When Was Jesus Born?
Luke 2:1-7
I have titled this sermon, “When Was Jesus Born?”
You will note that it is not, “Was Jesus Born?”
There is no reason at all to doubt that a baby was born some 2,000 years ago whose life and teachings turned the world upside down.
It is as close to historical fact as you will find.
We have so many trustworthy accounts that Christ walked this earth that only those suffering from rabid madness against God will deny the truth.
There are few births in history that we know so many details about.
You will find legendary figures that we are not sure existed or at least existed in the way they are known to us – such as King Arthur or Robin Hood, but we know exactly who Jesus is and what He did.
You will find historical figures that we are not sure who their parents are, yet we know exactly who Mary and Jospeh are.
You will find historical figures that we know little about their extended family, but Luke tells us Mary had a cousin whose son was John the Baptist.
You will find historical figures that we cannot track their movements or quote their words with any certainty, yet in Christ we have four reliable biographies.
You fill find historical figure that history reassesses over time, and they become less important and are forgotten, but Christ is more important and more well-known in our day than in any other.
Yet there still some details about the life of Christ that we wish we knew more about.
Some people have tried to fill these gaps using their imagination – such as the fanciful stories you will find about Christ as a child.
Some have tried to ignore the details of the Christ we know to create a Christ to fit their own opinion or agenda.
One of the most common questions about Christ that is not clearly stated in the Bible is exactly when He was born.
We have a lot of details about his birth, but the exact date or time is not explicitly given.
For the last 1,700 years or so, Christians have set aside December 25th as the day to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Before I give my opinion on the accuracy of this date, let me explain where it came from.
There has been a lot of misinformation about the origins of Christmas traditions that has many to falsely claim pagan roots for much the celebration.
Remember the wise words of Abraham Lincoln – “Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.”
This goes for more than just the date of Christmas, and includes things like Christmas trees, which are based on the Paradise tree used in Paradise Plays in 16th century Germany, and even Santa Claus, who is based on a real person named Saint Nicholas who lived in the 3rd-4th centuries.
There are popular claims that the date of Christmas is tied to the Roman celebration of Saturnalia, but it was not on December 25.
There are other claims Christians hijacked the pagan feast celebrating Sol Invictus on the December 25th and Christianized it.
There is actually some evidence that the reverse is true, that the pagans were reacting to a Christian celebration when emperor Aurelian instituted the feast in 274.
So why did we end up with the date of December 25th being set aside to honor Christ’s birth?
It is actually very easy.
The reason we celebrate Christmas on December 25th is because it is nine months from March 25th.
Can’t argue with that logic, can you?
So, what is important about March 25 that Christmas is based off of it?
The nine months time frame may have given it away.
It is when the Christians at least as early as the 2nd Century celebrated the Annunciation, which is when Gabriel told Mary she was going to have the Son of God in Luke 1.
Makes sense, right?
Gabriel says Mary will have a baby and nine months later she does.
But how did they decide that Gabriel appeared to Mary on March 25?
Two reasons.
First, there was an assumption in those early days saintly individuals died on the same day they were conceived or born.
They thought this because in the Old Testament ages were given in years without months or days added.
Second, there was a belief that Christ died on March 25.
This fits well with the timing of the Jewish Passover in conjunction with the Roman calendar.
Tertullian, of the most well-known Christian leaders of his day, wrote around the year 200 that Christ was crucified in “the month of March, at the times of the Passover, on the eighth day before the calends of April”, which works out to be March 25.
So, if you are still following along, because Christ was crucified on March 25, it was believed that was also the day He entered Mary’s womb.
That is how December 25 became associated with Christ’s birth.
It is so simple, right?
Now, if you’ll bear with me a few minutes I will give you some Gageology before making some practical observations.
The question we face now: Is December 25 the real date that Christ was born?
I am fairly certain that the year was 4 B.C., which I am not going to get into my reasoning for that.
Are there any clues in the Bible about when Christ was born?
Luke actually gives us a few clues.
He tells about the Birth of John the Baptist, which involves John’s father Zacharias serving in the Temple.
It says in 1:5 that Zacharias was a priest in the order of Abia.
This was one of 24 divisions of priests which served 1-week rotations twice a year.
For Zacharias, his first rotation would have been after Pentecost in early June.
During this week, Gabriel announced that John the Baptist would be born.
Assuming this is June, that makes nine months later to be March the following year.
