Apa alasan mereka merayakannya? Berikut adalah alasan Menara Pengawal sendiri:
- 25 Desember adalah tanggal di mana Yesus mengambil rupa manusia (pindah menjadi janin). Bahkan beberapa penulis gereja mengatakan bahwa hari Natal pada mulanya dirayakan sebagai hari di mana Gabriel menghampiri Maria (1)
Perhitungan: Yesus lahir pada 27 September/1 Oktober, berarti sembilan bulan (sekitar 25 Desember) sebelumnya, Yesus hadir dalam rahim Maria. Jadi, 25 Desember bukanlah hari kelahiran Yesus, tapi hari Gabriel menghampiri Maria.
- walaupun Organisasi tidak setuju bahwa perayaan kelahiran Yesus pada tanggal 25 Desember, tetapi kita masih tetap bisa ikut merayakan Natal, "bergabung dengan mereka yang bersikap kasih dan menghargai Allah dan Juruselamat kita." (2)
- mengenai tukar kado pada saat Natal, tidak salah, karena setelah Allah memberikan ‘kado’ terbaik-Nya, Yesus, kita juga harus belajar suka memberi kepada orang lain (2) (Bandingkan dengan Organisasi kini berbeda, melarang memberi hadiah pada hari Natal [3]).
Jadi, sama sekali Organisasi tidak pernah mengatakan bahwa Natal itu kafir dan harus dihindari karena merupakan perbuatan keji.
Rasanya pada masa itu, Organisasi sangat memahami Roma 14:5-6, karena memperbolehkan merayakan Natal, asalkan merayakannya “dengan mereka yang bersikap kasih dan menghargai Allah dan Juruselamat kita." (2)
(Roma 14:5-6) 5 Ada orang yang menilai suatu hari lebih penting daripada hari yang lain; orang lain menilai semua hari sama; hendaklah setiap orang yakin sepenuhnya dalam pikirannya sendiri. 6 Ia yang berpegang pada suatu hari, melakukannya untuk menghormati Yehuwa. . . .
Tidakkah kontras dengan Organisasi pada masa ini? Jika Russel masih hidup, apa yang akan ia katakan?
(1) "...we could not be certain that the exact day might not be in September about the 27th, but October 1st, B.C. is about correct. Nine months back of that date would bring us to about Christmas time, 3 B.C., as the date at which our Lord laid aside the glory which he had with the Father before the world was made and the taking of or changing to human nature began. It seems probable that this was the origin of the celebration of December 25th as Christmas Day. Some writers on Church history claim, even, that Christmas Day was originally celebrated as the date of the annunciation by Gabriel to the virgin Mary." (The Time is at Hand, p. 61)
(2) "Although we cannot agree that this is the proper day for celebrating the birth of our dear Redeemer, but we must insist that it was about October first, nevertheless since he did not intimate his desire that we should celebrate his birthday it is quite immaterial upon what day that event, of so great importance to all, is celebrated. Upon this day, so generally celebrated, we may properly enough join with all whose hearts are in the attitude of love and appreciation toward God and toward our Savior.
The habit of giving little remembrances one to another at this time of year seems to us specially appropriate. God is the great giver of every good and perfect gift. He is continually giving and we continually receiving from him; but amongst all his gifts the one of greatest importance to us is the gift of his Son to be our Redeemer. While, therefore, thanking the Lord for this great gift and for the great plan which centered in it, it is appropriate that we cultivate in our hearts the spirit of liberality, generosity, and that we allow this spirit to exercise itself to some extent-according to our conditions and circumstances - toward those with whom we have contact, especially to the members of our own household. We recommend that every little gift on this occasion should, so far as possible, represent or be accompanied by some little remembrancer of the great gift-something to draw the mind of the recipient to the fact that the great gift of God in Christ is and should be in the minds of all who give or who receive the trifling exchanges of the season." (Christmas Review, Zion's WT, 457-460)
(3) “Dalam banyak hal, ini menggambarkan semangat memberi pada Hari Natal—tukar-menukar hadiah. Semangat yang tercermin dalam pemberian hadiah-hadiah demikian tidak mendatangkan kebahagiaan sejati, karena hal itu melanggar prinsip-prinsip Kristen seperti yang terdapat dalam Matius 6:3, 4 dan 2 Korintus 9:7. Tentu seorang Kristen dapat memberikan hadiah kepada orang-orang lain sebagai pernyataan kasih pada waktu-waktu lain sepanjang tahun, dan berbuat demikian sesering yang ia inginkan.” (*** rs hlm. 131 par. 2 Hari-Hari Raya ***)
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