By Nishant Xavier –
Lord Jesus Christ was truly born on Christ-Mas Day!
“Christ-Mas is one of the Most Blessed and Beautiful Time of the Year. The Amazing Wonder of God’s Infinite Love, the Lovely Carols, the Bright Stars, and the Humble Cribs fill us all with Joy and Peace beyond all measure. Christ-Mas reveals that God became Man just to be Our Saviour. He became Man because He loved us so much that He did not wish to remain in Heaven but willed to Redeem us from our sins. And in order to do this, He needed to come down from Heaven and be born as a Baby Boy. And so, of the Purest Virgin Mother Mary, He was Born as a Most Beautiful Baby Boy on Christ-Mas.
But some Atheists and Non-Christians claim that Lord Jesus Christ was not truly born on Christ-Mas Day; that the Gospels do not say this, and that this was rather later invented by the Church, allegedly in the fourth or fifth century after Christ’s Birth. Is there any Truth to these claims? No, none at all.
In this article, we will deduce step-by-step, from the First Century Gospels, the Birth of Jesus Christ.
“First Point: John the Baptist was conceived around late September near the Day of Atonement.
The Hebrew calendar [1] shows that the Day of Atonement (called Yom Kippur [2]) was on Sep. 19, 3 B.C. It is the contention of this article that the Baptist was conceived around this time, when St. Zachariah was ministering in the Temple. In other words, the story of our salvation began on the ancient Day of Atonement commanded by God, one of the holiest days in Judaism, which is highly fitting. It is here that the Gospel events recorded by Saint Luke in Chapter 1 really begin to take off.
Gospel of Saint Luke, 1:5: “In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechari’ah, of the division of Abi’jah; and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.”
As Dr. Taylor Marshall explains [3], a course of Abia occurs in September, and there is evidence in this passage to suggest that the time is around the Day of Atonement, when the high priest goes into the holy place, as we read in Ex. 30:10, Lev. 16:3, Heb. 9:7, etc. Therefore, there is strong Gospel evidence that the Lord Jesus Christ’s Cousin, conceived 6 months before Him, was conceived around September. Why is that relevant? Because it enables us to calculate when Christ was conceived.
Second Point: Jesus Christ Our Lord was conceived around six months after St. John the Baptist.
Moreover, we know from the same chapter that Our Lady conceived Christ about six months after St. Elizabeth conceived the Baptist. For the Angel Saint Gabriel clearly says Gospel of Saint Luke, 1:36: “And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.”
Now, if the Baptist was conceived in late September, Christ the Lord would have been conceived in late March. Similarly, we can reasonably deduce that the Baptist would be born around late June, nine months after conception.
Third Point: Therefore, Christ Our Lord was conceived on March 25, 2 B.C. and born Dec. 25, 2 B.C.
It is an interesting point that “the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, that is, the month of Kislev” (1 Mac. 4:22) was already held in honor as a Festival of Light. It is the Feast of Dedication in winter mentioned by St. John (10:22). The Hebrew calendar begins in March-April in Nisan, so its ninth month roughly comes to our twelfth month, December, in most years. It is highly fitting that the 25th day of the 12th month on the Christian calendar should have been set apart for Christ, “The Light of the World” (Jn. 8:12), to make His entrance into the world.
The Baptist being born in late June, as shown in the Second Point, Christ Our Lord certainly would have been born around late December. Therefore, the Gospel points to Christ-Mas! Also, the witness of Tradition, of very early historical Tradition, is clear on this point.
Bp. Theophilus (115–181 A.D.) stated: “We ought to celebrate the birthday of Our Lord on what day soever the 25th of December shall happen.”
Saint Hippolytus (170–240 A.D.) wrote: “The First Advent of our Lord in the flesh occurred when He was born in Bethlehem, was December 25th, a Wednesday, while Augustus was in his forty-second year, which is five thousand and five hundred years from Adam.”
St. Augustine finally confirms: “For Christ is believed to have been conceived on the 25th of March, upon which day also He suffered; so the Womb of the Virgin, in which He was conceived, where no one of mortals was begotten, corresponds to the new grave in which He was buried, wherein was never man laid, neither before Him nor since.
But He was born, according to Tradition, upon December the 25th.” (De Trinitate 4:5) [4]
In addition, going by what the same Evangelist Saint Luke tells us in Chapter 3, namely that Our Lord was around 30 in the 15th year of the Emperor Tiberius, we can deduce even the Year of His Birth: how? Saint Luke tells us [3:1]: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiber’i-us Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturae’a and Trachoni’tis, and Lysa’ni-as tetrarch of Abile’ne”.
This gives us a wealth of historical information. We independently know that (1) Pontius Pilate[5] was governor of Judaea from 26 to 36 A.D. (2) Tiberius Caesar[6] began to reign in the year 14 A.D. The fifteenth year of his reign is therefore 29 A.D. (3) Caiaphas[7] also remained high priest until 36 A.D.
Now, in 29 A.D., St. Luke continues to tell us [3:23] “Jesus, when He began his ministry, was about thirty years of age, being the Son (as was supposed) of Joseph, the Son of Heli”
Therefore, if Our Lord was about 30 in the Year 29 A.D., He was likely born either in 1 B.C. or 2 B.C.
In sum, Our Lord’s date of birth most probably was one of these two: Dec. 25, 2 B.C, or Dec 25, 1 B.C.”
References:
[1] http://www.cgsf.org/dbeattie/calendar/?roman=3bc
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur
[3] https://taylormarshall.com/2012/12/yes-christ-was-really-born-on-december.html
[4] https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/130104.htm
[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontius_Pilate
[6] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiberius
[7] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caiaphas#Josephus
Nishant Xavier lives in Chennai. He works in investment banking. He has a great desire that India will be blessed and enriched with the wealth and treasures of the Gospel and the Sacraments. He wishes to work for the uplift of the poor and so that India may become the most advanced, prosperous and successful nation in the world. You can reach out to him anytime with questions or thoughts on [email protected]