December 25: The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Collect of the Day

Isaiah 9:2-7 or Isaiah 52:7–10 or Isaiah 62:6–12 or Isaiah 9:2–7
Psalm 96 or Psalm 98 or Psalm 97
Titus 2:11-14 or Titus 3:4–7 or Hebrews 1:1–12 or Titus 2:11–14
Luke 2:1-14,(15-20) or Luke 2:(1–14)15–20 or Hebrews 1:1–14 or Luke 2:1–14(15–20)

That Jesus was born is a fact both of history and revelation. The precise date of his birth, however, is not recorded in the Gospels, which are, after all, not biographies, and show little concern for those biographical details in which more modern Christians are interested. Such interest began to become prominent in the fourth century, together with the development of liturgical observances concerning the events of biblical history.

Scholars have offered various theories about how December 25th came to be selected as the date for the liturgical commemoration of the Nativity in the Western Church. An older scholarly view suggests that the date, coming as it doesat the winter solstice, was already a sacred one, being observed by Roman pagans as the festival of the birth of the Unconquerable Sun (dies natalis Solis Invicti). This correspondence is noted by some early Christian writers themselves, who see it as a fitting parallel, but the pagan celebration was only established in the late third century, and the Christian observance of December 25th seems to have even earlier antecedents.

An alternative explanation calculates the date of Christmas based on the date of Passover and Easter. Many early Christian theologians, particularly in North Africa, calculated that the Crucifixion had taken place on the 14th of Nisan, which worked out to be March 25th on the Roman calendar. This date also became celebrated as the Feast of the Annunciation because of a widespread pious belief that Jesus died on the same date that he was conceived, showing how deeply interconnected all of the events of salvation history were. December 25th, then, becomes the date of Christ’s birth, because it is exactly nine months after the date of his conception. This method of calculating also explains the traditional dating in the Eastern church, which historically fixed the Nativity on January 6th rather than December 25th. The Eastern church calculated the date of both Annunciation and Crucifixion using not the 14th of Nisan, but rather the 14th of Artemisios, the first spring month on the Greek calendar. This translates to April 6th on the Roman calendar, which is nine months before January 6th.

The full title of the feast dates from the 1662 edition of the Book of Common Prayer. Prior to that revision, the day was known only as “Christmas Day.” The word “Christmas,” which can be traced to the twelfth century, is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass.”

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

Psalm

¹Sing to the Lord a new song; *sing to the Lord, all the whole earth.

²Sing to the Lord and bless his Name; *proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.

³Declare his glory among the nations *and his wonders among all peoples.

⁴For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised; *he is more to be feared than all gods.

⁵As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols; *but it is the Lord who made the heavens.

⁶Oh, the majesty and magnificence of his presence! *Oh, the power and the splendor of his sanctuary!

⁷Ascribe to the Lord, you families of the peoples; *ascribe to the Lord honor and power.

⁸Ascribe to the Lord the honor due his Name; *bring offerings and come into his courts.

⁹Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; *let the whole earth tremble before him.

¹⁰Tell it out among the nations: “The Lord is King! *he has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”

¹¹Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea thunder and all that is in it; *let the field be joyful and all that is therein.

¹²Then shall all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the Lord when he comes, *when he comes to judge the earth.

¹³He will judge the world with righteousness *and the peoples with his truth.

Psalm

¹Sing to the Lord a new song, *for he has done marvelous things.

²With his right hand and his holy arm *has he won for himself the victory.

³The Lord has made known his victory; *his righteousness has he openly shown in the sight of the nations.

⁴He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel, *and all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.

⁵Shout with joy to the Lord, all you lands; *lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.

⁶Sing to the Lord with the harp, *with the harp and the voice of song.

⁷With trumpets and the sound of the horn *shout with joy before the King, the Lord.

⁸Let the sea make a noise and all that is in it, *the lands and those who dwell therein.

⁹Let the rivers clap their hands, *and let the hills ring out with joy before the Lord, when he comes to judge the earth.

¹⁰In righteousness shall he judge the world *and the peoples with equity.

Psalm

¹The Lord is King; let the earth rejoice; *let the multitude of the isles be glad.

²Clouds and darkness are round about him, *righteousness and justice are the foundations of his throne.

³A fire goes before him *and burns up his enemies on every side.

⁴His lightnings light up the world; *the earth sees it and is afraid.

⁵The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the Lord, *at the presence of the Lord of the whole earth.

⁶The heavens declare his righteousness, *and all the peoples see his glory.

⁷Confounded be all who worship carved images and delight in false gods! *Bow down before him, all you gods.

⁸Zion hears and is glad, and the cities of Judah rejoice, *because of your judgments, O Lord.

⁹For you are the Lord, most high over all the earth; *you are exalted far above all gods.

¹⁰The Lord loves those who hate evil; *he preserves the lives of his saints and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.

¹¹Light has sprung up for the righteous, *and joyful gladness for those who are truehearted.

¹²Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous, *and give thanks to his holy Name.

Epistle

Gospel

¹In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. ²This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³All went to their own towns to be registered. ⁴Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. ⁵He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. ⁶While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. ⁷And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. ⁸In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: ¹¹to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹²This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.” ¹³And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, ¹⁴“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” ¹⁵When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. ¹⁷When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; ¹⁸and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.