Why don't the Four Gospels record the exact date of Jesus' birth?
As we know,
1. Jesus was born in 4~6 BC, not 1st AD.
2. He was not born in winter because the shepherds were taking care of their sheep on the plain outdoors. (Luke 2: 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.)
Did the authors know exactly Jesus' birth date?
Why not they asked his mother Mary?
The Date of Christ’s Birth – two possibilities
But is it reasonable to think that Jesus was born on December 25? If one holds to a three and a half year ministry of Jesus (as I do), there are only two credible theories for the birth of Christ from the Biblical and historical evidence: 1) that Jesus was conceived on December 25 and born in September, 2) or that Jesus was conceived in March and born on December 25. No other dates have any solid evidence.56 They are all based on conjecture. The first posits a conception of Jesus on December 25 and His birth in Fall during the Festival of Tabernacles. The other posits a conception on March 25 and a birth on December 25. It is my view that the second alternative has the strongest evidence in its favor. But on either view, Chislev 25 (and the festival of Hanukkah) has great significance.
Theory 1 – Christ born on the Festival of Tabernacles
Let me first give the evidences that others have adduced that Jesus was born on the Festival of Tabernacles. First, we know that Jesus was crucified at the time of Passover (John 18:39). It is quite clear that His public ministry lasted at least three and a half years (based on the festival sequences in the Gospel of John). If it was exactly three and a half years, that would place the beginning of his ministry in the Fall. At the time of his baptism, Jesus “was about thirty years old” (Luke 3:23; compare with the requirements for priests in Numbers 4:3,47). This makes His birthday somewhere near the Fall.
The second major pillar of this viewpoint is based on the time of Zacharias’ Temple ministry. We know from 1 Chronicles 24:7-19 that there were twenty-four courses of priests. We know from Josephus that each course ministered “eight days, from Sabbath to Sabbath.”57 This fits with the evidence that we have in 2 Chronicles 23:8. 1 Chronicles 24:10 says that Abijah had the eighth course, and Luke 1:5,8 says that Zacharias belonged “to the priestly division of Abijah.” Now we come to a major assumption: if the first course started serving during the first month of the Jewish calendar (early spring), then Zacharias would have served in early June.58
If the previous assumption is true, then the angel appears to Zacharias while serving in the temple (Luke 1:8) in June. He returns home and Elizabeth presumably conceives right away. Adding nine months makes John’s birth in the early spring of the next year. Since Jesus was born six months after John (deduction from Luke 1:24-26,36), this would place Christ’s birth in the fall.
The next portion of the argument is that it would be easier for Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem to be taxed59 after the harvest, not before it. Likewise, it would make sense to go in the direction of Jerusalem during the Festival of Tabernacles.60 The presence of large crowds at the Festival of Tabernacles could explain why there was no room in the local inn since thousands of Jews converge on the area for such festivals on their way to Jerusalem, just five miles away.61
The next argument that is offered is that John 1:14 says that “The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.” The word for “dwelt” in the NKJV is literally “tabernacled.” This would tie in nicely with the festival of tabernacles.62 Furthermore there is a nice symmetry with symbolism since John the Baptist would be born on Passover (the day that Jews leave an empty chair for Elijah the prophet, and Jesus says that John was the symbolic Elijah) and Jesus would be born on Tishri 15, 5 BC.
But even this interpretation gives significance to the date of December 25: If Jesus was born on Tabernacles, then counting back exactly 267 days (which would still be a normal pregnancy) you get a date for conception of December 25. This is an amazing coincidence, and it has made some people believe that the conception did indeed occur on December 25. Either way, we are stuck with December 25 being a very significant date. Though I do not agree with this date for conception, perhaps an awareness of this fact will temper the fierce opposition some have to the day of December 25 being somehow pagan. They will have to deal with the issue of a December 25 date one way or another.
Theory 2 – Christ was born on December 25, 5 BC.
I believe that both the internal and external evidence relating to the birth of Jesus Christ favors a December 25 date for His birth. But to ascertain the date on the lunar and solar calendars, it is imperative that we find the right year for Christ’s birth.
Internal Evidence
Anyone who has worked with chronologies knows that to be off by even one year will radically affect the outcome of the calculations of months and days. This is true because the Jews followed a lunar calendar whereas we follow a solar calendar. Because the year assigned to Christ’s birth radically affects the outcome of monthly calculations, it is important to be as accurate as possible on this date. It is also important that the Gospel of John’s careful record of the festivals be taken into account. Most conservative scholars believe that John’s Gospel mandates at least a three and a half year ministry for Jesus.
Does a December 25 birth fit the length of Christ’s ministry?
The festival sequence in the Gospel of John can be interpreted anywhere from three and a half years to four years. A December 25 date for Christ’s birth could mean that He either 1) ministered for slightly more than 3.5 years or 2) that He was baptized a couple months after His birthday. External evidence has convinced me that He was born on December 25 and baptized less than two weeks later on January 6. Internal evidence would allow for this, though does not necessitate it. We know that He died on Passover (John 18:28,39), that He was baptized when He “was about thirty years old” (Luke 3:23), and that (based on Numbers 4:3,47) it is unlikely He would have begun His ministry before His birthday. So He must have been slightly older than thirty. Thus the dates of either theory fit the length of His ministry perfectly well.
However, when it comes to the sequence of Christ’s ministry, the theory that has Christ born in the Fall of 6 BC falls apart. It mandates that at least five months have elapsed between Christ’s baptism and John 2:13. As we will see in the next section, not more than three months could have elapsed (which takes us to the end of December or beginning of January).
Does it fit the year of Christ’s birth?
But what about the year of His birth? Is there any evidence that can narrow this down with reasonable certainty?
