The Christmas Story
A GINA feature, December 17, 2004
By Sandhya Matturah
Since about 400 AD, Christians have celebrated the birth of Jesus. 'Christ' means 'Messiah' or 'Anointed One' - the title given to Jesus - and 'Mass' was a religious festival.
In the West today, the real meaning of Christmas is often forgotten. Children are taught to believe in Father Christmas rather than in Jesus. Christmas Day is a time for eating, drinking and celebrating with family and friends.
But the real Christmas story is found in the Christian Bible. It is told in Matthew and Luke, chapters 1 and 2. One would think that the story of the birth of Jesus, and the way that the West celebrates Christmas today are not connected.
These chapters tell how Jesus was born as a baby to Mary. This was no ordinary birth! It was an immaculate conception. Mary was not married, she was a virgin, and an angel had told her she would bear a special baby. Her husband-to-be, Joseph, did not believe her at first. Then an angel told him in a dream that it was true!
Mary and Joseph traveled from their home in Nazareth to Bethlehem (near Jerusalem), to register their names with the ruling Roman Government.
Arrival in Bethlehem brought worry and upset: since there was no room for them. There was only a manger in a stable - the animal house for travellers' donkeys and horses.
Jesus was born that night, and as they had no bed for him, they used an animal trough filled with hay the animals ate.
Christians believe that it was exactly God's plan that things happened this way. They say that it shows that Jesus came as a humble, poor person and not as a strong, rich king. They also claim that the birth of Jesus was told many years before in the books of the prophets, such as Isaiah.
Five hundred years before, the prophet Micah had said, "But you Bethlehem, though you are small, out of you will come for me, one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
The prophet Isaiah had written, "A child is born to us! A son is given to us! And he will be our ruler.
He will be called, "Wonderful Counsellor," "Mighty God," "Eternal Father," "Prince of Peace." His royal power will continue to grow; his kingdom will always be at peace....
He will rule as King David's successor, basing his power on right and justice, from now until the end of time."
These are only two of many prophetic words that told of the birth and life of Jesus, written hundreds of years before His birth.
At that time, shepherds were seen by other people as low and of no value. Yet it was to these shepherds that the birth of Jesus was first announced in an amazing dramatic way: "
That night there were some shepherds looking after sheep in the fields nearby. Suddenly they saw a great light. It was an angel, who said, 'Don't be afraid I have good news for you, and for all people.”
‘Someone great has been born today. He is Christ, the great King you have been waiting for’.
‘He will save you from all that is wrong and evil’.
After Jesus was born, Wise Men came to look for Him, from an area which is now in either Iran or Saudi Arabia. Although they are often called the "Three Kings", the Bible does not say how many there were, or that they were kings. Three is only a guess because they brought with them three gifts.
Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh.
In Guyana, Christians and persons of other religions celebrate Christmas from December 25 to January 6.
It is traditional that the celebration starts on Christmas Eve when many persons would be seen at the mid-night mass or perhaps doing their last minute shopping.
Many homes are cleaned, decorated with lights and festive decoration, special meals prepared such as pepper-pot, garlic pork, black cake and ginger beer.
Guyanese of all religions usually spend this special day with their family and friends.
On Christmas Day in Guyana, many families and friends spend a quiet day going to the Christmas Day service, exchanging gifts and sharing lunch together or just resting the entire day.
The day following Christmas Day is called 'Boxing Day'. This celebration comes from the custom which started in the middle ages around 800 years ago: churches would open their collection boxes in which people had placed gifts of money and distribute the contents to poor people in the neighbourhood.
The tradition continues today when small gifts are often given to delivery workers such as postal staff, and garbage disposal workers, and families in need.
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