I don't seek controversy or "vain arguments", which the Bible tells us to avoid (Titus 3:9). Because the Bible is an extremely complex, supernatural book, there is ample room for differences of opinion about interpretations.
Generally, I was "raised" with a very Western frame of reference for interpreting biblical events, a framework also influenced by church decisions made in the 4th century. These factors can lead to erroneous assumptions, such as the date on which Jesus was born. Most of us were taught in church that December 25th is Jesus' birthday. We never had cause to question this date.
This post, and those following, are written to cause you to consider whether or not that date is correct. I present this information merely as a topic of interest, not to "convert" you to this position. We, after all, live in a very different culture than that of 4 B.C. It is a wonderful thing to celebrate Jesus' birth, any and every day of the year.
In reality, the actual calendar date of Jesus' birth is not overly important in the overall scheme of things. It is not a major theological issue. However, in my study of how culture operated in the first century A.D., and just prior, I've encountered some fascinating theories about this topic.
In order to establish the date of Jesus' birth, we must look at what the Bible says. It gives clear clues as to when Jesus was born. The problem becomes our lack of understanding of Levitical practice and of Judaism in general. These impede our understanding. No detail given in the Bible is insignificant, though we may "read past" some phrases that seem so.
One such detail is found in Luke 1:5 - -
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, and whose wife Elizabeth was a daughter of Aaron.
(Berean Study Bible version)
Of the many times I've read this verse, I've skipped right over the underlined portion. "What does it even mean anyway? What difference does it make anyhow?"
In 1 Chronicles 24, we see that King David divided the priestly, Levitical families up into 24 "courses" or "service divisions". Each family was assigned two weeks each calendar year to serve in the Temple - - one week in the first half, and one week in the second half. These two weeks of service were in addition to those of the three "mandatory" festivals - - the ones where all the Jewish males had to come to Jerusalem for the religious events. Those three were Unleavened Bread (which includes Passover), Shavuot (the Christian term is Pentecost) and Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles). During those three festivals, all of the priests served in the Temple, due to the many festival-related tasks needing doing.
In 1 Chronicles 24:10, the course of Abijah (each course or division was named for its ancestral family head) was listed as the eighth course. Every year, the first division/course served the first week of Abib (Aviv) and so on, allowing for the "exception" weeks mentioned above. That being the case, the Abijah group served the 10th week the first half of the year, which is when Zechariah would have been in the Holy of Holies encountering the angel. (How do we know this event did not occur in the second half of the year, during Zechariah's week of service? That will be explained in a later post about the "wise men"; hang on.)
In Leviticus 12:5 and 15:19 and 15:25, we learn that there were certain times priests were prohibited from having sexual relations with their wives. Therefore, if two additional weeks are factored in, and allowing for a normal 40-week pregnancy, the birth of John the Baptist would have occurred at the Feast of Unleavened Bread (and Passover).1
Traditionally, the Jewish people have looked for the appearance of Elijah at the Passover feast. This expectation is so strong and widely held, the fifth cup of wine poured at the Passover feast is called "Elijah's cup", and is left untouched. At one point in the meal the door to the home is held open, so that Elijah can enter and join the feast. This belief, that Elijah will return to herald the advent of the Messiah, is established from Malachi 3:1.
1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
You may recall the words of John the Baptist, recorded in John 1:23. His words echoed these words of Malachi, who had been hearkening back to Isaiah 40:3. John the Baptist apparently saw himself as the Elijah who was to come, who would prepare the way for the advent of Messiah.
Twice in the gospels, Jesus referred to John the Baptist as having fulfilled that role, as being the "Elijah" of their day. (See Mark 9:11-12 and Matthew 17:10-11.)
I'm getting rather far afield here, but the most cogent point is that John the Baptist was born at Passover.
Then.....
Luke 1:26-33 tells us that Gabriel visited Mary in the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, which on the Jewish calendar would have been toward the end of the month of Kislev or the beginning of Tevet (December, on the Roman calendar). This is the time of the more recent feast of Chanukah (Hanukkah), which runs Chislev 25 through Tevet 3. If you count from there through the nine months of a normal pregnancy you arrive at . . . Sukkot, Feast of Tabernacles.
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
John 1:14 (King James 2000)
The Greek word translated "dwelt" here is eskēnōsen . I have heard my pastor translate that word as "pitched His tent". Biblehub.com3 translates it as: "to dwell as in a tent, encamp; have my tabernacle". The Apostle John used a Sukkot reference (building a sukkah, or tabernacle) here because Jesus was born during Sukkot, perhaps?
Sources:
1 Good, J. (1998). Rosh HaShanah and the Messianic Kingdom to come: an interpretation of the Feast of Trumpets based upon ancient sources. Nederland, TX: Hatikva
2 https://reformjudaism.org/passover-mystery-fifth-cup
3 https://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/1-14.htm
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