Now, in 1:26 it says “in the sixth month”, which is referring to the Elisabeth’s pregnancy with John, that Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce she would bear the Christ child.
So, Christ would be born about born about six months after John, making it roughly September or perhaps October.
Would there be any significance to Christ being born in September or October?
There are three major Jewish Feasts that occur during this time.
Feast of Trumpet – New Years – Rosh Hashanah
Day of Atonement – Yom Kippur
Feast of Tabernacles – Sukkot
Would not the birth of Christ, a new beginning, be fitting for a New Years Day?
Would not the birth of Christ, the lamb of God, be fitting for the Day of Atonement?
Would not the birth of Christ, God veiled in human flesh, be fitting for the Feast of Tabernacles?
Personally I think it was around or after the Feast of Tabernacles.
Now, if you are still awake, I have one more question to ask.
DOES IT MATTER WHEN CHRIST WAS BORN?
Doctrinally, I do not think it does.
If it did, God would have told us plainly.
Theologically, I do not think it does.
I am not sure what changes if Christ is born in one month or another,
When it comes to Apologetics, that is the defense of our faith, I think it does matter.
I want to be able to prove the accuracy or even the plausibility of the Gospel accounts.
Even if I am wrong in my personal calculations and assumptions, it is still compatible with the history we know.
There is no reason to doubt that what the Bible says is true.
Christ really was born in Bethlehem in the days of Caesar Augustus.
It is historical fact.
It is trustworthy.
More importantly, it is faith worthy.
Christ was born just as the prophets had foretold.
He was the descendant of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and King David, just like they said.
He was born in Bethlehem just like they said.
He was born of a virgin, just like they said.
That is of the utmost importance.
We have talked a lot about history this morning, but we have some critical doctrine to talk about here.
Babies are born every day, and I do believe each one is a miracle
But no baby, no birth has ever occurred like it did on the first Christmas.
Those of us who defend the sanctity of life will often say that life begins at conception.
Friends, Christ did not begin at conception.
Lewis Sperry Chafer wrote:
“On the human side, He had a beginning and was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was born of the Virgin Mary. On the divine side, he no beginning because He was from all eternity.”
Isaiah 9:6 says that “unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given”
The Son was not born, He was given to us.
Christ, coequal with the Father and the Spirit in the Trinity, had no beginning.
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
He was not created or made – that is a heresy from the earliest days of Christianity called Arianism.
The great God of the universe that spoke the worlds into existence left the glories of heaven and laid aside the majesty that enveloped Him.
He took upon Himself the veil of human flesh – Romans 8:3 says the likeness of sinful flesh, that is like us but undefiled by Adam’s fall.
He entered the womb of a mother as His body developed according to the same processes of every human child.
Think about it – the limitless God that not even the breadth and scope of the universe can contain, allowed Himself to be the size of pea, then a grape, then an apple, then a grapefruit, then a melon, then a pumpkin.
All the while He was 100% God and 100% Man.
The newborn babe that Mary held was Immanuel, God with us.
He humbled Himself to the human experience of physical growth and development.
It was thirty years before He would perform a single miracle or preach a single sermon.
He knew hunger and pain.
He wept tears of joy and of sorrow.
Why would the Great God Almighty do such a thing?
Why would the Father let the Son suffer so?
Christ came to reveal God to us.
We see God in every word and every deed.
Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost.
It was a rescue mission!
He came to redeem us and ransom us from our sins.
He came to die in our stead.
He came to conquer death, hell, and the grave.
He came so that all men would know that God loved them even while they were vile sinners and at enmity with God.
He came to rescue the lost and undone.
He came to give hope to the hopeless.
He came to lift up the feeble and encourage the fainthearted.
He came bring us into the family of God.
He came to give eternal life to all that receive His free gift of salvation.
He came so that we need not fear what lies ahead.
He came so that light would pierce the darkness in this world and in ourselves.
He came to pay the price of our salvation, the destroy the plans of Satan, and to guarantee that all that come to Him will be received.
If that is not reason enough to set aside a day to celebrate, I do not know what is.
If that is not reason enough to trust our souls in His care, I do not know what is.
If that is not reason enough to live everyday as Christmas, I do not know what is.
CONCLUSION
- Do not let those who do not know Christ or Christianity tell you what to believe.
- That includes how and why we celebrate Christmas.
- Pity those that do not know the joy we have in our hearts.
- Live every day like Christmas.
- Live every day celebrating the Savior.
- Live every day showing love to fellow man.
- Put your faith in the one we celebrate.