Was Jesus Born on Christmas Day?

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Have you ever wondered, “Was Jesus born on Christmas Day”?

Maybe you’ve seen the articles and online debates that Jesus was more likely born in the spring and not in December.

Maybe you feel condemned for celebrating Christmas because of those who claim it is a pagan holiday, and wonder if you’re offending God by celebrating Christmas.

Can we really know if Jesus was born on Christmas Day, on December 25th?

My dad – author of Foundational – has done extensive research into this topic and wrote the blog post below.

Last year, he recorded a podcast series on the topic, which I will link to. I hope that this will answer these very important questions for you, because I do believe that God is a God of celebration.

I also believe that if He so carefully instructed the Israelites in the Old Testament to celebrate His great miracles, why wouldn’t He want us to celebrate His two greatest miracles of all time: Christ’s birth and Christ’s resurrection?

Without further ado, I give you my dad:

If Jesus is the Lamb of God and the Bread of Life, when and where should He be born?

Was Jesus really born on Christmas Day?

Dr Luke was a man of detail. This is reflected greatly in the manner in which he wrote the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Epistle of Acts.

Luke takes great pains to accurately reflect the timing and location of Jesus’ birth. Jesus was born during the reign of Caesar Augustus over the Roman Empire.

It is curious, is it not, that the prophet Daniel declares the second coming of Jesus Christ will be during the reign of another ruler of the Roman Empire.

“And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (Daniel 9:26-27 KJV).

Coincidence or divine plan that Jesus’ first and second coming would be so placed?

What does it say about His birth?

Was Jesus Born on Christmas Day?

One of God’s mysteries is found in the designation, Jesus is a Nazarene. He is also of the “house and lineage of David.”

How does someone from Nazareth come from the “House of David?”

Here is what some theologians claim about Jesus’ birth

Dr Sean Freyne (Director of Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies and Emeritus Professor of Theology at Trinity College Dublin), in a recent interview with Hershel Shanks, Editor of Biblical Archeology Review, when asked, “Was Jesus born in Bethlehem?”

He stated, “My sense would be no. He was born in Nazareth, I believe. He’s never called ‘Jesus of Bethlehem’; he is called ‘Jesus of Nazareth’” (Biblical Archeology Review, 36:06 Nov/Dec 2010).

Apparently, Dr Freyne totally disregards the historical accuracy of Luke’s account of the taxation and the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

Yet, Dr Alfred Edersheim, a foremost authority on Jewish history, clearly documents the validity and accuracy of Luke’s historical account and the journey taken by Mary and Joseph in his monumental volume, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah.

John the Baptist saw Jesus one day and declared, “The Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

The next day, John said Jesus again and told two of his disciples, “Behold, the Lamb of God” (John 1:36).

The Apostle Peter wrote, “But, with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish” (1 Peter 1:19).

What is the significance of Jesus being the Lamb of God and Christmas?

The concept of the lamb and the redemption of mankind has roots in the deliverance of Israel out of Egyptian slavery and brought them to the Promised Land.

The angel of death passed over the homes of all the Jewish people who butchered a lamb and placed the blood of the lamb on the door casing of their house.

The Lord God commanded Israel to remember and to celebrate the event of Passover every year. The choice of the lamb, the age of the lamb, and the entire ceremony of butchering and eating the lamb is a picture of Jesus Christ.

It is not a coincidence that Jesus Christ was arrested and crucified on Passover, nor was it a coincidence that Jesus Christ’s birth was in a cave on the edge of the fields of Migdol Eder, meaning “the tower of the flock” (Edersheim, pg. 186).

These were no ordinary fields.

The shepherds who came to see the baby born in the stable cave were no ordinary shepherds. The sheep raised in these fields were for sacrifice at Passover.

Would these sheep and shepherds be out in the field on a winter night in December?

Dr Edersheim addresses that important detail. “The same Mishnic passage [that addresses the law of the shepherds and raising sheep for Passover] also leads us to infer that these flocks lay out all the year round (Ederseim’s emphasis)… of such a coincidence, it is needless to speak” (pg. 187).

He goes on to say, “There is no adequate reason for questioning the historical accuracy of this date [December 25th]. The objections generally made rest on grounds, which seem to me historically untenable” (pg. 187, footnote).

Jesus, the Lamb of God sacrificed at Passover, was born in a stable on the fields where Passover Lambs were raised.

He was attended by shepherds who only raised sheep for sacrifice on Passover.

It would seem extremely appropriate that believers honour and celebrate the day the Lamb of God was born in Bethlehem’s stable.

It is He “who takes away the sin of the World.”

Here are the podcast episodes in which my dad delves much deeper into this topic:

F. Dean Hackett has served in full-time Christian ministry since October 1971. He has ministered throughout the United States, Canada and Eastern Europe, serving as an evangelist, pastor, and conference speaker. He has planted four churches and assisted in the planting of many others, and is known for training many workers who are presently in full-time ministry as pastors and missionaries.

He holds a Master’s degree in Ministry, a Master’s of Theology and a PhD in Theological Studies. His enthusiastic and challenging ministry has made him a popular teacher and conference speaker.

He has written a number of books, including: Discovering True Identity; Agape’, Willing – Doing What it Takes, and Incomparable – Living Beyond Measure.

He began Spirit Life Ministries International in 2001 to facilitate and support outreach ministries in the USA, Croatia and other regions of the world that are open for ministry. He is the author of F Dean Hackett – Foundational.