Israel Speaks
On December the 25th Western Christianity celebrates Christmas
the birth of our Messiah, Jesus.
Also the Christians in Israel celebrate the feast
each one according to his own tradition.
Most Messianic Jews, on the other hand, do not celebrate Christmas.
There are many opinions on the subject.
A part of the Messianic Jews do not oppose the feast, -
but do not see a reason to celebrate it either.
Others see it as a Pagan feast that Jews should not celebrate.
Ofer Amitai is a preacher in the Messianic congregation "El Roi"
from Jerusalem.
Unlike the Jews, most of the Christians living in Israel
celebrate Christmas.
Wayne Hilsden is the pastor of King of Kings congregation from Jerusalem.
Both those who celebrate Christmas and those who don't
agree that for most Christians the feast has lost its true meaning.
Around the same time that Christians celebrate Christmas
the Jews celebrate the feast of Chanukkah.
On Chanukkah Jews commemorate the purification of the Temple
in Jerusalem from idols that the Greeks who ruled the country
had brought there at around 200 BC.
Chanukka lasts for 8 days and every evening one candle is lighted
in an 8-branch candlestick, Chanukkia.
Even though Chanukka is a tradition-based feast, -
it is also celebrated by most Messianic Jews.
Then Jesus again spoke to them, say- ing, "I am the Light of the world;
he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, -
but will have the Light of life." - John 8:12
Like most events in the Bible, also Jesus' appearance on Earth
took place in Israel.
There are many sites in the land that are, one way or another, -
connected to Jesus' birth.
One of them is Ein Kerem - a small village outside Jerusalem.
Tourguide Salo Kapusta is a Messianic Jew.
The church behind me is the Church of the Visitation.
Mary came from Nazareth to visit Elizabeth, -
who, according to scripture, was her relative and of whom God
had said that she was also pregnant. We know
that the child was John the Baptist, the crying voice in the wilderness;
he who came before Jesus and prepared the way for him.
We have many traditions and they are sometimes stronger
than the scriptures themselves.
We can see the caves here
and pilgrims have come to this area throughout the centuries.
The same applies to Bethlehem's Church of Nativity and the sheperds' field.
These are very old traditions.
Many places mentioned in the Bible exist even today.
This is true for the Galilee town of Nazareth which was the home
of Mary and Joseph.
Today, Nazareth is a big Arab city in the center of which is located
the Church of the Annunciation.
According to tradition, Mary's house stood here over 2000 years ago.
At that time Nazareth was a small and insignificant Jewish town.
Nazareth was a very small and insignificant city.
Many of its residents had moved there from somewhere else, -
like Mary, who came from Judea.
Nazareth was only a village, -
with an estimated population of 50-80 families, if not less.
The Romans decided to make a population count in the imperium
and find out how many residents each province had.
They declared that everyone who had moved somewhere else, -
had to go back to their birth place to get counted.
Mary and Josef went to Bethlehem, to the Mountains of Judea.
At that time the roads where very rough.
One had to walk through valleys and alongside water springs.
Roads went in places where camels could walk.
They probably crossed the Yisreel field
and continued through the villages of Samaria
that are now part of the Palestinian Authority.
Joseph and Mary travelled a distance of over 120 km to Joseph's family's
home town, Bethlehem, South of Jerusalem.
It was also called the city of David because king David was born there.
Today, Bethlehem is an important city in the Palestinian Authority area.
Joseph and Mary couldn't find a place in the guest houses
and had to sleep in a cowshed where also Jesus was born.
The place was not as important as the birth itself.
He was born for you and for me.
It's not the details of the place, but the fact that he needed to come.
The wise men came from the East
following the stars, as the scripture says.
They came to Jerusalem, because they knew the time had come.
Herod called in the scholars to discuss the issue
and said: "When you find him, let me know so that I, too, -
might go and worship him."
Luke tells of three different kinds of people;
three different characters.
There are people like the sheperds who heard the message
and hurried full of anticipation.
Then there were the wise men who came from the East led by the stars
to Jerusalem to seek and worship the new-born and bring gifts.
And then there are people like Herod.
There are people today who know who the Messiah is, -
when he came and when he will return.
They know we are living in the end times and yet they are not ready
to receive him and to follow him.
Many believe that the birth of Jesus took place in the end of summer
and not in the heart of winter as tradition has defined it.
Today's weather is probably not comparable to what it was like then.
Usually, at this time it is winter with heavy rains and even snow.
The Bible tells us that the sheperds were outside at night
with their flock.
As a person living in this country, -
I can imagine the flock being outside or in some cave.
The season was warm, maybe even summer.
They didn't have this kind of climate change as we do now.
It should be winter now, but the temperature is probably 28 celcius.
Maybe it was during the feast of Tabernacles, in September-October, -
right before the beginning of the rains - the end of summer.
I don't come from a Christian background and I've never celebrated
feasts related to these events.
Now that I believe in Jesus, He is born to me every day.
But it's also important to have a day when we can come together.
We are here, because He saved us.
It is good, whether it was on the 24th, 25th or 26th.
The most important is that we celebrate what He has done for us.
Translation: Sonja Mattayev