From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

The actual significance of the name "Christmas" is as un-Catholic as anything could possibly be. Far from speaking of a continual re-crucifying of the Lord of Glory, it reminds us that Christians cease from the labor of dead works, and rest in Christ's once-for-all finished work.

At this time of year, we frequently use the word "Christmas" in our publications and radio broadcasts. Many sincere Protestants tell us they object to this - some quite strongly. They have been told, by Protestant, Catholic, and secular sources alike, that the origin of the term "Christmas" is Roman Catholic and means "the mass of Christ." Therefore they believe that no true Protestant should use the word.

An Objection Based on Misinformation

But here is the fact of the matter: Our friends' very sincere objection is based on misinformation - even disinformation. Most contemporary dictionaries, encyclopedias, and religious books repeat what is in fact a Roman Catholic falsehood. But a more careful look at history and archaeology reveals that the name that has come down to us as "Christmas" was part of the Christian vocabulary long before Roman Catholicism hijacked it.

In ancient Latin, centuries before the appearance of the Roman Catholic church, the term "mass" was commonly used among the Romans to describe feasts and festivals of all kinds. The Latin word was missa, and it meant cessation from labor, taking leisure, or taking a holiday. A Jewish feast such as Pentecost was termed a missa among the Romans.

Christian commemoration of the advent of Christ - as well as His death, resurrection, and ascension - appears very early in the history of the church. Some historians think it may have even begun in some parts of the church when John, the last of the apostles, was still alive. Commemoration of the advent of Christ became a more general practice in the fourth century A.D. The term "feast (or missa) of Christ" appears often in early church writings - long before the heresies of Roman Catholicism. Rome's expropriation of the term missa - to describe its constant ceremonial re-crucifying of Christ in the mass - came centuries later.

A Supreme Irony

It is a great irony that Rome would use a term that originally meant "cessation from labor" as the name for a ceremony that is the very essence of works-religion. It is, in fact, a denial of the very purpose of the cross-work of Christ: that those who truly trust in Him may cease from their labors:

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest... (Hebrews 4:9-11).

But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:11-15)

For these reasons, we have no problem using the term Christmas. Truly, it is a day that reminds us that we cease from the labor of dead works, and rest in His once-for-all finished work.

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