What Is Christmas About?

Imagine you could only use one word to answer that question. What would you write?

Maybe Jesus, or Immanuel. Or maybe for you Christmas is the season of joy or hope or gifts. Perhaps your life experience has led you to dread Christmas because of family drama, holiday stress, or endless fruitcake.

One would rightly suggest that Christmas has become about any of these words. But in recent years I’ve added a new word to my list, which I am happy to share with you in a moment.

But first, consider a (very) big number: 80,213,066.

Spelled out, that ’s eighty million, two hundred and thirteen thousand, and sixty-six. That ’s a lot. So, what does Christmas Day have to do with that number?

Maybe it ’s the number of times you ’ve watched the film, A Christmas Story.

Maybe it ’s the number of times you ’ve decided to not watch the film, A Christmas Story.

Maybe it ’s the number of Christmas songs played on your local radio between Thanksgiving and New Year ’s.

This number—80,213,066—is the total amount of dollars that came through the movie theater box office on Christmas Day in 2017. Which, at first glance, isn ’t that interesting. But a more interesting question to consider is, Why would all that money spill into Hollywood on a religious holiday? It turns out there are good reasons why people like to watch movies on Christmas Day.

Deep within each of us is a longing to hear a good story. And in the season of Christmas, the Gospels tell the greatest story in the world. But because of overfamiliarity, triviality, and ignorance, we often leave the depths of the Nativity story unexplored, instead settling for cheesy Hallmark films, shallow Christmas services, and consumer spending to define for us the meaning of Christmas. Which leads us back to the opening question: What is Christmas about?

Bread

As promised, here is my answer. Christmas, in one word, is about . . . bread. To explain, allow me to tell you a brief story.

The sanctuary filled fast. It was Christmas Eve, and having been a pastor for decades, I was well acquainted with the fun frenzy of the special church service. Whether the people ’s motives for gathering were that of sacred devotion or religious obligation didn ’t matter to me. All minds were fixed; hearts where attuned; bodies were attentive to engage the greatest story ever told. But instead of feeding them the Christmas message they ’d heard for decades, I went with a different approach to disrupt familiarity.

Emily Dickinson reminds us to always “tell all the truth, but tell it slant.” What she meant was overfamiliarity tends to dull our senses to any given story. Therefore, we must always search for new ways to present old truths. That Christmas Eve I told the story of the birth of God ’s Son in a way that was perhaps more “slanted” than the Tower of Pisa (without compromising nor obscuring the truth, of course).

I held up a small box and asked one simple question pertaining to the central message of the Christmas story: Can anyone guess what lies within?

Some said a star, others said a manger (it would have been a very small manger). My favorite guess came from a child who shouted out, “Jesus!” Yes, Jesus is the central message of the story, but no, I did not have a tiny Jesus hidden in the box.

After hearing a few more guesses, I opened the box and pulled out a croissant. The gathered crowd oohed and awed. Hoisting the croissant up high, I pronounced that the Scriptures claim the central message of the Christmas story is bread! Everyone cheered at the sight of the pastry because—let ’s be honest—even gluten free enthusiasts might find it hard to resist the allure of a croissant.

Christmas is about bread. It ’s hidden in plain sight on the first pages of the New Testament. Think about bread through these three words: Jesus, Bethlehem, Manger.

As we will see, all three words are all connected to bread. And connecting these dots will deepen your understanding of the Christmas story.

First, consider the name Jesus. In John ’s Gospel, Jesus discloses his identity through seven “I AM” statements. One of the seven ways Jesus talks about himself is like bread. To his disciples, he says, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). Those who feast on him will not go hungry.

Next, consider the town Bethlehem. Bethlehem is a compound word in Hebrew. Bethlehem = bet + lechem. Bet means house and lechem means bread. Bethlehem, therefore, means “house of bread.”

Finally, consider the word manger. Mangers are not wooden beds filled with pillows in the form of hay. A manger in the time of Jesus was cut from stone and served as a trough to hold feed for animals. In the cold winter months, animals—and mangers—were sometimes placed within the front section of the home.

