Several times throughout the Christmas holidays we will see the words, “Merry Xmas” on signs, and though we know that sometimes people do it to save space or shorten the Word, it seems offensive to those of us who believe in Jesus Christ. Like many before us, we want “Christ” to say in “Christmas.”
But Xmas is hardly a new concept and actually dates back to the earliest days of the Christian church. Quite a number of the initial followers of Jesus were Greek and their term for Christ’s name was “Xristos” (pronounced Christos). Along with the fish symbol, the X was used to denote churches and Christian gatherings and marked the places where they worshiped. The letter X is one of the oldest traditions of the Christian faith and was one of the first symbols that signified the Gospel message for all people of all races and backgrounds.
Many of the converts to the faith were largely unschooled and these men and women would not have recognized their own names on a document, much less the name of Christ. Therefore, the symbols became an important part of faith all the way up through the Dark Ages, and the clergy taught that the letter X was a symbol of Christ, something easy to recognize for the common man.
Though we realize today that the removal of “Christ” from Christmas can be disturbing, it is good to remember that there was a time when X was the ultimate statement of faith. If early Christians were transported through time to this day to see an Xmas sign, they would immediately understand the correlation with the Son of God and be convinced that our world was magnifying His name, not diminishing it. This is not to say that people don’t use Xmas as a way to removed the religious connotations of the holiday, but it is a reminder to us to see how things have changed.
Have a Mighty Christmas! Celebrate the birth of our King!
~Love Pastor Bob
