Matthew 15:1  Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of Jerusalem, saying,
2  Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.
3  But he answered and said unto them, Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?
4  For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death.
5  But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
6  And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
7  Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying,
8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
9  But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

I read a new spin to justify the observance of this time of year among Christians. The man admitted to the pagan origins of Christmas. He then justified the observance of the day by referring to the apostle Paul quoting from the pagans in Acts 17:28:

Acts 17:28  For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

What that has to do with the events that take place now, I do not know. We can see how deeply engrained traditions can become in our hearts and minds. It is difficult to cast off imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God. Every thought needs to be brought into obedience with Christ.
The Bible is very clear from Genesis 3:15 and on that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent (devil). and the devil would bruise the heel of the seed of the woman. That verse gives us the birth and crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Throughout the Old Testament, God continued to remind mankind that there was a Messiah coming. God taught Adam and Eve that the blood of an animal was needed to cover their sin. The nation of Israel was given the law which included detailed instructions for the sacrifice of animals and how to deal with the blood. The Passover was a picture of the sacrifice that Jesus Christ would one day make for the sins of mankind.

Hebrews 10:4  For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.

It was necessary for Jesus Christ to come to this earth as a man in order to be able to suffer and die on the cross of Calvary for our sins. His blood is required for any person to be forgiven and saved. The message of God’s salvation is separate from any paganism. It is a clear message that can in no way be confused with anything else. It is the Catholics, who hate God, who took from different aspects of their pagan religion to develop their “christmas”. I saw one professing Christian organization correctly separate the word into its two parts “Christ” and “mass”, and then they went on to talk of how we should celebrate “christmas”. A real head scratcher.
We were raised in the same culture as most others. My parents had a tree. We went to a “christmas” evening program and the children would “perform” different parts and sing carols. There was also a time of going around and carolling at different houses. As an adult we had that all as part of our traditions as well. As I studied the Scriptures I believe God was opening my eyes to different aspects of the traditions.
Then we went to a community concert event and the Catholic priest had been asked to give some comments at that event. He boasted of the Catholic origins of the season. That really bothered me. I determined to go home and prove him wrong. I was going to remind our church people of the true meaning of “christmas”. In my research I found out that the Catholic priest had been correct. The entire event was pagan, and then they crammed Christ into it.
I knew of the position of the J W’s and did not want to align with them and that caused me to hesitate to reject “christmas”. I did not want to be identified with that cult as I was seeking to be separated from the Catholic cult. I was reminded that true Christians are not in bondage to the world’s system. The J W’s reject the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. They have no power to keep me from obeying God.
Christians need to make much of Jesus Christ. God made much of the coming of Christ. He sent an angel to announce the birth to the shepherds. Then a host of angels joined in to sing praise to God for this miraculous birth. The shepherds left their sheep and hasted to go to the place where Joseph and Mary and Jesus were. God also placed a special star in the sky to get the attention of the wise men. They searched the records and they understood that star was a sign that the “king of the Jews” had been born. They travelled from the east and came to the house where Joseph and Mary and young Jesus were.
King Herod wanted to kill that young boy, but God said no. He saw him as a threat to his throne. Many young boys were killed at that time, but the angel told Joseph to take Mary and the child and go into Egypt for a time. Herod died and is in torment today and for all eternity. Jesus Christ grew to be a man who declared Himself to be the Messiah. He was rejected by the majority of His own people. He was hated to the point of being falsely arrested and tried in a kangaroo court and crucified. All this was according to God’s will. He was buried and after three days He rose again, victorious over sin and death. Forty days later He ascended back up to glory and is seated on the right hand of God now. He is the Mediator between God and man. He is the only Saviour.
For me, I do not want to give any glory to the Catholics or any other pagan group. I want to make sure the message of salvation is clearly given so that Catholics and all other pagans can come to know the true Saviour. That is a very important message.
I believe there are other true Christians who want the same thing. They have chosen to accept the pagan origins and they are trying hard to get people to believe in Jesus Christ. I believe we need to consider the words of Jesus in our text. Are we making the commandments of God of none effect by our traditions? Can we truly justify putting Jesus into the paganism that permeates this season? It is not that far back in history where true saints did not celebrate this season. Compromise changed that. There is the danger of growing weary in well doing.
I know each one must choose for themselves. Let us make sure we are exalting God’s Word and making our choices with that Word in Its rightful place.
Pastor Bartel