Well, Christmas is coming and, as ever, questions get raised about the first Christmas. When was Jesus really born? Why Bethlehem? Why Israel – particularly poignant this year? Where did the three kings come from and why did they wait two years? Here is my attempt to give a perspective on the Nativity story.
Jesus was born in Israel, to a people who had long been expecting a Messiah – as a nation who carefully preserved the teachings and prophecies given to it by God.
A fulfilment of prophecy
Possibly the earliest Messianic prophecy was given by Moses:: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him” (Deut 18:15). This prophecy was referenced in the Transfiguration and points to Jesus’ Messianic ministry.
However, many other prophecies spoke of the birth and early years of Jesus, such as Isaiah 7:14: “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”
Many scholars question the translation of virgin, so let’s consider this for a moment.
The original Hebrew Bible uses the word ‘almah’ which translates as a woman of childbearing age who had not yet given birth – and therefore could have the meaning of both ‘young woman’, or ‘virgin’. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, however, uses the word ‘parthenos’ which is invariably translated virgin. So, whilst there may be some room for debate in the Hebrew, the Greek is unequivocal – indicating that this was how the verse was understood in Jewish scholarship at the time.
The prophet Micah identifies Bethlehem as significant to the Messiah: “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity” (Mic 5:2). In this, he also indicates the Messiah’s existence prior to His birth.
Hosea points to the sojourn in Egypt and subsequent return: “When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.” (Hos 11:1)
Why Bethlehem?
Turning our minds to the location of the Nativity, Bethlehem is significant for a number of reasons. First and foremost, Bethlehem was the ancestral home of David, and given the Davidic lines of both Mary and Joseph, it was a fitting birthplace for the one who came in the line of David. However, there were other significant elements. Bethlehem was the centre of production for the Passover sacrificial lambs.
My grandson and I took a 10-day road-trip in Israel last year, which culminated in his baptism in the River Jordan. On one of the days, we visited Bethlehem and the shepherd’s caves. It was the first time I had seen them, and they took my breath away. Even after all these years of Hebraic roots study, my mind kind of automatically imagined a dozen or so lambs being watched over in the field. The caves blow that silly idea away. This was a major industry.
Bethlehem was the centre of production for the Passover sacrificial lambs.
In addition, Joseph had a possible financial incentive to be registered in Bethlehem. Right next door to Bethlehem is Herod’s fortress, The Herodian. This was Herod’s final option – in modern terms, ‘his panic room’. If it all went wrong, the Herodian was where he would make his last stand. Part of his plan to make both the fortress and the entire region secure was the granting of significant tax concessions to Bethlehemites – in effect, he was buying their loyalty.
Linked in with critical questions around Bethlehem are ones relating to the census, as referred to in Luke 2:1-2, for which we have no other historical records. To consider this, I suggest we do well to look to the early years of the gospels. Some evangelical academics propose that there were gospels in circulation as early as 40AD, within living memory of the birth of Jesus. Therefore, if there were any valid questions around the census, surely they would have been asked, and dealt with, there and then – but no such issue appears to have been raised. The fact that there is a silence in Jewish and Roman literature on this question strongly suggests that the question of the census was never contested at the time, in living memory.
Dating Christmas
There are various discussions as to the date of Jesus’ actual birth – December 25th is long thought to have been chosen more arbitrarily, though there are various reasons put forth for this.
Yet there are good reasons to put an alternative date on the birth, from the early Church Fathers. Both Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria give well defined time frames. Tertullian states that Jesus was born during Sentius Saturninus’ governorship of Syria, which was the period 9-6BC, and that Quirinius served as governor of Jerusalem twice, from 6BC to 4BC, and 6AD to 9AD, which may explain some of the confusion over dates. Alongside this, Clement, in Stromata, quotes that Jesus was born on the Egyptian date Pachon 25, in the 28th year of Emperor Augustus. Pachon 25 equates to Iyyar 28 in the Hebrew calendar, and the 28th year of Augustus equates to 6BC in our Gregorian calendar. We can then reliably point to Iyyar 28 in the year we know as 6BC for the possible birth date of Jesus.
So, what would that be in our Gregorian calendar? This is slightly more tricky, because, whilst our Gregorian calendar is solar based with 365 days, and a 366th in a 4-year leap cycle, the Hebrew calendar is lunar based and operates on a 360-day year which then catches up and recalibrates over a 19-year cycle. However, whilst complicated, it is not impossible, and so we can say that 14th May 6BC was the birth date of Jesus.
We can then look at other evidence to confirm this year, and there are three items that I would like to share.
