Christmas is such a wonderful time of the year, don’t you think?? Christmastime is the season we celebrate the birth of that baby boy Jesus!! The message of Jesus the Messiah coming to earth as a human, living a sinless life, dying at the hands of executioners (not for His crimes but for our crime), being buried, then 3 days later rising from the dead…that message…the Gospel…is a message powerful enough to dispel all our fears. The greatest fears embedded into the human psyche are the fears of death and eternal hell. Jesus the Messiah, the little baby born in Bethlehem…resolved, reconciled and released the requirement for us to experience the sting of death and eliminated the reason for us to spend eternity separated from God in hell. Jesus is our peace, Jesus brings peace, Jesus gives us peace; a man at peace has no need to fear anything! Don’t be afraid…born this day is a Savior! 

Born this day…December 25^th?? Is December 25^th the day Jesus was born? Well there’s much confusion and debate about the actual day Jesus was born. They’re various reasons why December 25^th was selected as his birth date. However, in scripture God doesn’t tell the exact date of his birth. Personally I think the reason for God’s silence is because He knows us all too well. If He told us the exact day, through the decades and centuries, chances are humanity would begin to worship the day and forget all about Jesus. There’d be all sorts of superstitions, magical rites, crazy ceremonies and the like to worship this venerated date! That’s just the way we are…pagan at heart!

Since there is no firm date, December 25^th is as good a day as any to celebrate Jesus’ birthday. The point of the story is God giving Himself to a cross and an empty tomb! His birth is the catalyst point for His life as a fully God yet fully human being. December 25^th is the day we celebrate Jesus. We do not celebrate December 25^th!

December 25^th could be the day Jesus was actually born but there are many reasons to doubt that as the day. If December 25^th isn’t the day Jesus was born, do you ever wonder what day it could have been? They’re many theories about the actual date Jesus was born. Through the years I’ve read and studied the various theories and proposals with no real definitive proof that any of them are correct. Let me briefly give you one speculative argument that to me seems the most logical and probable date Jesus was born. I’m not saying this is THE ANSWER, all I’m saying is this is the proposal I tend to go with because it seems the most reasonable to me.

Let’s call this the early spring date, it goes something like this….

This early spring idea begins with Luke 2:8. In this verse it says the Shepherds were out in the fields at night. That statement narrows the time of year down to mid spring or summer or early fall when it was warm enough to be “out” in the fields. One theory suggests Jesus was born during the Jewish feast of Tabernacles but I think we can rule out the fall feasts because during Tabernacles all males had to be in Jerusalem. Neither Joseph nor the shepherds would’ve been in Bethlehem during the time when God commanded them to be in Jerusalem. Jesus wouldn’t have been born breaking the law He created. Jesus’ birth fulfilled the law.

Shepherds were out in the fields at night. Why would they be out at night in the fields watching over their sheep? They do this primarily one season in the year, in the spring when the sheep give birth to lambs. Sheep are seasonal breeders; they give birth typically one season of the year in the early spring mid-February through April. The majority of sheep would be born during this period. The shepherds would be “out” in the fields overnight during this season to watch over the birthing sheep, to care for the new lambs. This birthing season tended to occur during the Hebrew months of Adar and Nissan, February to April. The shepherds watching for lambs to be born are the most likely candidates watching for the birth of THE LAMB of GOD.

Bethlehem was in close proximity to the Temple. Most of the lambs used in Temple sacrifices were born in the Bethlehem area in early spring. Its proximity to Jerusalem made it a convenient place to raise and keep lambs for Temple use. Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of God, was most likely born at the time when the sacrificial lambs were born; we know he was born where the sacrificial lambs were born.

