The Birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ	December 25
Christmas Day
Among the general public in New Zealand and probably throughout the western world, Christmas has come to have a greater significance than Easter. It has not always been so, and in the early church no particular observance was made of the birth of Jesus.
The story of the birth of Jesus is told only in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, and even then historical narrative is not the prime concern of either account. Rather, the Gospel writers pick up Old Testament themes and show their significance for the good news that comes with Jesus, and stress the theological meaning of the birth of the world’s saviour. All this is conveyed in the circumstances of the birth, the messages given by angels, and the visitors to the Christ child.
Neither account of Jesus’ birth (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-7) gives a date for the event. Speculation about the date can be traced to the early third century, and grew in the fourth century as people became more interested in the earthly ministry of Jesus. Debates about the incarnation heightened the interest. Two possible dates were on offer, and despite the ingenious efforts of some later scholars to defend the historicity of the date, neither 25 December nor 6 January (the other date) has any claim to be correct. The dates chosen were differing dates in the ancient calendars for the winter solstice.
Initially, whichever date was observed, it was a celebration of all the events associated with the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. In the east it also included the baptism of Jesus. In general the western church used 25 December and the eastern church 6 January. In 336 in Rome, 25 December was noted as the date of Jesus’ birth. Through a process of cross-fertilisation, completed in the fifth century, the eastern church gradually adopted 25 December for the celebration of the birth, retaining 6 January to mark the baptism. In the eastern church 6 January remains the more important festival of the incarnation. The western church in turn adopted the eastern church’s date of 6 January but divided the events of Jesus’ birth into two. After the twelve days of Christmas, they celebrated the coming of the magi on 6 January, and kept the remembrance of the shepherds and the birth itself for 25 December. The baptism of Jesus has only recently been celebrated in the western church - on the first Sunday after Epiphany.
The customs now associated with Christmas are an amalgam of various traditions, some relatively recent. In the nineteenth century Prince Albert introduced various German Christmas customs to England. Charles Dickens added to the popular understanding of the day, and traditions associated with St Nicholas (see 6 December) have also become attached to Christmas. The name “Christmas” dates from the twelfth century and is a contraction of “Christ’s Mass”.
For Liturgical Use 
The message of Christmas is “Emmanuel” - God with us. It is the theme that runs through the two accounts of the birth of Jesus, and that has dominated the celebration of Christ’s birth since the festival grew up in the fourth century: God with us in our hearts and our homes and our lives, sharing our joys and burdens, and strengthening us in our love of others and the whole creation.
Sentence, Prayers and Readings as in A New Zealand Prayer Book - He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa, page 555-556