“Another Look at the Date of Christ’s Birth”

Noel Goh, Pastor and Professor

Methodist Seminary, Singapore

          Christmas is a church tradition that celebrates and commemorates  on December 25 the miraculous event of birth of the Son of God from a virgin’s womb to save the world from sin. It is a festivity that continues to have a major impact on the commercial world as well as family gatherings and gifts giving. Many look forward to this year-end Christmas break even if the significance of the birth of the Christ child is not fully appreciated or embraced. The result is a much treasured and much loved holiday.

Objective of this Study

          Recognizing the huge popular sentiment associated both in ecclesiastical as well as secular circles, this review of whether December 25 is truly the date of Christ’s birth, seeks fresh insights from the written account available in the Bible for a possible re-dating of Christ’s actual birth.

          Given the weight of tradition and sentiment resting on December 25, it would not be unreasonable to encounter the axiom – “don’t confuse me with the facts; my mind is already made up.” Not withstanding that, allow me to respectfully invite you to an open review of the question: Was Jesus born on December 25 or at another time?

          Many people acknowledge that Christ was not born on December 25.  Even Sunday school children participating in nativity plays, especially as shepherds, realize that it would be much too cold for shepherds to be outdoors watching their flocks by night in the bleak mid-winter, even if it is only a milder winter in Israel. Furthermore, many more are aware of how the origin of Christmas on 25 December derives from the celebration of the return of the Sun god on the day of the winter solstice–a day which is now corrected to December 21. History records how the Catholic church stepped in and redeemed an otherwise festival of great wanton orgy in Roman times and transforming it into a festival commemorating the birth of the Son of God.

The Focus of Our Study

          As we take a fresh look at the Gospels’ account of the nativity, our concern is to determine, not the year of Christ’s birth, but the approximate time of the year when it occurred. Simply stated: “Do the scriptural records offer clues to ascertain a more likely season in the calendar year when the birth of Jesus would have taken place instead of December 25?”

          In reviewing the infancy narratives in the four gospels, one quickly realizes the limited information on dates that are available. However, the account by Luke has more details than the other three which should not surprise us since Luke was a doctor concerned with accuracy. In fact, the Gospel opens expressing the intent to provide an orderly account of carefully investigated facts: “Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught” (Luke 1:3-4).

          A likely year could be established from Luke 1:5 “in the time of ....” but as mentioned earlier, this is not our primary concern. Suffice to say that Luke sets the narrative in time and history and introduces the key player for our consideration.

The Key Person

          His name is Zechariah. We remember him as the father of John the Baptist, an uncle of Jesus. He became dumb from the time the birth of his son was announced by the angel in Luke 1:20,  until his son was named on his 8th day nine months later. On returning home after duty, most likely he did not take time to get his “act” together given the gravity of this revelation. The cooperation of his wife Elizabeth was obviously needed, but there was the added difficulty of convincing her without the use of speech, given that they were also both well along in years and had no children before. But soon enough, pregnancy occurred and Luke 1:24 gives the first of four time indications.

Four Time Indications

          “After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion” (Luke 1:24). This seclusion may be because of age or perhaps out of embarrassment at her conception finally happening and only as it seems when her husband has lost his power of speech.

          A month later, Doctor Luke records another major theophany (appearance of the angel of God into time, space and history). “In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26-27).

          This is the second time indication occurring in the sixth month of her cousin Elizabeth’s pregnancy and it happened in a home instead of the Temple, to a young woman betrothed and awaiting marriage instead of an elderly priest.

          The indication of the sixth month of Elizabeth’s conception should not be confused with the sixth month of the calendar year, especially as referring to the month of June in the Gregorian calendar that we are so familiar with. Unlike the Gregorian calendar, the Lunar Calendar used by the Jews as well as the Moslems and the Chinese is based on the sighting of a new moon.

          In this theophany, the angel announced to Mary her pregnancy commencing in the sixth month of her cousin Elizabeth’s. “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month” (Luke 1:36)

          This is the third time indication supporting the reference to a time duration rather than a specified calendar month. The final time indication is after a further three months. “Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home” (Luke 1:56).

          Mary’s visit to Elizabeth was to see for herself and in all probability stayed on the remaining three months till the full term of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, before returning to prepare for her own delivery. She may have assisted her cousin in the birth of John the Baptist and may even be present for the eighth day circumcision when the happy father miraculously recovered his speech on confirming the child’s name in writing.

          These four biblical references (Luke 1:24, 26, 36 and 56) are the only explicit references available in the gospel accounts associated with the timing of Jesus’ birth and they leave the dating rather inconclusive to say the least.

          But since Mary’s conception is related to Elizabeth’s, is there some indication when Elizabeth’s conception took place six months before giving a total of (6+9) 15 months later as the date of Jesus’ birth? The answer is yes albeit not explicitly stated. There appears to be a time indication in Elizabeth’s conception locked in a key word that requires the help of an Old Testament passage to unlock.

The Key Word

          For this we need to return again to Zechariah, to whom the angel announced his impending fatherhood in the Temple. The key that unlocks a plausible time indication is in a single word innocuously located in Luke 1:5 – “Abijah”: “In the days of Herod. king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah.”

