Did you hear that archaeologists recently found the tomb of St. Nicholas underneath a church in Turkey? It’s not a joke setup. Yes, the historical St. Nicholas was a real person whose life pointed to the Lord. His actual burial place was lost to history, until now. The remains of the church where he served have been unearthed, along with a crypt beneath the church’s marble floor. It’s possible old St. Nick’s bones have remained undisturbed there since his death in 343.
No, we don’t know much about him for certain, but what is known is that he was born in Asia Minor (modern Turkey) more than 16 centuries ago, & served in ministry as the overseer of a church in the town of Myrna. He apparently brought many to faith in Jesus, & the people revered him for his holiness, kindness, & generosity. Tales were passed down of how he shared his wealth with the poor, & took special care of children. Over the centuries, those stories morphed into many different forms in different cultures, including our modern-day story of Santa Claus.
Apparently, Roman Emperor Diocletian hated Christians & imprisoned Nicholas. It’s possible he was tortured. But later Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity, & released him. Today we have legends about him, like how he gave three poor girls bags of gold for marriage dowry gifts so they could get married instead of turning to a life of ill repute. It’s said that he climbed up to their windows to throw the money in so they wouldn’t be embarrassed about receiving such charity in public.
This is why Dutch children have a tradition of leaving out their shoes in hopes of being filled with goodies like gold-foil-covered chocolate coins. In Holland, St. Nicholas was known as Sinterklass (a form of “Saint” & “Nicholas” without the “Ni-“). This is how “Santa [Saint] [Ni]Claus” was introduced to America & eventually morphed into the hefty elf in crushed red velvet steering flying reindeer across the earth.
According to another legend, at the important Council of Nicaea, St. Nick slapped or punched another church leader named Arius in the face because of his heretical teachings that Jesus wasn’t divine. Isn’t it intriguing to think that jolly old St. Nick would grow so enraged over false doctrine that he’d go all “Will Smith” & put a smackdown on someone, giving him a bloody nose redder than Rudolph’s?! But this rebuke has no historical merit.
It can be challenging for Christian parents to decide what to tell their children about Santa. We like the fantasy of Christmas, but we also want to keep the focus on the true meaning. How do you incorporate Santa into the fun without stretching the truth? One suggestion is to teach children that Santa is a fantasy character like Elmo, Elsa, or Spiderman. It’s like playing with dolls (boys have “action figures”!)-both parent & child know the doll isn’t real, yet both pretend it is for fun.
Or why not tell them the true story of St. Nicholas? It could be a way to keep from turning attention away from Jesus. His service & witness for Christ, along with his legendary generosity, are important reminders of what the spirit of Christmas should be. Even though he’s dead, his spirit can live on!