There is an obvious lesson written throughout the
Scriptures when referring to God, by name. Reverence.
Respect. Honor. We should handle the use of any attribute of God with the
utmost sincerity and holiness. Psalm
34:3, “Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt His name together.”
Showing the highest degree of respect to God applies to our
recognition of who He is in both word and deed. This is why, before I learned
this lesson I am sharing with you, I would cringe in disgust when people would “abbreviate”
the holiday “Christmas” by taking out the name of “Christ” and replacing it
with a big-fat-ugly “X!”
It would never fail, at some point, to get a card, letter
or email with the inevitable greeting, “Merry
X-Mas!” Either way, I always thought
it grossly disrespectful to “x-out” the name of “Christ” from the word “Christmas.”
However, as I have become a pastor and have studied the
Biblical languages, I have come to discover that there is something quite
liberating behind the letter “X.” Instead of being upset with others who I
accused of being sacrilegious and irreverent, I have now found a new way to
view this unsightly penmanship.
In fact, what I found is that by saying “Merry X-Mas,”
they weren’t really removing the name of “Christ” from Christmas at all. It was
still there all along. If we look at the name of Christ as it is spelled in the
Greek language, we will see it spelled “χριστός.”
Did you notice the first Greek
letter of that word? That’s right! It is an “X!” The first letter in the
name of Christ is an “X!” One of the abbreviations for “Christ” can be the
first letter…which is an “X!”
The “X” really doesn’t take “Christ”
out of “Christmas” at all. Either way, the name stands and is present in both
forms. In fact, even if the intentions were mean-spirited in order to purposely
“x-out” the name “Christ,” it is still there right in front of our eyes. No
matter how fallible, sinful mortals try to rid their world of Christ, it simply
becomes an endless cycle of impossibilities. You just can’t do it.
Isaiah 9:6, “For to us a child is born, to
us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his
shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty
God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Jesus, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. Even the letter “X”
cries out in exaltation! Philippians 2:9-11, “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on
him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of
Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the
earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to
the glory of God the Father.” So…either way….Merry Christmas…or Merry
X-Mas, let us, this Christmas, hail the Heaven-born Prince of Peace!