          This is a particular division of the priestly orders which rosters duties in the Temple and has a time sequence within a calendar year. What is apparent to Doctor Luke and his readers during his time may not be apparent to us two millennia away and in a setting where our appreciation of the culture in the Bible needs to also return to our roots in the Old Testament.

          For an understanding of a specific time indication of Zechariah’s time of duty in the annual priestly roster in the Temple, we need to turn 1 Chronicles 24. This chapter lists the divisions of the priests on duty in the Temple. The earlier chapter of 1 Chronicles 23 recounts how it was reserved only for the sons and descendents of the high priest, Aaron. Aaron had four sons but two died in the incident of offering strange fires before the Lord and did not have any descendents (v. 2). The remaining two had, sixteen sons from Eleazar and eight sons from Ithamar, making a total of twenty-four (v. 4). 

The Annual Roster of the Priestly Families Serving at the Temple

          In preparing his son, Solomon, to build the Temple, King David not only arranged for the building materials but also organized these twenty-four heads of households, the remaining descendents of Aaron into an annual roster for their priestly duties in the Temple. Assisted by Zadok and Abimelech (both direct descendents from the two remaining sons of Aaron), David rostered these twenty-four into divisions according to “... their appointed duties in their service” (1 Chron 24:3, 18). This order was made by drawing lots impartially as to who would go first and who follows in a chronological sequence (1 Chron 24:5). In the drawing of their appointed order, Abijah fell on the eighth slot (1 Chron 24:10).

          When twenty-four divisions were rostered annually in this way, each month would have two divisions on duty and Abijah as the eighth would fall in the second half of the fourth month. I believe we now have a time indication herein. One question still remains. Do we know when these priestly duties commence in the calendar year? Was it in January when we traditionally begin the new year of the Gregorian calendar?

          To refer to January would be altogether strange and unknown to King David and all the priests so rostered at that time and later on until the time of Jesus in the New Testament. The Jews as we intimated earlier, follow the lunar calendar consisting of twelve lunar months, in which there are two new years:  the religious New Year that began in their month of Nissan and the civil New Year that began in their month of Tishre, seven months from Nissan. As you may recall, it was on the 14th day of Nissan that the Feast of Passover was and is celebrated. Since this is a priestly order, it is likely the priests began their roster with this month of Nissan. Thus, Abijah would be scheduled to serve in the second half of the fourth month.

          Tabulating the chronology and correlating the Jewish calendar with our Gregorian calendar, we can summarize as follows:

		Jewish Calendar		Gregorian Calendar
1.	Zechariah on duty (v.5) Angel appears (v.8-11)	4^th month	Tammaz	June – July
2.	After duty, Zechariah returns home (v.23) Elizabeth conceives (v.24)	5^th month	Abraham	July – August
3.	6 months later, Mary conceives (v.26)	10^th month	Tebeth	December – January
4.	3 months later, birth of John the Baptizer	13^th  i.e. 1^st  month of following year	Nissan	March – April
5.	6 months later, birth of Jesus	19^th  i.e.7^th month of following year	Tishre	September – October

The Month of Tishre

          It appears the birth of Jesus is more likely to be in the fall season of the year, some time in the months of September and October in our Gregorian calendar. That it falls in the month of Tishre for the Jewish calendar is even more significant.

          The month of Tishre as the seventh month in the Jewish/Hebrew calendar is a very special month in autumn. This is the only month that begins with one of the seven feasts of the Lord (Lev 23:24) called the Feast of Trumpets. Ten days after this new moon sighting (considered as ten days of holy awe) the most holy day in the whole calendar year is observed, called Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Five days later, begins the final of the seven Feasts of the Lord, called the Feast of Tabernacles. This is the most joyous of all of the feast with a distinct command attached to it to rejoice.  It begins on the fifteenth and lasts eight days. The Feast of Tabernacles marks the final ingathering of the harvest. And so the whole seventh month has a special significance, not unlike the significance of the seventh day (Sabbath) or the seventh weeks from the Passover to Pentecost.

          The word “tabernacle” has a corroborating significance in the Gospel of John. In John 1:14, the apostle declares that the “word,” referring to Jesus, became flesh and made his dwelling among us. In speaking of the incarnation (God became flesh), the word “dwelling” is sometimes also translated “tabernacle” as Jesus “tabernacled” in our midst. Could it be that Jesus’ birth occurred on the Feast of Tabernacle, the fifteenth of Tishre and His circumcision took place eight days later when Jesus is taken to the Temple?

The Conclusion

          The Tabernacle given to Moses to build in the wilderness was expressly intended for God to dwell in the midst of the people for the centrality of worship in their newly constituted theocratic nationhood (Ex 25:8,9). And so when He whose name is Emmanuel – God with us (Matt 1:23) was born, He dwelt with us so that we may as John puts it in verse 14, “behold His glory, the glory of the One and only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth.”

          Therefore could the idea of “tabernacling” albeit an archaic word, also offers us a clue as to the more likely time of the calendar year for Jesus coming in His First Advent as well as in His Second Advent?  Perhaps the relevance of this review is not just one of historical accuracy but also of eschatological alignment, by proposing not only a review but also a renewal.