Eagle’s Eye – December 2009

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Christmas, also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25th that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

The day marks the beginning of the large season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the Anno Domini system of dating, is thought to have occurred between 7 and 2 BC.

Christmas has always been a wonderful time for the Eagle family. We would buy our children an Advent Calendar (Advent starts on the 4th Sunday before Christmas). Each day, they would take turns and remove a date on the calendar marking our progression toward December 25th. About two weeks before Christmas, we would go to a “U-Cut” tree lot and the family would pick out a “perfect tree” for me to cut. We would triumphantly return home with our “perfect tree”. My wife and children would ceremoniously decorate and light our green symbol of perfection.

Soon wrapped presents would begin to appear under the tree, and the children would peek to see who’s name appeared on them. We would spend an entire day and involve all of our family in helping us assemble Kiwanis food baskets for needy people in our community. On several occasions we would, with the help of the Salvation Army, adopt a family for Christmas. We would obtain for them a tree, Christmas dinner, and presents.

Christmas Eve was usually celebrated with my wife’s family, followed by our Church’s Christmas Eve, Candlelight service. Christmas Day was spent with my side of our family. We would have lots of feasting, lots of treats and an abundance of presents.

On Christmas Day, everyone (including the adults in the family) would have a filled stocking. Our stockings would, in addition to toys and treats, have necessities, like toothpaste, nail clippers, body lotion, stockings, and other small items.

A Nativity set would sit by the tree. The manger would always be empty until Christmas day. On that day, we would be graced with the Baby Jesus.

Epiphany falls on January 6th.Tradition has this as the day that the Wise Men (Magi) found Jesus and presented him with gifts of Gold, French perfume, and valuable spices (My wife has ventured the theory that Joseph and Mary used the sale of these gifts to finance their escape to Egypt). Some religious traditions have Epiphany as the day that presents are given to children. We liked that idea as well and my wife would always hold back some Christmas presents especially for that day. We would have an Epiphany hunt. As the wise men had to hunt for the Christ Child, our children would have to hunt for their Epiphany gifts. They would all be given bible verses to read aloud and a hint where to look. The hints would take them to a place where there would be another hint and a bible verse for them to read. This would go on until their presents were found.

On Epiphany, our Nativity set was replaced with a house. Magi statues replaced the shepherds.

Many people have theorized that Jesus was born in a cave. According to popular tradition, the birth took place in a stable, surrounded by farm animals, though neither the stable nor the animals are mentioned in Biblical accounts. A manger is mentioned in Luke 2:7 where it states “She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the Inn.”

My wife (who is a preacher’s kid) carefully explained to all of us that the manger that Jesus was born in was not in a cave or barn, but in a house. In ancient times mangers were part of a home. People lived in the upper rooms, and animals would be brought in at night to the lower level of the home.

According to “Associates for Biblical Research”, the text of Luke 2 notes there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the “inn.” Unfortunately, the Greek term translated inn (kataluma) had multiple meanings, among them inn or caravansary. Used only one other time in the New Testament Luke 22:11 and the parallel passage, Mark 14:14), it was the place where Jesus observed the Last Supper with His disciples. Here, Dr. Luke gave additional information about the kataluma. He said it was a furnished large upper story room within a private Jerusalem house. The kataluma of the last night of Jesus’ earthly ministry was the “upper room.”

We suggest the kataluma of Jesus’ first night was a similar room in Bethlehem. Mary and Joseph came into town with Mary ready to deliver. Arriving at Joseph’s ancestral home, they found it already full of other family members who had arrived earlier. While the exact reason space was not made for a pregnant woman is unknown, it probably indicates the house was full of elder members of Joseph’s family, who had priority.

Also according to “Associates for Biblical Research”, excavations in Israel have uncovered numerous installations within domestic structures that probably represent ancient mangers…Consequently, Mary and Joseph did not find space in the living quarters of the ancestral family home. Instead, they stayed downstairs in the domestic stable, still within the ancestral home, where a manger or two was located. Here the Shepherds, and perhaps even the wise men visited them some time later.

Our children are now grown but Christmas is still a wonderful time for our family. We all have aged, but all of our family Christmas rituals still remain. We give gifts, we hang stockings, we eat, we visit, we celebrate, and we share our love for each other. Epiphany time still draws our family, and we still share Bible stories and search for the gifts that the Magi have left us.

God bless you all. The Eagle family wishes you a very blessed Christmas, and a wonderful holiday season.

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