Page 36 - Advanced Life of Christ - Student Textbook

We see, then, that Mary was probably three months pregnant when John was born. John was probably
born in late March or early April. So, when was Jesus Christ born? Six months later would be late
September or early October! He probably was born sometime around Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
or Sukkot (Feast of Booths). It would be appropriate for the Lamb of God to come to earth on the Day of
Atonement!

Does it matter when Jesus was born?
It’s obvious that the gospel writers didn’t think it was too important to communicate the day that Jesus
was born. In fact, we don’t see a lot of attention paid to Christ’s birth in the first couple centuries. Paul
doesn’t talk about it, and we don’t see a lot of interest from early church fathers through the second
century.

Jesus’ death and resurrection are another matter entirely—the gospels offer important details around
Christ’s death. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all place the crucifixion adjacent to Passover. And it was
important for them to communicate to us that he was raised in three days.

Communicating the timing of Jesus’ birth just wasn’t the priority for biblical writers like the death and
resurrection were, and that should help us to emphasize it accurately.

The church has been memorializing the incarnation for nearly 2,000 years, and for the most part it’s
been with complete knowledge that we can’t know for sure the date that Jesus was born—and that’s
fine. Christmas celebrates the fact that Jesus took on flesh and entered our existence as an infant. We
don’t need to know the exact date this happened to observe this remarkable event!

In Leviticus 23, God referred to sacred times of meetings with Israel:

• Shabbat—The Sabbath day (Lev. 23:3) Date: Weekly
• High Sabbath days were associate with each of these feast days but held on a different day of
the week than the Sabbath Day on Saturday.
• Passover (Nisan 14, Lev. 23:5) Date: around April.
• Feast of Unleavened Bread (Nisan 15–21, Lev. 23:6) Date: Late March, early April
• Shavuot—Feast of Weeks/Pentecost/First Fruits (one varying day in Sivan, Lev. 23:10 ff) Dates:
early June, exactly seven weeks (49 days) after the start of Passover.

• Rosh Hashanah—Feast of Trumpets (Tishri 1, Lev. 23:24) Date: late September to early October
or the first day of the seventh month to inaugurate the beginning of the Day of Atonement.
• Yom Kippur—Day of Atonement (Tishri 10, Lev. 23:27) Date: late September to early October,
exactly 10 days after New Year.
• Sukkot—Feast of Booths/Tabernacles (Tishri 15–21, Lev. 23:34) Date: October, 14 days after
New Year.

So, the best we can calculate, Jesus was born around or on the Day of Atonement or Passover around 1
BC, had about a 3 or 4-year ministry, died at Passover in April, and inaugurated the Church 50 days later
during Pentecost. Seems like these special feasts that the Father created for Israel were significant days
in the life of His son!

Jesus was the lamb perhaps birthed on the Day of Atonement and sacrificed on Passover…what a
wondrous and amazing God we worship! On our calendar, we recognize His coming in December, but

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