First, Josephus records that Herod the Great died at Purim, the festival celebrating the events in the Book of Esther, in the year of a lunar eclipse. Star charts show us that 4BC was such a year, and therefore we can reliably say that Herod the Great died in 4BC.
Star charts show us that starting in late 8BC Jupiter and Saturn aligned to form the appearance of an exceptionally bright single star in the sky that stayed visible for approximately 2 years.
Second, those same star charts show us that starting in late 8BC Jupiter and Saturn aligned to form the appearance of an exceptionally bright single star in the sky that stayed visible for approximately 2 years. In fact, it became even brighter during 6 BC when Mars joined the conjunction for the final few months. (Going by these calculations, the period for this super-bright star encompasses the time of John the Baptist’s conception and birth as well as that of Jesus.)
Thirdly the Bible tells us that Herod ordered the killing of all male children under two. This would strongly suggest that the star was understood to have heralded the birth and that it had been in the sky for around that period. In effect, Herod was covering all his bases.
Thus, historical events seem to point to around the year 6BC for Jesus’ birth. There are no such historical pointers to the time of year, but we do know that the timings of Jesus’ life related to significant Jewish festivals. So, let’s turn our attention to seeing if Iyyar 28 or May 14th has any significance.
Iyyar is the month following Nisan and is in turn followed by Sivan. The great feast of Passover (Pesach) takes place on Nisan 15, and on Nisan 17, there begins a process known as ‘Counting the Omer’ – a 50-day countdown to Pentecost (Shavuot), which occurs on Sivan 6. A birth date of Iyyar 28 would mean that Jesus was circumcised on Pentecost day, a pretty significant date. It would also mean that Jesus ascended into Heaven on His birthday, (his 35th birthday if we take 30AD as His crucifixion year), and that the Holy Spirit fell on the (35th) anniversary of His circumcision. That all feels pretty special to me.
If we turn to May 14th, then that is also a special date in modern times, for on 14th May 1948, Israel declared independence.
The wise men
One uncertainty in the Christmas narrative is how long Jesus stayed in Bethlehem – as we do not really know. However, we can say that it was for a fair while. The Three Kings, almost certainly better described as an indeterminate number of sages, did not visit until at least 5 weeks after the birth. We know this because Jesus had been to Jerusalem for the offering of the first son (Pidyon Ha’Ben), which we read of in Luke 2:28. And that takes place on the 31st day after birth. As the family fled to Egypt following the visit of the wise men, they were unlikely to return to Jerusalem for this event from their exile, but would have done it before.
These diaspora sages had studied the Jewish scriptures, particularly Daniel, and come to the conclusion that the time was right for the Messiah to come into the world.
As to the wise men, I suspect that they were actually Jewish, as I find it hard to believe that any gentiles would have the slightest interest in a Jewish Messiah. Only a remnant of the Jews ever returned from the Babylonian exile; Jewish sages based in Babylon would, however, have been interested in the fulfilment of Jewish Messianic prophecy. My suggestion is that these diaspora sages had studied the Jewish scriptures, particularly Daniel, and come to the conclusion that the time was right for the Messiah to come into the world. The appearance of a conjoined Jupiter and Saturn would have confirmed the matter in their minds, and they would have set out.
The Massacre of the Innocents
Jeremiah 31:15: “Thus says the Lord, “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.””
As with Isaiah, there are some who question why what we call ‘The Massacre of the Innocents’ is not referred to in contemporary literature. The probability is that there were fewer infants killed than the title we use suggests. Scholars estimate Bethlehem’s population in the hundreds, perhaps a thousand; this would likely include no more than a few dozen male infants, maybe even less – desperately sad, but not the hundreds or thousands killed that tradition dictates – and which would have inevitably been recorded elsewhere.
Additionally, Herod was a man noted for his paranoia and the despotic nature of his rule – this was a man who had his wife killed because he suspected her of plotting against him, and even some of his own sons. Consequently, the idea of having a small number of children killed because of a concern over a potential rival for his throne would have hardly made news. Therefore, the Bible narrative is entirely consistent with Herod’s nature.
Celebrating Christmas
The biblical narrative is reliable and tells an amazing story. I, personally, find that it is good to enjoy Christmas, for by so doing, I can celebrate the presence of Jesus in our world.
I know there are some who maintain that in doing so we perpetuate a pagan celebration (consider this alternative perspective). My personal response is that, whilst respecting those views, I see Christmas as a great opportunity to share the story and message of Jesus.
Nick Thompson worked extensively in national newspaper marketing teams in the 80s and 90s. He currently lives in North Lincolnshire and works in software development and football. He is a Trustee of Prayer for Israel and a member of the Prophecy Today Editorial Board.
