Was Jesus really born on December 25th?

As the festivities of Christmas sets in and before we get too engrossed with the celebrations - parties and giving of gifts - we need to reflect on the real reason for the season and I would like to share this thought with you - was Jesus really born ON Christmas day? If He were not born on that day, then why are churches celebrating His birth on such a day?

There were only two accounts of the birth of Jesus in the bible – Matthew 1:18–25 and Luke 2:1-20. Matthew’s account tells us of the announcement by the Angel Gabriel to Mary, the earthly mother of Jesus, that she would conceive supernaturally and bear a Son and that she and Joseph, her husband, were to name Him Jesus.

The gospel of Luke gives us a little more information by giving us a glimpse of the activities on the day of His birth. Luke told us that there was a big holiday in Israel on and around the day of His birth. And because of the importance of this festival (feast day as is known in the Old Testament), all the hotels and inns in Jerusalem and in all the surrounding towns were fully taken up by people who traveled from the other parts of Israel into Jerusalem to participate in these feasts. And looking at the Jewish calendar, there could only be two seasons when many important feasts are bunched up together –
- in March/ April during the Feast of Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of First Fruits and
- in September/ October during the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah), the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) and the Feast of Tabernacles

The Feast of Passover is usually observed in the homes of the people and rarely was there a requirement for the worshipper to make the long and arduous journey from their hometowns to Jerusalem. Also the Feast of First Fruits would be the time when the farmers would literally offer the first crop of the harvest to the Lord in worship (as a tithe). Therefore we may conclude that Jesus was not born in March or April during these feast days.

Could Jesus be born in September/ October then? Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur would most likely be the time of His birth as these two feasts required the Israelites to be physically present in the Temple at Jerusalem for the annual sacrifice of the scapegoat. The only other feast day which required the Israelite worshipper to be at the Temple was the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Pentecost as we know it and this is usually celebrated in May (fifty days after Easter). Certainly a reading of Luke’s account of His birth would indicate that the timing is most likely in September.

Another indication that Jesus was born in September (autumn) was the fact that the shepherds were still out in the fields with their sheep when the angels came to announce the good news of the birth of the Savior. If Jesus were really born in December, the wintry weather at night would have made it too unbearably cold for the shepherds and sheep to be out in the fields on that night. Trust me, December nights do get rather chilly as I was in Israel in December 2003.

Are there any other proofs apart from the scriptures that tell us that Jesus was not born in December? On the night that Jesus was born, there was a cosmic phenomenon – a star was born and this star was observed by the wise men in the East (believed by many bible scholars as from Persia or present day Iran). A check with the records kept by astronomers indicates that a new star indeed was ‘born’ in the constellation of Virgo on September 11, 3BC. The American historian Dr. Ernest L. Martin published an article in 1976 and later released his research entitled “The Birth of Christ Recalculated” in 1981 revealing that the signs in the sky on the night of Jesus’ birth occurred exactly on September 11, 3BC between 06:15PM and 07:49PM Eastern Standard Time (USA) and that would have been translated as between 02:15AM and 03:49AM Jerusalem time.

It must have been an exceptionally spectacular night for the shepherds for they were woken up from their sleep with the sheer brilliance from the host of angels gathered to give glory to God for the miracle of His birth. From Luke’s account, we read that the shepherds quickly left their shepherd fields outside Bethlehem and made their way to the stable where the baby was to be found. And when they found Him, they worshipped Him.

A recent study was made by some historians and bible scholars on the number of incidents that took place on September 11 stretching from 3BC till 2001 AD and an interesting list emerged. I am including the internet URL here for you to visit and read for yourselves http://www.september11news.com/Sept11History.htm

Also interesting to note was that the same scholars went to the Hebrew calendar and, after some lengthy mathematical algorithms, concluded that September 11, 3BC happened to be Tishri 01 (the first day in the Hebrew month of Tishri) and rabbis believe that Tishri 01 was the day that God created Adam and so the calendar started from thence. It thrills me to note that Tishri 01 is also the day of the Feast of Rosh Hashanah and the Hebrew New Year. Now is that not candid that God chose the same day that the first Adam was created to be the day that our Lord, the second Adam, was born? It is no wonder that the devil really hates the September 11th in our calendars.

So, if Jesus were really born on September 11th, what about December 25th? If we were to take the normal gestation period of 38 - 40 weeks for a pregnancy and calculate backwards we would have arrived at Dec 05th (40 weeks) or Dec 19th (38 weeks). What then happened in December and how did the church finally ended up with December 25th as Christmas day?

The Feast of Hanukkah or the Festival of Lights usually starts in mid-December and this festival will go on for eight days and ends somewhere around the 20's of December. During the festival, households will light one candle per evening on their Hanukkah lamps until the eight and final day and during the evening lighting of the candles, the story was retold of how the brave Maccabees led by Antiochus IV drove out the Syro-Grecians and restored the desecrated Temple in Jerusalem more than 2000 years ago.

The message of Hanukkah is that light overcomes the darkness and indeed it was so appropriate that the angel Gabriel should be sent at such a time to announce to Mary that the Savior was to be born and that she should be the mother of the Child. Certainly the Light had come and He shone in the land but His own knew Him not (John 1: 9-11).

History revealed that December 25 was indeed a Roman holiday where citizens celebrated the “Day of the Invincible Sun.” The leaders of the early Christian church chose this same day to celebrate the birth of Christ (instead of in September), in order to give Christians a rival holiday to those worshipping the pagan gods of Greece and Rome. Today although these gods are no longer worshipped, the church continues with this tradition and celebrates Christmas on December 25th.

Frankly, it is not important that we celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th or in September. What is more important is to remember the real reason why He came – to save a lost and dying world badly in need of a Savior. The Gift of Life had already been given by the Father when Jesus was born but what is paramount is that He chose to go to the cross and took our full penalty by dying in our place so that we can receive His gift of Life. Because He died, we need not be separated from the Father but we have reconciliation with Him through Christ our Lord. Have you been reconciled with the Father through the Blood of His Son Jesus Christ Who is now our Lord and Savior?