We are now in the twelve day season of Christmas. It begins on Christmas Day and continues to January 5th. Dr. Dennis Bratcher, a Church of the Nazarene professor has a great article on the Twelve Days of Christmas. He also has a great resource of devotionals for the next twelve days, so I’ll be sharing the links to those for each day.
In addition to the links, I thought I would share some of the symbolism of the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.” I hope you enjoy.
On the First Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me….
A Partridge in a Pear Tree
The partridge in a pear tree is Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, whose birthday we celebrate on December 25, the first day of Christmas. In the song, Christ is symbolically presented as a mother partridge that feigns injury to decoy predators from her helpless nestlings, recalling the expression of Christ’s sadness over the fate of Jerusalem: “Jerusalem! Jerusalem! How often would I have sheltered you under my wings, as a hen does her chicks, but you would not have it so . . . .” (Luke 13:34)
