12 Days of Christmas - The Real Story - Introduction

The real story of Christmas is one you probably have never heard.

Behind the bright lights and exquisitely wrapped gifts, there is a story. We have some vague idea about this story because we see the nativity scenes in many of our Christmas decorations. And sure, we know that it isn’t all about Santa Claus and his elves at the north pole. But what is the real story of Christmas?

Was there really a stable with cows and donkeys behind an inn in ancient Bethlehem? Was it this dirty and stinky place that the Messiah was born? Who were Mary and Joseph? How did these events unfold in actual history? Or, is it even possible to know what really happened so long ago?

With some careful consideration of recent archaeological work and research combined with a tedious examination of Scripture, we can come much closer to the real story of Christmas than the common or mainstream narrative at least. In fact, I think it’s important to let go of the traditional nativity narrative we were told and begin to learn what may have actually happened.

This is a time of year when a lot of what we do is connected with the holiday, and we can wander blindly through the season following the crowd of shoppers and stocking stuffers and bright and colorful lights… or maybe this year, we could take a moment to reflect on the meaning of Christmas.

When we celebrate the birth of Christ, we should know what it is that we are celebrating. This is such a significant event in history that we have pegged our calendars to this event, although there is ample debate on the exact timing. Give or take a few years, the birth of Christ happened at approximately 0AD. Yes, I know it wasn’t exactly at 0AD, but the intention was to make our calendars point to this moment.

The abbreviation “AD” comes from the Medieval Latin phrase “anno Domini nostri Jesu Christi”, which is to say “The year of our Lord Jesus Christ”. This phrase was shortened to “Anno Domini” or literally “year Lord”, which we abbreviate now as “AD”. There was once a complementary abbreviation “AC” which came from the Latin “ante Christum natum” or “before Christ was born”. Somehow in our etymology, this was changed directly to English where we have the term “Before Christ” abbreviated with “BC”.

So, the significance of this event cannot be understated. It was not the death of Christ which the orthodox scholars determined to be the moment which defined history, and it was not His resurrection. It was not the ascension of Christ into heaven, or the coming of the Holy Spirit on the believers on the day of pentecost that defines our years and our centuries and our millennia. It was the incarnation of God on earth that was to mark the dividing line between past and present.

In this series, starting December 13th, I will be walking through the real story of Christmas one “day” at a time. Taking 12 days in the lead-up to Christmas day to look at 12 different days surrounding the historical events of the birth of Christ. We will see these events like never before as we explore the settings, the culture, and the events that marked this most important historical moment.

I hope you will join me on this journey and read along as we travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, see the star of the King of the Jews, find the Baby in the manger, and follow these events in more vivid detail than ever before.