God, instituting the Passover during the month of Nisan, says take a lamb a perfect lamb that’s 1 year old. For the Passover lamb to be 1 year old it must have been born one year earlier during the Passover season. From a rabbinic tradition they’d try to get a lamb as close to one year old as they could. The Passover lamb is born and sacrificed during the Passover season. Jesus, our Passover Lamb of God, was crucified during Passover so it stands to reason, to keep the parallel imagery intact, He most probably was born during the Passover season. The major events of Jesus’ life occurred during the Feast days, the Holy days of Israel.

The first Holy Day given in Scripture Exodus 12:3 is the day of “Taking” the Lamb / Presenting the Lamb / Bring in or Accepting the Lamb. The 10^th of Nisan was the date God told Israel to take the perfect 1 year old lamb, bring it into house, and keep it until the 14^th. The 10^th was the day Israel would “accept” the lamb for sacrifice. This was the day we celebrate as Palm Sunday. The day Israel was “taking and accepting” the lamb to their houses; God was “taking” His lamb to His house and presenting him to Israel for their “acceptance”. As the Lamb is being led to Israel’s house, Jesus is on a donkey being led to God’s house! Jesus dies on Passover, is buried during Unleavened Bread, rises on First Fruits, His church is born on Pentecost.

It stands to reason Jesus would be born on a significant Holy Day of Israel…but which one? The autumn feasts are all connected to His Second coming, it’s more likely His first coming would be connected to the spring season during the month of Nisan. Nisan means the beginning. Going backwards as God does things in order Jesus resurrects on the 17^th of Nisan, Jesus is killed on the 14^th of Nisan, Jesus is “taken to the house” on the 10^th day of Nisan so that leaves only 9 days in which Jesus could be born if God sticks to a prescribed timing and ordered arrangement. So what day before the 10^th would have the theme of the beginning of the year the beginning of everything…Nisan 1! God’s New Year, the first day of the Hebrew year Exodus 12:2. This is not a day all men needed to be in Jerusalem, the shepherds would’ve been in the field, and this first day of the year changed the calendar year just as Jesus changed everything. I think Nissan 1 is the most likely candidate for Jesus’ birthday!

Let’s assume Nissan 1 is the day Jesus was born…which Nissan 1? Well Luke gives us another clue. In Luke 1 the Angel Gabriel visits a priest named Zachariah and announces he’ll have a special son John. Luke says Zachariah served in the course of Abijah. To make the temple priest duties more organized and efficient, King David divided the priesthood into 24 courses or groups. I Chronicles 24:1-18 gives the order of the 24 divisions of the Levitical priesthood. Each group would serve individually for 1 week twice per year. All groups would serve together on the three Feast weeks Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles.

Abijah was the 8^th division and the Talmud, the Jewish commentary on the scriptures, gives a week when a priestly course began, so we can calculate the week the course of Abijah served. We can tie the priesthood duties to a particular day. Without getting technical I’ll give just the highlights! The Talmud says on a Wednesday during a particular spring equinox the 22nd course of Gamul was serving. That date was Wednesday, March 25, 42BC. Going forward from that date we can predict all the serving seasons of the remainder of priestly courses. The Talmud also says the priestly division of Jehoiarib was serving Sunday, Aug 3, AD 70 when the Temple was destroyed by the Romans. We can take these dates forward and backward which leads us to the date of the Abijah course of Priest Service when the Angel would’ve spoken to John’s father. Combine that with the time of Mary’s Angelic visitation 6 months after the Angel visited Zachariah connected to the idea of the lamb being born in the spring. It projects Jesus was very likely born Nisan 1…March 20 6BC! I’m not suggesting this is the only date possible; it’s a date that to me seems the most reasonable.

Now in the long scheme of things, it really doesn’t matter what day Jesus was actually born. We know He came as a baby, lived to adulthood, died on the cross, was buried and rose the third day. Because of Jesus, we have the right to become the children of God. Praise Jesus for His willingness to carry out this amazing spectacular unbelievable plan just because he loves you and me. But it’s interesting to ponder details like this if nothing else than it makes it more real! Fear not…for born unto you this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord!