic: Milad Majid
Argentine: Feliz Navidad (Spanish)
Bahasa Malaysia: Selamat Hari Natal
Bengali: Shuvo Naba Barsha
Bosnian: (BOSANSKI) Cestit Bozic i Sretna Nova godina
Brazilian: Feliz Natal
Catalan: Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!
Chile: Feliz Navidad (Spanish)
Chinese: (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun
Chinese: (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan
Czech: Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok
Danish: Glædelig Jul
Dutch: Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! or Zalig Kerstfeast
English: Merry Christmas
Eskimo: (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
Farsi: Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad
French: Joyeux Noel
German: Fröhliche Weihnachten!
Hawaiian: Mele Kalikimaka
Hebrew: Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova
Hindi: Shub Naya Baras (good New Year not Merry Christmas)
Iraqi: Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah
Italian: Buone Feste Natalizie
Japanese: Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto
Korean: Sung Tan Chuk Ha
Maori: Meri Kirihimete
Pennsylvania German: En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!
Peru: Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo
Polish: Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie
Russian: Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom
Singhalese: Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Thai: Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan Christmas
Turkish: Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun
Vietnamese: Chuc Mung Giang Sinh
Did you know that some countries celebrate their Christmas on a different date or even on several dates?
Christmas in The Netherlands (Holland)
For example, in The Netherlands, the Dutch eagerly await December 5th for it is on this day that they celebrate
the coming of Sinterklaas Avond or St. Nicholas eve, whose legends of generosity and kindness are well known.
But Dutch children are really lucky, because on December 6th they celebrate with family activities, after which
everyone settles down to prepare for Christmas Day on December 25th and Three Kings Day on January 6th.
Christmas in Russia
In the traditional Russian Christmas, special prayers are said and people fast, sometimes for 39 days, until
January 6th, which is their Christmas Eve, when the first evening star in appears in the sky. Then begins a
twelve course supper in honor of each of the twelve apostles - fish, beet soup or Borsch, cabbage stuffed with
millet, cooked dried fruit and much more.
Hay is spread on the floors and tables to encourage horse feed to grow in the coming year and people make
clucking noises to encourage their hens to lay eggs.
On Christmas Day, January 7th, hymns and carols are sung. People gather in churches which have been decorated
with the usual Christmas trees or Yelka, flowers and colored lights. Christmas dinner includes a variety of
different meats - goose and suckling pig are favorites.
Babushka is a traditional Christmas figure who distributes presents to children. Her name means grandmother and
the legend is told that she declined to go with the wise men to see Jesus because of the cold weather. However,
she regretted not going and set off to try and catch up, filling her basket with presents. She never found Jesus,
and that is why she visits each house, leaving toys for good children.
Christmas in Turkey
The tradition of Santa Claus is named after St Nicholas, who lived in the Turkish village of Demre,
in the 4th Century,
when he was Bishop of Myra, on Turkey’s southern shores. St Nicholas’s Day (which you could say is Santa Claus’s Day too)
is celebrated on December 6th.
Christmas in Malaysia
Malaysia is a mostly Muslim country in South East Asia, but around 10% of the population is Christian and they are freely allowed to celebrate Christmas.
It is even a public holiday for everyone, including Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Taoists. A look around the shopping malls and
department stores and even peoples’ offices and homes, and you can see exactly the same sort of Christmas decorations that
you’ll see in any western country. In the shopping malls, you’ll also hear Christmas Carols being played, often from early November onwards!
On nice thing about Christmas in Malaysia is what they call Open House. At this time Christians open their houses to their
neighbours and friends of any religion, and invite them to come in and enjoy special Christmas food (including turkey for some)
and all sorts of drinks. It’s a wonderful time, and of course enjoyed by all, who will also all look forward to the next festival
being celebrated, which might be for Eid Al Fitri (end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan),
Chinese New Year or Deepavali (Diwali) the Hindu festival of lights.
Article contributed by Michael Davies
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