Curiosity about the Birth of Jesus and Mary's life in particular

[Lik3]

I have been wondering about this, but what role does Mary actually play as far as Christmas goes? Hear me out, Christmas has become more or less too secular and even though it is about the Birth of Christ, and even though Mary was the young woman who was highly favored and impregnated by the Lord, has the subject of Mary and her life really been lost when it comes to how many of us here is the US celebrate Christmas, even for Christians?

Even though Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ, has anyone else wondered about Mary and her life before and after the impregnation and the birth of Jesus? What roles did mothers actually play as far as the lives of their children and Mary of Jesus?

Also, shouldn't we be more curious about how we celebrate Christmas as far as not just the Birth of Jesus Christ, but also about studying the Word of God? I believe that the lives of Mary, Jesus Christ, and even the life of Joseph play as far as how we as believers in Christ celebrate Christmas?

I celebrate Christmas also through reading and studying God's Word, even in the Old Testament which predicts Jesus' Birth. I believe that all of the people who were there to celebrate Jesus' birth are only mentioned such as Joseph, the so-called "Wise Men", and the Shepherds are to be studied as well since much of the Word of God concerns prophecy.

I believe that as the mother of the Lord, we as believers, especially as Protestants should learn about as much about all of these people as much as possible. I have been curious about that lately. What are your thoughts on this and also how do you celebrate Christmas, even when is comes to this very subject?

 

[Devin P]

I have been wondering about this, but what role does Mary actually play as far as Christmas goes? Hear me out, Christmas has become more or less too secular and even though it is about the Birth of Christ, and even though Mary was the young woman who was highly favored and impregnated by the Lord, has the subject of Mary and her life really been lost when it comes to how many of us here is the US celebrate Christmas, even for Christians?

Even though Christmas is about the birth of Jesus Christ, has anyone else wondered about Mary and her life before and after the impregnation and the birth of Jesus? What roles did mothers actually play as far as the life of Jesus?

Also, shouldn't we be more curious about how we celebrate Christmas as far as not just the Birth of Jesus Christ, but also about studying the Word of God? I believe that the lives of Mary, Jesus Christ, and even the life of Joseph play as far as how we as believers in Christ celebrate Christmas?

I celebrate Christmas also through reading and studying God's Word, even in the Old Testament which predicts Jesus' Birth. I believe that all of the people who were there to celebrate Jesus' birth are only mentioned such as Joseph, the so-called "Wise Men", and the Shepherds are to be studied as well since much of the Word of God concerns prophecy.

I believe that as the mother of the Lord, we as believers, especially as Protestants should learn about as much about all of these people as much as possible. I have been curious about that lately. What are your thoughts on this and also how do you celebrate Christmas, even when is comes to this very subject?

Well, I don't really think Mary plays any role really.

Historically, all societies that were pagan, worshipped the sun. Some called the sun god mithra, tammuz, ba'al, osiris, etc. Many names, and many, many things in common. In fact, they all had (among many other things) the same exact birthday. You see, each day, the sun moves a bit, but in late december the sun is the furthest away, and it stays put for 3 days actually. All of the old cultures greek, roman, egyptian, incan, mayan, etc, all noticed this. On december 25th, it's the day that it starts to come back. Many considered this the "birth of the sun".

My point is, when Catholicism was taking off, there were so many pagans that worshipped the sun, and celebrated a festival called the feast of saturnalia, that the catholic church of the time decided to make it easier for them to convert to christianity by merging this feast, with our Lord. So, they made the birth of the sun god, the birth of Jesus. When, in fact, because John was 6 months older than Jesus, we know for a fact that Jesus was born in the fall, and not in the winter.

In all honesty, Jesus doesn't really even have much to do with the 25th, it's just something the catholic church used to bring more pagans into the worship of Jesus. Everything from santa clause, the evergreen tree, wreathes, the mistletoe, the phrase "ho ho ho", gifting presents, the yule log, the 12 days, the hat that santa wears, all of it, goes back to sun worship. We just claim it in Jesus's name.

In fact, christmas was illegal in the USA up until the 18-1900's. Because if you look into how the festival was observed, it was horrible. I digress though. Many christians have stopped celebrating christmas, and instead have started celebrating the holy days that the Messiah is prophesied about through. There are 7 holy days the bible gives us, and each of them prophesy of Jesus. The first 4 of them, the spring feasts, He fulfilled in His first coming, and the last 3, are to be fulfilled when He returns.

 

[PloverWing]

In the Anglican tradition, Christmas is celebrated as the Feast of the Incarnation, and the Incarnation is a central aspect of Anglican spirituality. The season of Christmas is preceded by Advent (a season of preparation) and followed by Epiphany (a season in which we look at the ways that Jesus' divinity was manifest). Mary appears in several of the Scripture readings and hymns for these three seasons: in the nativity stories, in her visit with Elizabeth, in the temple with Simeon and Anna, in the temple again as Jesus stays behind to talk with the scholars, and in the wedding at Cana.

It was in Mary's body that the Incarnation began to take place, and in this role she shows up in a number of carols and hymns. (One of my favorites is: "Raise, raise the song on high: The Virgin sings her lullaby. Joy, joy, for Christ is born, the babe, the son of Mary.") She's also named in the Nicene Creed, which we recite every Sunday: "He was ... born of the Virgin Mary".

We don't know much about Mary and Joseph as people, unfortunately; the gospels don't tell us much about their personalities and life stories. But one thing I've thought about is that Jesus uses parental metaphors in several places when he talks about God; he talks about how much parents love their children, and then says that God loves us even more than that. I'm guessing that Mary and Joseph must have been pretty good human parents, caring and loving and wise, for Jesus to have chosen parental love as his image for God's love.

 

[Lik3]

I thank you both for your responses. Anyone else?