From the Introduction:

“Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?”

That is what a despondent Charlie Brown asks at the beginning of one of the most famous scenes in holiday television history. You probably know what comes next: a spotlight illuminated recital of the nativity story from Luke 2:8-14 by Linus, who concludes his presentation with, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

A Charlie Brown Christmas was an instant hit when it was first broadcast in 1965 and has become a classic, mostly, I believe, because of Charles Schultz’s simple point: Christmas is about Jesus. Millions of us make watching that program part of our annual holiday ritual because we like to be reminded that Christmas is supposed to be more than shopping, bustle and stress. We agree (at least to some degree) that “Jesus is the reason for the season” and accept (at least nominally) that we should “Keep Christ in Christmas.” Charlie Brown helps us keep that perspective.

But what do these popular sayings mean exactly? Is there more to them than some mild anti-consumerism? That is what this little booklet is about.

I think most of us approach Christmas in basically the same way we do Presidents’ Day or Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day. These days are about celebrating the lives of great men, particularly everything that happened after they were born. We remember their heroic works, wise teaching and outstanding character. Certainly this is appropriate, and just as we should take time to think about presidents and civil rights leaders on their holidays, at Christmas we should focus on all that Jesus was, taught and did during his life.

However, I believe that when it comes to Christmas, we would do well to also examine the significance of what happened on Jesus actual birth day. Although many great things occurred after Jesus was born, the nativity itself was an amazing event. Something objective (and wonderful) happened that night in Bethlehem, and I think to fully understand Linus’ answer we need to explore just what that was.

We will do that primarily by discussing the story behind the Christmas story. Jesus was a Jew, and claimed to be the Jewish Messiah, or Savior. In order to understand Jesus, then, we must have some understanding of the Jewish Scriptures (what Christians now call the Old Testament) and the Jewish culture into which Jesus was born. When we view the Christmas story in that light, a whole new dimension of meaning is illuminated.
Along the way, I will point out the places where we fit into the story. The Old Testament is very symbolic, and is meant to teach us not just about the Jews, but also ourselves. As we see how Jesus fulfilled some of the Old Testament imagery, we will see what he did (and is doing) for us.

The Outline

This quick journey is broken into three sections.

To provide some context, I will start by briefly reviewing the story of the Children of Israel, paying special attention to exile to and escape from Egypt. We will discuss what this story tells us about the world and ourselves.

I will then talk about the Festival of Tabernacles and make the case that Jesus was actually born on the first day of this festival.

Part three is about the significance of this date. We will explore what Jesus birth date tells us about the meaning of his birth. My hope is that by the end of this tract you will be able to see how relevant the timing of Jesus’ birth is to us today.
 

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