Many Christians can get quite upset when they see this term used which seems to remove their Lord’s name from the cherished celebration of His birth—Christmas.
Is this, however, really a blasphemous move (like saying Christmas) or maybe a quick way to write out an otherwise long word (like saying X_______mas)?
Either way you cut it, you cannot take Christ out of Christmas with Xmas and here is why.
Christ, Jesus title and not his last name, is spelled this way in Greek: Χριστός. Notice anything? That giant “X” is the Greek letter chi used to express what we would say in English as “ch”. So the X in Xmas is actually the first letter in Christ!
In fact in early Christian history the chi and the rho (the second letter which looks like an English “p” but actually is an “r”), or the first two letters of Christ, were a common symbol of the Christian faith; indeed long before the cross was ever considered. It was by this sign that the future Roman Emperor, Constantine, perceived in a dream that he would conquer by.
So the next time you see Xmas, don’t get upset, but take the time to explain, Christ can never be taken out of Christmas no matter how you cut it!