What did the First Christians believe and practice about Christmas? I know in a way that is a loaded question, because the word Christmas is found nowhere in the New Testament, nor is any noticeable celebration of Christmas as we know it.

Among many Jews, birthday observance is eschewed as originating in Egypt, and that could have influenced many among the First Christians, most of whom were Jews. Whatever the case, there is nothing in the New Testament that so much as hints at celebrating Jesus’ birth. It could be argued that this fact does not weigh against modern celebration, but that is not what interests me at this point.

My question is what the First Christians believed and practiced relative to Jesus’ nativity. To get a better understanding of this, let’s first look at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke and the story of another birth—that of John the Baptist.

One of the things that puzzles me about the Book of Daniel is the question, Why now? Why did God, at this particular juncture in history, lay out the prophecies that he did? The visions that he gave to Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar span a panorama of prophecy that goes from their day all the way to the very end.

And as you read along through here and see the incredible breadth of revelations of times and empires and places and you ask yourself, Why? I’m not sure I have the answer to that question, but sometimes it’s important to ask the questions and get them out on the table so that we can better know where we are going—and recognize when we get there.

We have been going through Daniel in this series of programs and now arrive at the eighth chapter, which is, appropriately enough, another vision given to Daniel. It begins with the prophet standing beside a river and witnessing a conflict between two fantastic beasts. Let’s join him beside that river as the vision is explained.

What was it about Daniel? Through at least three major administration changes in Babylon, he kept coming out on top. For the believer, it makes perfect sense. God gave Daniel and his companions favor through these hard and dangerous times for his own purposes. But you have to wonder what this looked like from the perspective of King Darius, the latest king Daniel had to deal with.

From Darius’ point of view, Daniel and his ilk were smart. And they had a great common sense. They made wise decisions and he could depend on them. What Darius had no way of knowing was that the Jews in his newly-conquered kingdom made their decisions within the framework of the Law. This is more important than most people realize. Most of us make life’s decision based on what feels good and looks safe at the moment, with no overriding framework. And that can leave us all over the landscape in our decisions; having no standards, no consistency.

Daniel and the Hebrew children had been brought up on the law of God and it formed the framework for all of life’s decisions. And the biggest thing about this is that the system works. As the psalmist said, Your law is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. And it can help you see in the darkest places. We’ll find the story in Daniel, chapter 6.