There were similar holidays celebrated around this same time of year (including Hanukkah), but when one looks into the details, that had little bearing as to how the church chose the date.

The church had a celebration on Mar. 25 (another date not mentioned in the Bible, but a traditionally given date) as the day the angel spoke to Mary about being conceived by the Holy Spirit. Nine months from conception is Dec. 25. Eventually, the date where everyone gets presents (in an imitation of the wise men) is the holiday that became more famous, and people hardly remember the Mar. 25 celebration at all anymore. I had to do a lot of research myself to find it out.

Christmas is often *is* about commercialism, but that doesn't mean it *should* be. And the point of the special is that we need to be reminded sometimes of how things should be.