For her son’s school "holiday party" last week, Julie West baked a birthday cake for the baby Jesus – a gesture of defiance both against his teachers and the growing campaign in America to remove any trace of Christmas from public life.
Six-year-old Aaron had brought home a note from his school, in Washington state, that asked parents to provide food that their family traditionally enjoyed during the holiday season.
"He asked for the cake I make at Christmas with the words ‘Happy Birthday Jesus’," said Ms West. "I called the school to let them know, but a few days later the teacher phoned back to say that I couldn’t bring the cake as the party was not a religious event."
Ms West, who attends a non-denominational church in Edmonds, near Seattle, was amazed. "It wasn’t an attempt to impose my beliefs on anyone. It was just a cake," she said. "I think all traditions and religions should be celebrated at this time of year."
After researching the issue on the internet she contacted the Rutherford Institute, a mainstream pressure group that defends religious freedom. It assured her that even though the American constitution bans the promotion of religion by the government, simply bringing a cake iced with "Happy Birthday Jesus" into the school broke no laws. "So I took the cake in for the party on Tuesday and none of the other parents or children were offended," she said. "The only comment was how delicious it was. [Source]
Now a theologically correct birthday cake cake for Jesus I think would include the following. Three layers to reflect the Trinity and two flavors of frosting to represent the two natures of Jesus. While Angels food cake wouldn’t be mandated, devils food would be out for sure. Now candles would really be a tricky situation. You would have to have infinite candles to reflect Jesus’ divine nature or 2000 plus candles to reflect his human nature.
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You could put a candle in the shape of a question mark in the middle of the cake. 🙂
Or, the letters A and Z (Latin’s Alpha and Omega)…..or a sideways 8….
One perfect candle?
Or one perfect beautiful candle…..that relights when blown out? 🙂
The one large candle in the middle could also represent the Divine Masculine, prepared to wed His ecclesiastical Bride.
Ha! How cool. When a friend of mine told me that his daughter (my goddaughter) wanted a birthday cake for Jesus, I was surprised. But it seems like children seem more naturally to understand why Christmas is historically significant.
But then who gets to blow it out? 😉
We celebrated Jesus’s birthday every year with a cake. It was round to represent His never ending love and world to which He was sent. It was chocolate cake to represent the sins of man the world. It was frosted in white frosting to represent the how He washed us white as snow. There was one red candle to represent both the blood He shed for us, and when it was lit, that He is the light of the world. and Royal Blue words that say “Happy Birthday Jesus” to represent His royalty as our king.
Some people do three layers, black (chocolate) for our sins, red (strawberry or cherry) for the blood he shed, and green (white with food coloring) for the everlasting life given to us.
Some people incorporate the green for everlasting life with fake evergreen leaves placed around the bottom of the cake as decoration.
Some people put the star of David on the cake to represent the sign that was given to the world of His birth.
Some people put an angel on the cake, can’t remember why though . . .
I plan on starting this tradition with my family this year – now that our daughter is old enough to understand about birthdays.