Does The Bible Say When Jesus Was Actually Born?

Does The Bible Say When Jesus Was Actually Born? November 26, 2015

Does the Bible actually say when Jesus was born? Can we use the Bible to help determine when He was?

The Fullness of Time

I don’t know when Jesus was born. Bible scholars can only surmise from biblical text about what time of year it was when He was born. Some believe it was in the autumn since the shepherds were still abiding in the field (Luke 2:8) and shepherds are not normally “in the fields” and at night on December 25th. Others think it was around the spring Jewish festivals, perhaps even Passover, but nobody knows precisely when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Here is all we know for sure about when Jesus was born; “when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Gal 4:4-5). That means it was the perfect time as far as God is concerned and that’s ultimately all that matters.

The Time Has Come

The very first words of Jesus ministry were “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15) so “when the fullness of time had come” the “time [was] fulfilled, and the kingdom of God [was] at hand.” What does Jesus recommend? He tells us to “repent and believer in the gospel” meaning repent and turn away and forsake your sin and believe in Jesus Christ. That’s how you receive eternal life (John 3:16). The time has come for all who have yet to repent and trust in Him to do so. Nobody knows when the day of their death is and that’s important because after death, then comes the judgment (Heb 9:27). Jesus came in the fullness of time but in plenty of time to save you if you’re not already born again.

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Not When But Since

I don’t like to get hung up on dates so since we don’t know when Jesus was born, it’s not really important to know because if it were, God would have included it in the Bible. Perhaps that’s why God didn’t reveal the date because we might try to almost worship the day and not Christ. It’s not so much when he was born but the fact that He was born that’s the main point. When couples celebrate their anniversary, they don’t celebrate a date on a calendar, they celebrate each other! It is the people who make the occasion, not a date because a date for without the occasion is meaningless.

The Year Jesus Was Born

The Apostle John writes about Jesus as being with God and being God as the Word (John 1:1) and “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 Bible only tells us that this happened during the reign of King Herod (Matt 2:1) and historians show that King Herod ruled from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14. It was also just before Caesar Augustus said“that all the world should be registered” (Luke 2:1-2) and the date of that would be around 6-5 B.C. so Jesus was likely born around 5-6 B.C.

Conclusion

We don’t have to know with precision the date of Jesus’ birth. The date’s not important. Jesus Christ’s arrival is. We should focus on Him and not on dates, times, and seasons. Let everyone be convinced in his or her own mind. If Paul was around today and saw the controversy over the date of Jesus’ birth and how some snipe at one another over whether they should observe it or not, maybe he’d quote part of his letter to the Romans where he said “One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God” (Rom 14:5-6) so “Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God” (Rom 14:10) and there only room for one person in the judgment seat and it’s not me!

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.


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