Is Jesus the reason for the season? Many declare it so.
More accurately however, the Pope (and Catholicism) is the reason for the Christmas season. Christ's Mass -- the name gives it away.
Around 350 A.D. Pope Julius I declared December 25 as the official date of the birth of Jesus, around the same time as the festival of Saturnalia; the actual date of Jesus' birth is unknown. Some have speculated that part of the reason why he chose this date may have been because he was trying to create a Christian alternative to Saturnalia. Another reason for the decision may have been because, in 274 A.D., the Roman emperor Aurelian had declared 25 December the birthdate of Sol Invictus and Julius I may have thought that he could attract more converts to Christianity by allowing them to continue to celebrate on the same day...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Julius_I
Much has been written about the pagan origins and syncretic nature of Christmas, and rightly so. It should come as no surprise. The Roman Catholic Church is synonymous with mixture and syncretism. And Christ's Mass, along with other Catholic holidays are man-made traditions that mix holy things with the profane. The philosophy is that if you widen the gate, you attract more converts. It's the idea that if you can't beat them, you join them.
Revivalist, Charles Finney warned against "holy days in the Romish Church" that are a yoke of bondage upon men's conscience. He was concerned that many Protestants felt a duty to observe Christmas, and even "Methodist brethren were becoming entangled" to satisfy both custom and conscience. (Holiness of Christians in the Present Life - No 13, Lecture on 16 August, 1843). Binding men's conscience to man-made traditions is a serious error and one that Jesus often challenged.
Jesus answered and said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: 'This people honours Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.'" Mark 7:6-7
When Christians declare that "Jesus is the reason for the season", they project a spiritual authority on Christmas that is not there. The apostles and the early church knew nothing of Christmas. There is no apostolic mandate for its observance, whatsoever. This means that Christians have complete freedom to opt out of Christmas and all its trappings, and should seriously consider doing so given that it is a Catholic invention. Mixture and syncretism and spiritual adultery is the Catholic way and it renders the church powerless. The church is never more powerless than when she is participating in and distracted by the Catholic holy days, awash with pagan symbolism and idolatry. There is no power in spiritual adultery. The life of Samson is a powerful prophetic warning of this truth.
Watchman Nee labelled Christmas an unclean bird that "flew from the Roman Catholic Church into the Protestant church." (King and the Kingdom of Heaven, 1978, pg. 170). Charles Spurgeon denounced Christmas as a "superstitious regard for times and seasons." He considered it absurd that Christians would participate "in the spirit of the world, with a Jack Frost clown, a deceptively worldly Santa Claus, and a mixed program of sacred truth with fun, deception and fiction." (Sermon 1026 delivered at Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, 24 December, 1871). Many godly men and women have resisted the spirit of Christmas, taking heed of its polluted source and the potential it has to enslave the people of God. It is not a holy day; there is no reason to observe it. There is every reason to opt out and there is complete freedom to do so.
Like most people, my soul was entwined with Christmas from childhood. I knew no different and there was much about Christmas that my soul enjoyed. And yet as an adult disciple of Jesus, my spirit became increasingly unsettled by the holy/profane mixture that has flourished under the covering of Pope Julius I's Christ's Mass. In 2012, Fiona and I came to the liberating realisation that we were under no compulsion to participate. What a discovery! We could simply opt out of Christmas altogether. That decision has brought so much peace to our family at this time of year. Most of my children have grown up not participating in Christmas. That is so sweet to meditate on. Like the Hebrew children born in the wilderness, they have been born into freedom in regard to Roman Catholic Holy Days of Obligation. They will enter the Promised Land, along with everyone who allows the grace and love of God to remove Egypt entirely from their heart.
Dear reader, you are free from the spirit of Christmas. You are free to opt out, if you want. Hallelujah!
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1
