Santa Went to Prison
Don’t mess with Santa. He’s been to prison.
I saw a headline recently that stated, Santa went to jail, and Jesus served the death penalty. While I knew Jesus died on the cross for our sins, I had to do some research on Santa. St. Nicholas, the figure Santa is based upon, was, and still is, known for his generosity. Legend says he was born into a wealthy family but was orphaned at a young age. His parents had taught him about Jesus and to be generous, and St. Nicholas continued to live the legacy.
St. Nicholas was known for anonymously giving coins to the poor during a famine so they could purchase food. Another tale tells of how St. Nicholas saved three young women from prostitution. Their father couldn’t afford their dowry to marry, and his daughters were to be sold to a brothel, but St. Nicholas secretly threw bags of coins into their rooms to cover their dowries. Some legends have it that the girls were drying their stockings by the fire. St. Nick tossed the coins down the chimney, and the coins bounced into their stockings, hence the Christmas tradition of hanging stockings on the fireplace.
While St. Nicholas is remembered for his generosity (especially at Christmas), his passion and convictions were even more notable. It turns out that St. Nicholas went to jail on two separate occasions because he refused to renounce Christ.
He was first arrested when the Roman Emperor Diocletian came to power and started persecuting the Christians. As the chief priest of the Christians, St. Nicholas was thrown into jail for five years, where he was beaten, chained, and tortured. When Constantine rose to power, he released the Christians. St. Nicholas and these brave followers earned the nickname confessors because they continued to confess Jesus as Lord and Savior.
His second arrest happened during a debate at the Council of Nicaea. Arius, a false preacher, stood in front of the council, preaching the heresy that Jesus wasn’t God in the flesh, and supposedly turned it into a drinking song. St. Nicholas was so offended that he punched Arius in the face and was subsequently arrested. Although I don’t condone punching people in the face, but I can understand St. Nicholas’s righteous indignation. He had been jailed and beaten for refusing to deny Jesus is Lord, and he wasn’t about to let some punk taunt and demean his Savior.
If St. Nicholas saw Christmas today, would he be horrified? Probably not by the spirit of generosity, but I believe he would tear his clothes at the thought of Santa being associated with Christmas over his Savior Jesus Christ. I believe he would weep at how a Christmas tree, instead of a nativity scene, has become the symbol of Christmas. I must confess that reading about St. Nicholas convicted me. He was beaten until his clothes turned red for his faith in believing Christ is the Lord. Yet, in the past, I have changed my greeting from Merry Christmas to Happy Holidays. I had been told Happy Holidays was better not to offend anyone, but was it at the risk of offending God? Lord, forgive me.
I hope we can learn from St. Nicholas’s generosity, passion, and conviction. Christmas is a time to reflect on all the generosity God has shown us. He sent His son as a little baby to a tiny manger to save a big world. Jesus, the son of God, took on human form to understand our suffering, and then He took all of our sins upon Himself and sacrificed them on the cross so that we can have eternal life with Him.
This Christmas, remember that it’s not just a cute rhyme:
Jesus is the reason for the season!
Information regarding St. Nicholas was obtained from:
Parker III, James, Persecuted, Jailed, Passionate, Baptist Press 2003, https://www.stnicholascenter.org/how-to-celebrate/resources/articles/st-nicholas-and-justice/my-kind-of-santa.
Maness, Jeff, Jailed Old St. Nicholas, JeffManess.com Dec. 21, 2015. https://jeffmaness.com/jailed-old-st-nicholas/.
Ridgeway and Cassella, Santa was in Prison, and Jesus got the Death Penalty, https://www.stnicholascenter.org/how-to-celebrate/resources/articles/st-nicholas-and-justice/santa-prison.