Putting the puzzle pieces together, the New Testament is telling a story about the arrival of a man named Jesus (the bread of life), who was born in a town called Bethlehem (the house of bread), and immediately placed in a manger (feeding trough).

So:

The bread of life . . .

was born in the house of bread . . .

and placed in a feeding trough . . .

to satisfy the hunger of every human heart.

That is the meaning of Christmas. We must never settle for less.

We don ’t need new stories from Hollywood on Christmas Day. Instead, we must reclaim the ancient depth and wonder of the Jesus story. Christ, our Savior, is the bread of life. So, joining the chorus of our spiritual ancestors, “let us keep the feast!”

Rediscovering Christmas

There are several challenges the church faces this time of the year, which hinder congregations from depth, meaningful and formation. The core problem is that we feast on cultural stories that fail to satisfy our greatest hunger. Our settling for less depletes our minds, our hearts, and our bodies.

In what ways do we settle for less, you may wonder. First, we settle for sentimental explanations of the transformative Christmas story. This negatively impacts our minds. Many errantly think they have heard all there is to know about the Nativity. But this will never be true. The story is gloriously deep, with hidden meaning awaiting discovery.

Overfamiliarity with the scriptures can cause a lack of the curiosity necessary for further biblical discoveries. So instead of going deeper, many settle for cheap slogans and Hallmark-card insight. In short, Christmas can become sentimental rather than transformative.

When we settle in this way, our minds become dull and bored. But within the Gospels are buried treasures waiting for us to unearth. Pastors, priests, and clergy of all kinds must continue to deepen our understanding of Scripture and then teach the church to rekindle lost wonder.

The church deserves (and can handle) depth beyond sappy Christmas card theology and contemporary anecdotes that entertain but do not nourish souls. In Rediscovering Christmas, thirteen characters from the Nativity story are re-examined to unearth the depth of fresh, biblical meaning.

Second, we settle for consumer goods our culture sells us. The Amazon cart is full, but the human heart is empty. Christmas is not about chasing discounts or consumer debt or maxed-out credit cards.

By Christmas Eve many are too emotionally drained to offer much adoration to the Christ child in the manger. We ’ve all seen the cliché commercial played out in the suburban driveway—the one where the man walks outside to find a new, over-priced truck with an over-sized bow on the hood. I’m not saying that buying a new car is wrong, but the deeper joy is waiting in the manger, not the driveway.

When we settle for consumer joy (which is always an illusion), our hearts are robbed of the joy God longs for us to experience.

Third, we settle for a hurried pace more this month than any other in the year. Our over-hurried society demands busyness, crowding our calendars with events that wear us down. Our bodies are tired, and we feel it by December 26.

We also struggle to experience the true meaning of Christmas in our bodies when we ’ve spent most of the month running around shopping malls, navigating parking lots, and saying yes to every invitation—well-intentioned as we may be.

When we settle for a hurried pace, our bodies fail to appreciate the One who came in flesh, taking a body, and becoming bread for our sake. You are a powerful person who can say “no thanks” when necessary. Exercise your power this season.

Christmas is a story about bread. Long ago—in the strangest of places, in the oddest of ways, in the fullness of time—God sent Immanuel to fully recover what was lost, forgotten, and astray. As you seek to rediscover Christmas this season, know that God is seeking to rediscover you. Prepare him room.

(Editor’s Note: This article is adapted from Rediscovering Christmas: Surprising Insights Into the Story You Thought You Knew by AJ Sherrill. Copyright © 2024 by AJ Sherrill. Published by WaterBrook. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.)

AJ Sherrill serves as the lead pastor at Saint Peter’s Church (an Anglican community near Charleston, SC). With a Doctorate in spiritual formation, he teaches courses on preaching and also the Enneagram at Fuller Theological Seminary, as well as workshops on spiritual formation and personality theory. He is the author of "Rediscovering Christmas: Surprising Insights into the Nativity Story You Thought You Knew" (forthcoming in 2024) and "Being with God: The Absurdity, Necessity, and Neurology of Contemplative Prayer."