IE
On page 18 of Issue 1663 you say, ‘The consensus among scholars is that Christ was born around the time of the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles in the late summer.’ What is the evidence?
Ed
When Jesus was born there were sheep and shepherds out in the field at night (Luke 2:8). Also, he was born during a Roman census, which involved a large part of the population moving around the country (Luke 2:1–4). Both these factors indicate a time of mild weather between spring and autumn.
Jesus was conceived six months after his cousin John the Baptist (Luke 1:36). John was conceived after his father Zecharias finished his duty in the temple (vs. 5–25). Zecharias was a member of the ‘course of Abijah’ (Luke 1:5). There were 24 courses of priests, each of which had two duties of one week each throughout the year. The duty rota started at Passover (around the end of March). Abijah’s was the eighth course (1 Chronicles 24:10), so their first week of duty would have been at the beginning of June. If John was conceived during June, Jesus would have been conceived around December, and born around September.
It’s thought that Jesus’ ministry lasted for three and a half years. There are two reasons for this assumption. First, John’s Gospel mentions three Passovers during Jesus’ ministry, the first being early in the ministry and the last being the one on which he died (John 2:13, 6:4, and 11:55–57). Second, Daniel 9:24–27 contains a prophecy of the coming of the Messiah (Christ). This prophecy was no doubt one reason why people were in expectation when Jesus was born (Luke 2:38), although it’s more difficult for us to understand 2000 years later. Those who have studied it conclude that the Messiah’s appearance lasted for ‘half a week’ (v. 27), which is three and a half days. In this and other prophecies, the term ‘day’ stands for a year. Jesus died at Passover (Luke 22:1–15) on 15th of the Jewish month Nisan (which falls around mid March to mid April). So if his ministry lasted for three and a half years and ended at Passover, this again indicates that he was born around September.
Around September is the time when the Jews celebrated the Feast of Booths (Leviticus 23:34). On this feast they camped out for a week in booths made of branches, commemorating their journey through the wilderness in the book of Exodus. If Jesus was born at the Feast of Booths it would be highly appropriate. John describes his birth: ‘The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth’ (John 1:14). The Greek word translated ‘dwelt’ literally means “camped”. Jesus Christ showed to people God’s Word in all its glory.
It’s not possible, or necessary to know when Jesus Christ was born, but exploring Bible questions is always worthwhile.