Christmas has always mattered to me. The time with family. The traditions passed down. The intentional pause that draws our attention toward Christ. None of that is wrong. None of it needs to be discarded.
What matters is understanding what we are actually celebrating.
The Bible does not give us a specific date for Jesus’ birth, and it never tried to. Scripture tells us the story, the setting, the purpose, and the fulfillment. The absence of a date was intentional, because the focus was never meant to be a calendar day. It was meant to be the arrival of Christ.
Historically, December already held significance in the Roman world. Several festivals took place during that season, including celebrations centered on light, renewal, and the turning of the year. As Christianity spread under Roman influence, existing traditions were often repurposed rather than erased. The birth of Christ came to be associated with December in part because Jesus was understood as the Light coming into the world, and aligning His remembrance with a season already focused on light made the transition easier for new believers. This was not about altering who Jesus was, but about how His coming was introduced within an existing cultural framework.
The story of Jesus’ birth appears in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke in both the Western canon and the Ethiopian canon. The accounts are the same. The difference is not what is told, but how much context is preserved. The Ethiopian Bible, which is older and more expansive, retains surrounding historical and cultural details that the Western Bible mirrors the Ethiopian Bible but presents in a more condensed form.
Not a different Jesus.
Not a different message.
The same story, told more fully in the Ethiopian Bible.
Shepherds were in the fields at night, tending their flocks. Travel was active and ongoing. The environment described does not reflect winter conditions. These details are present in Scripture and preserved more clearly when read through the broader Ethiopian canon. The Western Bible retains the story, but in a more condensed form.
That difference does not weaken Scripture.
It strengthens our understanding of it.
Knowing the season of Jesus’ birth does not change who He is. It does not diminish Christmas. It does not strip meaning from tradition. It simply reminds us that December 25 is a chosen day of remembrance, not a documented birthday.
And that’s okay.
People should continue celebrating Christmas. Family matters. Traditions matter. Shared moments matter. None of that is wrong, and none of it dishonors Christ.
But Jesus was never meant to be honored only once a year.
Christmas gives us a collective moment to pause and remember His coming, but Jesus calls us to recognize Him, follow Him, and celebrate Him throughout the entire year. His life, His teachings, and His presence were never confined to a season.
Understanding that doesn’t take anything away from Christmas.
It puts Christmas in its proper place.
We are not celebrating a date.
We are celebrating the arrival of our Lord and Savior.
And that arrival is worthy of remembrance every single day.