New Testament scholar Ben Witherington informed me of something I never knew… there’s actually a Christian New Year:
Christians are so weird. Jews of course celebrate Rosh Hashannah— the Jewish New Year. Most Christians however hardly even notice the Christian New Year which happens to have just transpired. Instead, they prefer to celebrate the ancient Roman and modern secular New Year on the eve of January 1 (a month named after the two-faced Roman God Janus). This is on a par to celebrating the Chinese New Year when you are not Chinese.
Advent is the beginning of the Christian year. Today was the first Sunday in Advent. If we bothered to notice, there are a whole series of wonderful Christian New Year’s celebrations we could undertake. On the first Sunday in Advent we are supposed to be focusing on the Second Coming, not the first.
Such an important reminder: that the little baby in the manger grew up to be the suffering savior who died on a cross, rose from the dead, and is coming back to rule the earth. This is something to keep fresh in our minds throughout the Christmas season, and is significant enough for us to celebrate as much as the New Year that’s coming on January 1st.
In our family, each night we’re reading a great little advent book for kids called Getting Ready for Christmas. It’s unique in that it brings out the later aspects of Christ’s life and ties them into the Christmas story.