On Christmas Eve, a controversial article published by Christianity Today sparked heated debates on social media regarding Jesus Christ's ethnicity. Titled "How Asian Artists Picture Jesus' Birth From 1240 to Today," the article written by Victoria Emily Jones argued that Jesus was born in Asia and was, therefore, Asian. Jones supported her claim with a photo essay featuring nine pieces of artwork from various Asian cultures depicting the Nativity. According to Jones, by representing Jesus as Asian, Christian artists could convey a deeper theological meaning of the universality of Christ's birth.

However, despite being published on December 18, the article only gained attention on December 24 after the outlet shared it on the social media platform X. The outlet captioned the post, "The artists in this photo essay bring him back to Asia-but not to ancient Israel. These nine artworks 'proclaim the expansiveness of Christ's kingdom.'" This post quickly drew criticism and mockery from social media commentators on X, who rejected the article's premise. Joel Berry, the managing editor for Christian satire news site The Babylon Bee, sarcastically commented, "Next, can you please do an article with a bunch of AI images of Jesus if He were Rosa Parks." Buzz Patterson, a columnist and author for RedState, responded to the post by asking, "Did you guys read the Bible?"

Christian blogger Samuel Sey strongly opposed the article, stating, "Blasphemy. Jesus is a Jew." Sey emphasized that Jesus' historicity should not be undermined and that representing him as anything other than a brown male born into a Jewish family in Bethlehem of Judea in the first century was incorrect. He continued, "It's necessary for our salvation that he is a son of David, from the tribe of Judah, and born in Bethlehem. Stop this nonsense. He isn't European, Asian, Palestinian, or black. He's a Jew-the king of the Jews and, therefore, the savior of the world."

The controversy surrounding Jesus' ethnicity extended beyond Christianity Today, as Father Edward Beck on CNN's Christmas morning referred to Jesus as a "Palestinian Jew born into a time when his country was occupied." This statement drew heavy criticism on social media, with many accusing Beck of promoting incorrect historical information about Jesus Christ.

In conclusion, the article published by Christianity Today, which suggested that portraying Jesus as Japanese, Indonesian, or Indian could convey the universality of Christ's birth, ignited a storm of debates on social media. While some supported the idea, others vehemently argued that Jesus was a Jew and any other representation would undermine his historicity. The controversy surrounding Jesus' ethnicity continued with criticisms directed at Father Edward Beck for referring to Jesus as a “Palestinian Jew” during a CNN segment.