Preparing for Christmas

The Star of Bethlehem was a supernatural phenomenon, and it is of no use in dating the birth of Christ.

The death of Herod the Great in 4 Before the Christian Era is very valuable, along with the time frame of his murdering the male children in the area around Bethlehem before his death. That means that the Lord Jesus was born five or six years Before the Christian Era.

No one brought Jesus gifts the night he was born.

The Wise Men made preparations and set out for Jerusalem shortly after they observed the Star of Bethlehem. By the time they worshipped the Lord Jesus and gave him gifts, his family was back in Nazareth and it was probably five years Before the Christian Era.

Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra (270-343 Christian Era). He was famous for giving gifts to the poor and for slapping Arius, a heretic who denied that the Lord Jesus is God, at the time of the Council of Nicaea.

We need to follow the example of Martha's sister Mary (Luke 10:38-42), and focus on sitting at the feet of the Lord Jesus, instead of getting in a frenzy of debt and business at Christmas.