Do Jews Celebrate Christmas? What about Messianic Jews?

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I find this question so interesting, especially since the church I’ve been attending meets in a Messianic Jewish Temple. I also have Jewish family members who do celebrate Christmas, as well as Jewish holidays like Hanukkah since a lot of it is more cultural for them, I think.

Curious to hear your experience! I know Orthodox Jews are still waiting for the Messiah because they do not believe Jesus was the promised Messiah, but I’m especially curious about the beliefs of Messianic Jews. Does Christmas mean something different to you? Do you still celebrate Jewish holidays, knowing how they point to Christ?

This article has some insight: Do Jews Celebrate Christmas (And What about Messianic Jews?)

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This may be an interesting topic for some. Maybe a revelation to others. However, the truth is? Jesus did not come for you. If you are not of the lost Tribe of Israel, He did not come for you.

Let’s look at this more closely…

”And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” And he answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” Matthew 15:22-28 Then told again in Mark 7:25-27

First, He completely ignored her. Second, Jesus plainly says, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” In Mark, it is recorded as He saying this. “Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.” When Jesus sent out the Twelve, He told them this.

“These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Matthew 10:5-6

Jesus said, “I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” “Let the children first be filled: for it is not meet to take the children’s bread, and to cast it unto the dogs.” “Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:” So you see, Jesus did not come for you. He wanted nothing to do with you. He was a Jew, and He came FOR the Jews. He even called non-Jews nothing more than dogs. Is this the picture of Jesus you have been taught? It is true.

The Jewish People ARE indeed God’s chosen people. They are the most oppressed, enslaved, murdered, and abused people that have ever walked the earth. They became God’s chosen people when He, through Moses, brought them out of the land of Egypt. He set them aside from the rest of the world. He gave them the Law. The Commandments. They became His children through the Law, and He loved them. However, they became like the Gentiles. In time, they started living like others. God sent to them, the Jews, the prophets. They, the Jews, rejected and killed the prophets. He had no choice. Because of THEIR, the Jews’, disobedience, and because of His, God’s, promises to THEM, the Jews, He had no choice. He had to come himself. The flesh of God, The Word in the Flesh, Jesus, had to come to die for them. To save THEM.

They rejected Him. He gave the parable of the Wedding feast. Matthew 22. Jesus tells us that although there were indeed chosen people that He was calling, since they were not worthy, since they refused to accept the “Invention” or the gift of salvation which is through Him, that He would call others. Jesus again makes this plain when He said this…

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason, the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.” John 10:14-17

You see, the Jews who have accepted Jesus are doing the right thing. They are worshipping Him. Set aside the whole idea of Holidays being a Christian thing for now, we can say that if you accept Jesus, there are no longer Jews, Gentiles, black or white, male or female, we are all one in Christ Jesus.

Peter

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My family celebrates both. We live in a very small town with only one other Jewish family who is new age/orthodox. So we go to a church and celebrate Christmas and such, but we also celebrate the Feasts and keep kosher.

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I love how Messianic Jewish traditions show the fullness of God’s plan…how the feasts and Scriptures point so clearly to Jesus. It’s beautiful to celebrate both the promise and the fulfillment.

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I’m always humbled when I reflect on being a Gentile. It’s easy to read Scripture from our 21st century lens and place ourselves at the center of the story, but you’re right, Jesus said he came first to the Jews and to Israel, and even after his resurrection and ascension, it was quite a revelation for the disciples to realize that Jesus also was welcoming Gentiles who put their faith in him (I’m thinking of Peter’s vision, especially). Thankful to have been “grafted in,” to the family of God, as Paul says (Rom. 11).

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In normative Judaism Christmas is not celebrated at all, because it is understood as a Christian holy day centered on the incarnation of Jesus, whom rabbinic Judaism does not recognize as Messiah, Lord, or divine, and therefore participation would be seen not merely as cultural difference but as religious contradiction rooted in theology, worship, and covenant identity.

Traditional Jewish calendars are structured around Torah commanded feasts such as Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur, all grounded in the Hebrew Scriptures, and Christmas has no place within halakhic life, synagogue worship, or Jewish liturgical memory, sometimes even being associated historically with persecution rather than celebration.

That said, some secular or culturally assimilated Jews may acknowledge Christmas in a non religious way, often as a social or family custom in majority Christian cultures, but this is cultural proximity rather than theological agreement, and it does not represent Judaism as a faith or its confessional commitments.

Messianic Jews occupy a different category entirely, because they identify ethnically and covenantally as Jewish while confessing Jesus, Yeshua, as the promised Messiah of Israel, the Son of God, and the crucified and risen Lord, which places them outside rabbinic Judaism while rooting their faith in the Hebrew Scriptures fulfilled in Christ.

Among Messianic Jews there is diversity of practice regarding Christmas, with some choosing to celebrate it explicitly as the birth of Yeshua, seeing no contradiction in honoring the incarnation of the Jewish Messiah, while others refrain from celebrating Christmas due to its later ecclesiastical development, pagan associations in popular customs, or desire to maintain a distinctly Jewish expression centered on biblical feasts rather than church calendar traditions.

Many Messianic congregations instead emphasize the incarnation within the framework of biblical theology, connecting the birth of Messiah to promises such as ~Isaiah 7:14 and ~Micah 5:2, and often teach about the nativity during the season without adopting Christmas liturgy, trees, or customs, focusing on Scripture rather than festival form.

Theologically the New Testament does not command the celebration of Jesus’ birth, but it does proclaim its meaning, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” ~John 1:14, grounding salvation not in a date but in the event of incarnation that culminates at the cross, where Yeshua fulfills His name by saving His people from their sins ~Matthew 1:21.

Thus Jews do not celebrate Christmas as Jews under rabbinic faith, Messianic Jews vary in practice based on conscience and calling, and Scripture itself places the weight not on observing a day but on confessing the Name, trusting the Messiah, and proclaiming the saving work accomplished through His birth, life, death, and resurrection, to the glory of the God of Israel revealed fully in Christ Jesus.

https://www.oneforisrael.org/why-do-some-messianics-have-a-problem-with-christmas/#:~:text=CHRISTMAS%3A%20PAGAN%20OR%20KOSHER%3F

J.

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Thank you for this very helpful summary of the different views and practices! Since my church meets in a Messianic Temple I have found it to be especially meaningful to consider how Christ is the fulfillment of the Jewish Law and Old Testament prophecies, especially during Advent and Christmastime.

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It seems to me that you know the answer to your topic title questions already. :grin: I myself knew a Jewish gentleman who was Messianic and did indeed celebrate Christmas with a Haunnaka Tree. For eight days his kids would come into the livingroom to find presents under the tree (As opposed to traditonal Christmas custom to give several gifts all at once). Anyways, I thought it was a neat combination of the two traditons, and that silver tree with all those blue lights was quite a sight to see.

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That is a great way to combine Hanukkah and Christmas traditions! A silver and blue tree would be beautiful.

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That is an awesome tradition.

Peter

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Yes, it is an interesting mesh-up to say the least. As I understand Jewish tradition, they give each other small gifts throughout the eight days of Haunnaka. I imagine my old friend Doran begain the giving of the gifts to coincide with that traditon. One thing I never asked him was what would he do if (assuming it can happen) Haunnaka didn’t fall on Christmas.

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A Jew celebrating Christmas makes more sense to me than a Christian celebrating Halloween. Put another way, a non-Christian participating in a Christian Testimonial celebration makes more sense than a Child of The Truth participating in a wholly anti-Christian carnival.

My 2-cents, (probably a nickle, since pennys are obsolete.)

KP