#1 If a child walked up to Jesus with a birthday card on June 25 and said "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS!"... how would Jesus respond to the child? Would He rebuke the child sternly and say "COME BACK TO ME CHILD WHEN YOU GET THE DATE RIGHT" — just like the Pharisees that Jesus couldn't stand? No. Jesus would graciously say "Thank you, how kind of you child!" and wouldn't even think or care about the date. THAT is how important "getting the date right" of Jesus' birth is to Jesus. Imagine your father acting any other way — that would be the definition of a monster. A "New Testament Pharisee" is one who cares about menial minutiae over the bare essence message. Jesus said Pharisees are monsters. Are you one, or are you like a child so you can see God properly? (Matthew 18:3)

#2 Equating Jesus/God to the sun is entirely biblical. Malachi 4:6 says "The sun of righteousness will arise with healing in His wings". The Hebrew word for sun is "shemesh" and is indeed "the sun." Psalm 84:11 says, "God is a sun and shield". The sun is a picture of God, the source of all light and heat. It is the materialized representation of Him and Life itself. Though Rome is responsible for bringing Jesus' birthday to December 25, and while many have worshipped the sun itself, this date makes plenty of sense: The sun "dies" on the winter solstice at its lowest, most humbled point. It is then "dead" for 3 days and then "resurrects" on the December 25 giving way to Spring. There is evidence to suggest the conception of Jesus happened at this time, yielding a Fall birth.

#3The Christmas tree is an evergreen tree, and symbolizes the Tree of Life, because it is sustained through the death of winter. Santa Claus is based on a virtuous saint named St. Nicholas who was a wealthy bishop who gave gifts to the less fortunate. Santa is also called "Father Christmas". In modern day, Santa as a metaphysical being is really nothing more than "Father God" in disguise. He has a robe "dipped in blood" (red) (Rev. 19:13), a long white flowing beard, rides on a chariot (early depictions were on a white horse!) and He "rewards you (who is a child to God) according to your works." You get "coal" if you are a bad child. He comes through the "heart" of the home (hearth) and places His "rewards" under the Tree of Life. He even has a sidekick named Krampus, who is a goat that destroys the very wicked.

CS Lewis understood the allusions to Christmas in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. Father Christmas symbolizes the benevolence and bounty Christ-likeness should reflect.

While there may be plenty of commercialization and other fleshly aims of our current world, the underlying concepts of Christmas are thoroughly Christian-compatible. It is a warm holiday of virtue at its heart that represents and celebrates an allegory that children can easily understand in the context of gift-giving and the celebration of family.