Christmas Presents: When Do You Open Them?

Christmas Presents under the Christmas Tree

Christmas Presents: What Day Do You Open Them?

Some open presents Christmas Eve night, others open them Christmas morning.

When do you open Christmas presents?

Family Traditions

When I was a child, my family opened Christmas presents on Christmas Eve night. But as I grew older, I thought that it was right and proper to open them on Christmas Day, on the day Jesus was born: God’s gift to us.

When I had a family of my own, we opened presents on Christmas morning. But when should you open them on Christmas morning?

• After everyone is awake (including parents)?
• After coffee?
• After breakfast?
• After everyone cleans up breakfast?

In the back of my mind, there was always the wonder of Christmas Eve night, the lights, the colors, the decorations, the mystery. Was I missing something?

Christmas Carols?

Singing Christmas Carols

Perhaps I could find clarity in popular traditional carols. Did they teach that Jesus was born on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve night?

Come All Ye Faithful

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee,
born this happy morning

Oh Holy Night

O Holy night! The stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior’s birth

No consensus there. I had to look farther back in history.

Historical Precedence?

Did you know the 16th-century Reformer Martin Luther is credited with shifting the tradition of gift-giving from St. Nicholas Day (December 6th) to Christmas Eve.

Martin Luther with wife and children with Christmas Tree

Luther loved Christmas. Legends persist that Luther, returning home at night one Christmas, saw the stars twinkling through a tree. As he endeavored unsuccessfully to describe it to his children, he went outside, returned with a tree, and lit candles upon its branches, giving us the lighted Christmas Tree.

He celebrated Christmas by opening presents with his family on Christmas Eve night. Luther wanted children to understand that the ultimate gift is the grace of God given through the birth of Jesus. For his family, it became an educational and devotional practice.

He reserved Christmas Day to honor the Christ Child.

Was Luther on to something?

Then… a Revelation!

It suddenly came to me, like coming upon a midnight clear, that I’d been thinking in a modern, Gregorian Calendar mindset, rather than an ancient Israel frame of reference.

In modern times, Christmas Eve and Christmas are two different days. Our day starts at sunrise. (OK, technically, it starts at midnight.)

But to Mary and Joseph, 1st-century Jews – they were there first when the 1st-century began – they observed the Hebrew calendar:

The Jewish day begins at sunset.

Here are a couple of examples:

In Genesis 1:5

“And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.”

Even modern Jews observe the day beginning at sunset. Example:

Just ten days ago, Chanukah began on December 15. But actually, it began the evening before, at sunset.

The Realization

The angel appearing to the shepherds

St. Luke’s nativity narrative, when the angel told the shepherds in Bethlehem, out in the field:

“keeping watch over their flock by night.”

And further, the angel told them when, and angels are always on time:

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”

And how to find this Savior:

“And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”

Then the shepherds wasted no time:

“And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.”

The Punchline

So, in ancient Israel, the angel came to the shepherds at night, and they immediately found the Baby Jesus lying in a manger.

But because the day starts at sunset, it was already Christmas Day.

Conclusion

Whether you open your presents on (our) Christmas Eve night, which would have been Christmas Day in ancient Israel, or Christmas Day morning… it’s all Christmas Day.

“But when the right time came, the time God decided on, he sent his Son, born of a woman, born as a Jew.” Galatians 4:4 Living Bible.

Merry Christmas!

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com