Those who carefully listen to Jesus words (such as "let the one who has ears listen", Matt 13:9), who are his genuine disciples "will know the truth" and be "set....free" from religious error.(John 8:31, 32) This includes Christmas as the birthday of Jesus. Though many in the churches look at celebrating birthdays as okay, how does God look upon them ?
At Ecclesiastes 7, it says: "A good name is better than good oil, and the day of death is better than the day of birth".(Ecc. 7:1) Why is the "day of death....better than the day of birth" ? Because at birth, no one has made "a good name" with God, but at death, a person can be shown as having made a good name or reputation with our Maker, Jehovah God.
Nowhere in the Bible is any of God's loyal people seen observing theirs or others birthdays, but there are two accounts of birthdays being observed by those who do not worship God, that of Pharaoh at Genesis 40 and that of Herod Antipas at Matthew 14. On both occasions, someone was murdered.
Celebrating a person's birthday puts that one in the limelight, the center of attention. Jesus said that "when making gifts of mercy (not because of it being a person's birthday but rather just wanting to), do not blow a trumpet ahead of you.....But you, when making gifts of mercy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing". Gifts should be given quietly, with "your gifts of mercy.....in secret" so that "your Father who looks on in secret will repay you".(Matt 6:2-4)
At birth as a perfect child, had Jesus made "a good name" with God ? No. It is possible that he could have failed the test of his loyalty as the Messiah, but at death, it could be shown that he was loyal without reservation. Jesus told loyal ones in Smyrna that "the Devil will keep on throwing some of you into prison.....Prove yourself faithful even to death, and I will give you the crown of life".(Rev 2:10) Hence, in order to receive the "crown of life", "the day of death is far better than the day of birth" for those wanting to please Jehovah God.(see Matt 24:13)
So where did Jesus "birthday" called Christmas come from ? The date surrounding Christmas was an absorption from pagan Roman observances, such as December 17-24 that was celebrated by the ancient Romans as the festival of Saturnalia, the Roman god of agriculture. It was marked by the giving of gifts such as waxen fruit and candles, schools and courts had a holiday, all business stopped, war operations were brought to a halt and in which slaves switched places with their masters.
December 25 was observed by the pagan Romans as the birthday of Mithra, Persian god of light. Regarding the date for Christmas celebrations, the Enciclopedia de la Religión Católica (Encyclopedia of the Catholic Religion) frankly states: “The reason that the Roman Church decided to assign this date to the festival seems to be its tendency to replace pagan festivals with Christian ones. . . . We know that in Rome at that time, the pagans consecrated December 25 as the celebration of natalis invicti, the birth of the ‘invincible sun' " or Mithra. This celebration went from ' the birth the invincible sun' to "the birth of the invincible son" by the Roman Catholic church. What a difference one letter can make.
Microsoft Encarta 2005 Reference Library says that "many Romans.....celebrated the lengthening of daylight following the winter solstice by participating in rituals to glorify Mithra, the ancient Persian god of light". With just a few changes, the Roman Catholic church was able to slyly incorporate the two pagan Roman festivals of Saturnalia and Mithra without so much as raising an eyebrow.
The apostle Paul was inspired to write, quoting from Isaiah 52:11: "What fellowship do righteousness and lawlessness have ? Or what sharing does light (Bible truth) have with darkness (pagan doctrines and practices) ? " ' Therefore get out from among them (pagan practices and teachings along with the people who promote them), and separate yourselves,' says Jehovah, ' and quit touching the unclean thing' ", " 'and I will take you in' ".(2 Cor 6:14, 17)
Thus, no true Christian celebrates the birthday of anyone including Jesus, but they do celebrate the day of Jesus death as he commanded his disciples at Luke 22:19, 20 and in which the apostle Paul reiterated at 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.
Jesus gave the command to observe the memorial of his death that was pictured by the Jewish Passover whereby the blood of the sacrificial sheep was splashed upon both doorposts and upper part of the doorway of the Israelites homes that saved the firstborn from being struck down by the death angel.(Ex 12:3-13)
Hence, it is Jesus death and subsequent shed blood that saves and not his birthday, by exercising faith in that perfect blood as covering our sins.(see Heb 9:12-15) By his shed blood, he made the Mosaic Law covenant obsolete and instituted the New Covenant.(Heb 8:13) This was not possible at his birth.(see Matt 20:28)
