What is Christmas? Maybe a better question is, “Who doesn’t know what Christmas is?” After all, people celebrate Christmas every year on December 25 all over the world. Most people are aware that Christmas has religious roots, and many are also familiar with its association with the birth of Jesus. It’s the most anticipated holiday in our Western cultures, with people preparing for weeks in advance of the actual holiday: shopping, crafting, decorating, and baking. Children spend those weeks trying to guess what they’ll unwrap under the Christmas tree. So, if we know all that, why are we asking, “What is Christmas?”

Well, put simply, it’s because people also ask the question, “What is the true meaning of Christmas?” That question is the theme of many Christmas movies and television specials. They ask, “What is Christmas about?” and they usually present some kind of answer. Your typical Hallmark Christmas movie portrays the holidays as a time for escaping the big city, returning home, reconnecting with family, and discovering unexpected romance. The modern animated classic Klaus (2019) tells us that Christmas is a time when one simple act of kindness can change hearts and heal communities. Films like A Christmas Story (1983) and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) tap into the nostalgia of Christmases past, the complexities of family dynamics, and the distraction of commercialism. None of these examples is wrong, per se; each describes an aspect of Christmas that people actually experience (even the romance!). But these aspects of Christmas fail to define Christmas; they fall so short of the true meaning of Christmas that movies, shows, and songs keep on asking the same question. Does Christmas have a deeper meaning that has inspired these cultural themes?

Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ

What is Christmas all about? Perhaps no one in modern times has explained the true meaning of Christmas better than Linus in A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965). After being mocked by his friends for choosing a pitiful little Christmas tree, Charlie Brown cries out in exasperation, “Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?"

“Sure, Charlie Brown,” replies Linus, “I can tell you what Christmas is all about.” What happens next brings a tear to my eye every time I watch it, and it perfectly captures the true meaning of Christmas.

Dragging his little blue blanket, Linus takes center stage, and with a calm, “Lights, please,” he begins to recite Luke 2:8-14 in the King James Version:

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Then he says, “That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown,” and pops his thumb into his mouth.

Christmas is the Christian celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, the long-promised Messiah, the Son of God who would save his people from their sins (Matthew 1:20-21).

The Old Testament foretold the birth of the Savior

When the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary, his news shocked her: “You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:31-33). Mary, a descendant of King David, most likely knew that the Hebrew scriptures foretold the coming of a promised Messiah, a Savior who would lead the people back to God and be their King forever:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever (Isaiah 9:6-7).

Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem, the birthplace of King David, would have further confirmed what the two of them most certainly knew. For this too had been foretold in the scriptures. “But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel” (Matthew 2:6, referencing Micah 5:2, 4). When those shepherds Linus talked about found the baby lying in a manger, it was a sign to them that this was indeed their Messiah (Luke 2:12). The manger also foreshadowed that Christ would humble himself and die on a cross for the sins of his people (Isaiah 53:5, Philippians 2:6-8).

The sacred and secular Christmas

It’s hard to talk about Christmas without confronting and perhaps reconciling our modes of celebration. Christmas is both a sacred and a secular holiday. It’s celebrated officially and unofficially all over the world. This includes in some unlikely places, for example, Japan, where less than one percent of the population is Christian (families traditionally eat Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas Day in Japan). In Western societies, where Christianity remains the predominant religion despite fewer and fewer people identifying as Christian, Christmas has become increasingly secular and commercial (a trend A Charlie Brown Christmas noted 60 years ago). This has caused considerable consternation among Christians in Western societies, where many find that they want to focus more on the sacred, yet they truly enjoy the shopping, decorating, baking, visiting, feasting, gift-giving, and gift-receiving of the secular celebration.

Advent and Christmas have been part of the traditional liturgical calendar of the Christian faith for centuries. Yet the Bible neither commands Christ’s followers to celebrate Jesus’ birth nor prohibits us from doing so. How we celebrate Christmas has evolved dramatically over the centuries and has incorporated both sacred and secular elements for most of that history. Most of the sacred aspects of Christmas have been shaped within the major branches of Christianity, including Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Protestantism, and all the denominational variations within each. Almost universally, these sacred celebrations—Christmas Eve and midnight services, candlelight vigils, extra giving, and community service—confess our need for a Savior and express the “good tidings of great joy” at his coming. Although different, all these expressions speak to who Jesus is and what he has done. This tells me there is no singular “right way” to celebrate Christmas from a sacred perspective…and that’s also true for the secular. In that sense, both sacred and secular Christmas celebrations offer considerable freedom of expression.

Free in Christ, we are free to enjoy the shopping, decorating, baking, visiting, feasting, gift-giving, and gift-receiving of the holidays in ways that honor God. Whatever way we celebrate ought to express our joy. Getting stressed out or breaking our budgets are warning signs that our celebrations are costing us our joy, and therefore, are less than honoring to God. Without being heavy-handed or motivated by guilt, such circumstances are great times for us to refocus our celebration on the true meaning of Christmas: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11 KJV).

So, what is Christmas? It’s a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, which has inspired all the themes of giving, togetherness, and goodwill that Christmas is known for, both within and outside the body of Christ, the world over. Christmas has become increasingly secularized over the course of centuries. Many find this troubling. However, we can find some encouragement in the fact that so many people celebrate Christmas around the world in all the ways they do. At some point, they too may ask, “What is Christmas all about?” Maybe you or I will be there to play the part of Linus and answer, “I can tell you what Christmas is all about.”