Who is Santa Claus?

Christmas is just around the corner, and Santa is everywhere – television, store-front ads, tree ornaments, and even ugly sweaters. The only place you can generally expect NOT to hear him HO-HO-HO-ing is at church.

So who is this character really, and where did he come from?

Santa Claus became popularized in North America in the 1800s. Although references to him became fairly common in the first part of that century, his legend wasn’t fully entrenched until Clement Clark Moore penned “A Visit from St Nicholas”. Everyone can faithfully recite part if not all of his famous poem that begins “‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all thro’ the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.”

Of course, it was modified over time so the version I grew up with had a slightly different “feel”.

Images of St. Nick abounded, but there was no official “look”. Sometimes he was thin, sometimes he was heavy and his clothing changed. Although images began to target a jolly, portly fellow with a heavy beard, it wasn’t until Coca-Cola launched an advertising campaign in the 1930s that Santa’s appearance standardized. Of course, they drew him with the same red and white colors that graced their soda bottles.

Then in the 1970s, “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” aired in the famous stop-motion style of that era. Fred Astaire narrated the story and Mickey Rooney voiced Kris Kringle. All of the background details were eternally rooted in our culture and Santa remains generally unchanged from that time.

But do you know the original story of jolly old St. Nick?

Nicholas was born around 280 A.D. in what is modern-day Turkey. He was the only child of a wealthy couple and grew up in a life of privilege. He attended church regularly and from all records had a normal childhood until tragedy struck. Both of his parents died, whether from a plague or an accident, leaving him without family and only a fortune to keep him company.

As he emerged from mourning, he commited to use what God had given to him to make a difference in his city. He watched people and thought about how he could have an impact.

He spotted a father with three daughters who had lost his job and his savings soon followed. As severe poverty and hunger began to set in, he begrudgingly allowed them to be used as prostitutes in an effort to survive. While this gave them food to eat, it left a large hole in their hearts and created a life they did not know how to escape.

The poor father could not raise a dowry to attract worthy suitors, and began to lose hope that their futures would hold anything but sadness.

The young adult Nicholas, however had other plans. He gathered enough gold coins to represent a proper dowry and under cloak of darkness snuck up to the poor family’s window and threw the bag of coins inside. He retreated quickly before anyone could see him, leaving a gracious father and one sister with hope of something better.

One night at a time, he repeated his action. On the third and final night the father waited up to discover the secretive, benevolent person. When the bag of coins hit the floor, he bounded out the front door and chased poor Nicholas down the street, eventually catching him.

Nicholas swore the man to secrecy (which obviously did not work). He wanted favor from God, not recognition from the people of the city. In this way, he began his path into the clergy and became a priest.

His reputation for generosity and concern for others preceded him, and people in need approached him when they had nowhere else to turn. They knew they could count on the new Bishop Nicholas to represent them, even if helping them meant placing himself in danger.

Nicholas is said to have approached the Emperor Constantine at least two times – once in a dream, and once in person. In these cases he advocated for wrongfully imprisoned people and to lower taxes. He relied on God to protect him in the presence of powerful men, and his fame spread.

When Christians were persecuted, Nicholas was imprisoned. He was told he would be released if he renounced his faith. Unable to abandon the God that had remained with him, he stayed in prison for five long years.

Ultimately released from his chains, his passion for Jesus was stronger than ever. He attended the Council of Nicea and helped to author the Nicene Creed that states Jesus’ place as part of The Trinity and his relationship to the Church. The Creed is still recited in churches today (click here to read the full statement of faith).

In that Council, he forcefully challenged Bishop Arian’s heretical teaching that Jesus was not part of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). Fueled by anger that someone within the church would seek to reduce the authority of his Savior, Nicholas stepped forward and slapped BIshop Arian, infuriating Emperor Constantine, who revoked Nicholas’ title as Bishop.

Nicholas’ unflinching resolve and commitment to Christ only endeared him further to the people of the church. Legends of miracles worked at his hand spread throughout the region and people in need sought out this dedicated priest who had the favor of God on his side.

In recognition of his faith, suffering, and miracles the Catholic Church canonized Nicholas in 1446 and the priest became known as Saint Nicholas. With this recognition, his name spread across the Christian world.

Each country modified his name to suit their dialect, and the name Saint Nicholas took on many forms. In the Germanic tongue, Saint was spoken as “Santa”and Claus was their derivation of Nicholas. Santa Claus was born.

The world embraces the jolly soul with cherry cheeks and places him at the North Pole with a team of reindeer and elves. That is OK. I think Nicholas would be humbled that his name is known as a herald of the newborn King.

Nicholas lived a life devoted to sharing, faithful devotion to God, and fearless defense of people in need. God smiled on him and performed mighty works through him. Although born into wealth, he regarded it as nothing in pursuit of something greater.

The world needs Santa Claus. He is a hero of our faith whose story deserves to be told. Believing in him awakens a feeling that we can have the same impact that he did. Jesus loved him and so do I.

That is the real story of Santa Claus. Now you can share his story too.

Merry Christmas.