'Jesus Christ was born on Christmass Day' says the song. But was that December 25th? The answer is - almost certainly not. That is the 'official' birthday ˜ just as the Queen has two birthdays, her real one and her 'official' one, which is held in the summer when it's most convenient to present half-yearly honours.
To early Christians, exactly when Jesus was born was of no importance at all, but it so happened that the Roman festival of Saturnalia, which involved having parties and giving presents, began on December 25th and ended on January 6th. So to turn a pagan festival into a Christian one by making it Jesus' 'official' birthday seemed such a good idea that they did just that.
December 25th became 'the first day of Christmass' and January 6th 'Twelfth Night'.
So when was Jesus really born? We can't be absolutely certain, but we do have some interesting facts which help.
We know that round Bethlehem animals stayed indoors from November to March. Since the baby Jesus was laid in a manger, which was obviously not in use for feeding many animals at the time, he could not have been born later than early November or earlier in the year than March. So December is definitely out.
If we knew more about the Star of Bethlehem, which appeared when Jesus was born, we might also find a date. Halley's Comet has been suggested, which passed over in the year AD7. This would never have been seen before in the lifetime of most people, so it would have been a source of wonder.
But the comet would not have persuaded the 'Wise Men from the East' that the promised Jewish Messiah had been born. It would have had no connection at all with the prophecies. The Wise Men were actually the Magi, the professional 'magicians' (the word magic comes from Magi), astrologers and priests of ancient Persia. But something else would indeed connect. In the year 7 BC the planets Jupiter and Saturn started to move closer together in May, and by October were so close that to the naked eye (since telescopes had not been invented) they would seem to be one huge star in the constellation of Pisces.
According to the astrology of the Magi, Pisces meant Israel, Saturn was the sign of the promised Messiah, and Jupiter meant Royalty. To the Magi, this would indicate clearly that the promised Jewish Messiah had been born in Israel. They would therefore set off on the eight-hundred-mile journey from Iran to Israel ˜ always assuming, of course, that the huge 'star' really was the Star of Bethlehem of the Bible.
There is more evidence, though. When the Magi arrived in Bethlehem, after pausing to ask King Herod where the prophecies had said that the Messiah would be born, they found not a new-born baby but a 'young child', St Luke makes a point of that. After a journey of that distance, in those days, the baby certainly would have been several weeks old by the time of their arrival.
After December 4th, the two planets separated and the apparently huge 'star' ceased to exist. So, allowing for travelling time, it seems that Jesus had to be born somewhere between late October and early November, probably in the year 7 BC.
Not entirely convincing yet, is it? But there's more! We know that King Herod the Great died in the year 4BC, so Jesus must have been born before then. But now we have a little problem. Luke wrote that when Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem for the census, Quirinius was Governor of Syria. We know for a fact that the only census held when Quirinius held that position took place in AD 6—7. Herod was dead by then!
In fact, it seems that Luke made an easily-understood mistake. There was a census in 7 BC. The difference is that Quirinius was then the Military Commander of Syria under the Emperor Augustus. He was promoted to Governor some years later. So that date of 7 BC still fits the facts reasonably well.
There is one date in the gospels of which we can be absolutely sure. From John 2.12—20, we know that it was the time of Passover when Jesus began his teaching, forty-six years after Herod had built (or more precisely, rebuilt) the Temple at Jerusalem. And we know that when Herod did that ˜ in the year 19 BC. Jesus began his teaching, therefore, in the year AD 27.
written by Kenneth Ireland
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