1. We know from Matthew 2:1 that Jesus was born before Herod’s death. Josephus records that Herod died in April of 4 BC.63 This would indicate that Christ had to be born sometime before April of 4 BC.64 The most common current scholarship has opted for a 5 BC date.
2. The killing of the children in Bethlehem from two years old and under was “according to the time which he had determined from the wise men” (Matt 2:16). It is true that Herod may have been trying to play it safe by killing older than he needed to. Nevertheless, this reference would seem to indicate a birth of Jesus by sometime between late 6 and early 4 BC. It still does not narrow the time frame down by much.
3. But we have a great hint in the “forty-six years” mentioned in John 2:20. Verse 13 indicates that this statement was made during the first Passover of His ministry immediately after He cleansed the temple (John 2:14-16). The Jews affirm that the temple construction had begun forty-six years previously (John 2:20). From Josephus we know that the work began in 19 BC. Thus, simple math brings us to the Spring of AD 27 as the time of the first Passover in the Gospel of John.
4. Building on the previous point, we can move backwards from the Passover of John 2:13-22 to the earlier baptism of Jesus (John 1:29- 34). We know that this baptism occurred somewhere close to His thirtieth birthday (Luke 3:21-23). By examining what time transpired between His baptism and John 2:13, we can narrow the timing down much more precisely. Actual harmonies of the four Gospel accounts do not allow for more than three months between Christ’s baptism and the cleansing of the temple. Nor do they allow for much less. The events that must be fit in are the forty days of fasting (Matt. 4:1- 11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13), John’s announcement of the Messiah (John 1:29-34), the selection of the first five disciples (John 1:35-51), the miracle of the water into wine (John 2:1-11) and the brief sojourn in Capernaum (John 2:12). This three-month period makes a fall baptism impossible (September to March is six months). Furthermore, it narrows the timing of Christ’s birth to sometime between December of 5 BC and the middle of January of 4 BC. No other scenario fits the evidence.
5. 5 BC happens to be one of those rare years in which Chislev 25 falls on December 25. As we have seen earlier, this is a remarkable coincidence.
6. As we will see in the next section, the best scenario for the angelic visitation to Zacharias (Luke 1:5-23) is in the Fall of 6 BC. This makes for a conception of Jesus in March and a birth in late December to early January (depending on the length of the pregnancy).
Does it fit the time of the angelic visitation to Zacharias?
The strongest internal evidence comes from the time that Zacharias served in the temple. According to Luke 1:5, Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was a priest of the order of Abijah. He was performing his duties in the temple when the angel told him that his wife, Elizabeth, would conceive a child, and that he should call his name John. Because Mary’s conception occurs on the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, we can calculate the birth of Jesus if we know the time that Zacharias served in the temple. This will be a fairly accurate dating method, plus or minus about a week (time for Zacharias to travel home). What are some clues?
1. Zacharias belonged to the Levitical division of Abijah. (Luke 1:5)
2. Abijah was the eighth division of twenty-four divisions (1 Chronicles 24:1).
3. Three times a year, all 24 courses worked together (Deut. 16:16). However, it is clear from Luke’s account that Zacharias was not simply helping others in their course. Luke was quite clear that the angel appeared to him “while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division” (Luke 1:8). Our date must line up with a specific week assigned to his order of priests.
4. Each course ordinarily served for seven days, measured from Saturday evening to Saturday evening (1 Chron. 9:25; 2 Chron. 23:1-8).
5. As will be discussed under external evidences (see “Evidence from 70 AD”), we have indisputable evidence that Zacharias served only two courses of temple ministry in 6 BC (the year before Christ’s birth). The division of Abijah (of which Zacharias was a part) served from April 18-25 and served again from October 3-10.
6. Of these two dates, we can narrow it down to October 3-10 for two reasons: First, when the angel met Zacharias, "the whole multitude of the people were in prayer outside" (Luke 1:10). The whole multitude only gathered at one of the three required feasts: Passover, Pentecost and the Feast of Tabernacles. Second, it had to be a feast that overlapped the “appointed order” (Luke 1:5). The only feast that did so in 6 BC was the Feast of Tabernacles (Sept. 29-Oct. 5). During these festivals the priests of the appointed orders were the ones who offered the daily offerings. 65 This duty was assigned by lots,66 just as Zacharias’ duties were (Luke 1:9).
7. Zacharias’ service ended on October 10. Since this was to be a miraculous conception, there is no need to think of a monthly fertility cycle. She no doubt conceived that night or the next day.
8. Mary conceived during the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, which also happened to be the sixth month of the Syro-Macedonian calendar, Xanthikos. Kenneth Doig demonstrates how this was five and a half months after the conception of Elizabeth.67 “The sixth inclusive month of Elizabeth's pregnancy began about March 10, 5 BCE, and the middle of that lunar month was about March 25. This is the traditional day for the Annunciation, or conception of Jesus.”68 (See external evidence for more on this date.)
9. Taking all of the Biblical data, Doig gives the following chart of events:
- Division of Abijah served: Oct 3-10, 6 BC
- Conception of John: Oct. 10
- Conception of Jesus: March 25
- Birth of Jesus: Dec 25, 5 BC
Jesus’ presentation at the temple (after 41 days) would have occurred on February 2, 4 BC. The Bible presents its own chronology of events. But there is also abundant external evidence to supplement it, as we will see in the next section.
External Evidence
The external evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of a March 25 date for Christ’s conception and a December 25 date for Christ’s birth.
To read about the external evidence or any of the reference points listed above, go to the source of this article (pages 22-41), here~~~>
http://biblicalblueprints.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/December25JewishStyle.pdf