Date of message: 28 December
2003 Issue
122
Subject: Was Jesus Really Born in December?
Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
A belated Blessed Christmas greeting to one and all - may you find the
Joy, Love and Peace that our Lord Jesus came to give us through the cross.
Every year, all of us look forward to the Christmas break with the family,
spending time shopping for gifts and sending Christmas greeting cards
(paper or electronic). There are so much activities going on that we hardly
take a step back and examine for ourselves what is the real significance
of the celebration. Yes, I know it is Christmas and it is a time for remembering
the birth of Christ as a baby boy in Bethlehem, Israel.
But have you considered that Jesus was not actually born on December 25
and definitely not in year 1 AD?
Indeed, Jesus was born on one of the more important Jewish feast days,
an established fact backed by scriptures. From Luke 2: 1-7, we read that
the town of Bethlehem was so crowded that Joseph and Mary (His earthly
parents) had no place to stay except in a stable with the animals and
after His birth, they had to place Him in a manger for His bed. Now Bethlehem
is very near to Jerusalem (only about 5 KM away) and is a very small town
and not many people would want to stay there unless the capital city was
over-crowded with visitors (the prophet Micah in Micah 5:2 called Bethlehem
the 'small among the clans of Judah').
Jerusalem, being the capital city and also where the Temple was situated,
is a very busy city especially on important Jewish feast days. According
to the Jewish custom, all the male Jews have to visit the Temple three
times a year (at the least) for Passover, for Pentecost and for the Day
of Atonement. Some of them had to come from far off places just to be
within the Temple area on those feast days. But on the other feast days,
they may assemble in the synagogues in their own hometowns for worship.
Now the Jews would normally come to Jerusalem for the Day of Atonement,
the 10th day of Ethanim (7th month), and most would have stayed on for
another week or two to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (or Sukkhot)
which starts from 15th Ethanim and stretches for 8 days. If they cannot
find accommodation in Jerusalem itself, they would then book rooms in
the nearby towns (Bethlehem was just one of these nearby towns) and make
the required day trips to the Temple and come back to the inns in the
evening.
Well, Joseph and Mary arrived in Bethlehem during this 'super-holiday
season' and hence could not find any accommodation in any of the inns
in Bethlehem. And God intentionally chose this exceptional time for Jesus,
His Beloved Son, to be born. To think that the whole nation gathered in
the Temple compound celebrating the promise of the Messiah and when He
came, they could not recognize Him.
Imagine
Jesus, who was a direct descendent of King David, came to His own town
and they had no more rooms for Him to be born. Instead, Jesus was born
in a stable and His mother Mary placed Him in a manger. And just in case
you thought a manger was like one of those wooden boxes where you had
plenty of nice thick hay stuck in and Jesus lay snugly tucked away, I
am sorry to have to disappoint you.
This is a picture of a manger as found in the ruins of Megiddo in a place
where they found many other items belonging to the horse stables of King
Ahab. The manger is definitely made of stone and it is nothing more than
a drinking trough for the animals.
Jesus cannot be born in year 1 AD as we read in Matthew 2: 1, the Magi
from the east came to Jerusalem to ask King Herod where the baby who was
to be the king of the Jews was born. They did not know that Jesus was
actually born in Bethlehem but thinking that royalty should be born in
a palace, they obviously came to King Herod to enquire. Next, we read
that King Herod ordered all the boys, in Bethlehem and the surrounding
area, who were two years old or below to be killed (read Matthew 2: 16).
According to the history books, King Herod ruled over Judea from 37 BC
to 04 BC and so Jesus had to be born before then, probably 08 BC.
And so, if December 25 is not the exact date that Jesus was born, then
what exactly are we celebrating on that particular date year after year?
I submit to you that the date was a pagan holiday in the Roman calendar
set aside by Emperor Constantinople during the Byzantine Era along with
all those Roman names for the calendar months that we inherited.
Indeed, according to the Jewish calendar, there is one festival which
all the Jews celebrated in December of the Julian Calendar; the Feast
of Hanukah is observed for eight days from 24 Kislev (tenth month) till
02 Tevet (eleventh month) and during this festival, the woman of the house
would go about lighting up one candle each evening until all the eight
candles have been lit (the middle candle of the hanukiah is used as the
servant candle to light up the other eight candles) and as she lit the
candles each evening, the head of the household would dedicate every member
of the family to the Lord. Of course the most meaningful day would be
the final day when all the candles were lit.
This practice of celebrating the Hanukah dated back to 164 BCE when the
Jews successfully drove the Helenists (Greeks) out of the land of Israel
but it was not one of those feast days that the Lord commanded Moses to
tell the people to observe. Just as the Feast of Purim (usually observed
in January of our Julian Calendar), the Festival of Hanukah was a tradition
that was passed down the generations and is still being observed and is
a favorite among the children as they get presents from the adults at
this time of the year. Incidentally, the last day for the festival of
Hanukah this year was celebrated yesterday on 27 December.
It thrills me to think that our Father chose this festival because of
its special interest in children to declare to Joseph that Mary, his wife,
would conceive and bear a baby boy in her womb and that this boy would
be the Savior of the whole world (Matthew 1: 18-23). The families were
to dedicate their children to the Lord and here the Lord Himself chose
to mark the conception of His Son in human form.
So December 25 is not to be celebrated as the actual birthday of Jesus
in Bethlehem but you may be reminded that it is to be remembered as the
day that God chose to give of His Son as the Savior of the world. To God,
once He had decided on a specific course of action, it is considered as
accomplished and hence the final outcome is guaranteed, a forgone conclusion.
And being His spiritual children, we ought to be like Him. Once the word
had been given, we will take His word for it in faith and trusting Him
for the outcome, the manifestation will come later.
Jesus was given on Christmas Day for a specific purpose - to reconcile
us back to God the Father. In order to do that, Jesus had to come and
to die for all our sin and He did accomplish all that on Good Friday when
He hung there on the cross for us. The act of reconciliation had already
been accomplished and all that is required is for us to believe in what
Jesus did for us on the cross; that He died in our place and thus satisfied
all the requirements of the Law of God and as a result, we can become
His children.
My friends, one day, after all the Christians have been taken home to
be with the Lord, and should you by any chance be reading this article,
be assured that Jesus loves you so much that He already demonstrated His
love for you on the cross. The price had already been paid by Jesus Himself
and therefore there will be no condemnation for you once you put your
faith in Him. The Lord cannot lie. For Him, whatever He speaks will come
to pass.
Pray this simple prayer to invite Jesus into your heart and immediately
you will experience His peace coming your way.
Thank you Heavenly Father for Your love for us in that while we were still
far off You sent Your only Beloved Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, to die
for all our sin and to be raised from the dead so that we can be forgiven
of all our sin and now we are set free.
Lord Jesus, thank you for coming into my heart and for giving me the Holy
Spirit to remind me of my very special position as a child of God the
Father. Thank you that as Your child, I can now start enjoying all Your
blessings for my life - Divine Healing, Divine Health and Divine Life
in You. Thank you also for the wonderful gifts that the Holy Spirit brings
along with Him and for imparting those gifts into my life.
Thank you because of what You had accomplished for us on the cross and
having risen from the dead for our justification, I am now eternally forgiven
of all my sin, greatly blessed among all men, a highly favored child of
God, deeply loved by the Father and completely protected in the Lord and
in the most precious name of Jesus Christ, Yeshua Ha' Mashiah, I pray.
Amen.
If you have prayed this prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family
of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important
that you are not alone facing your personal challenges but that you can
obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your
own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together?
You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father,
for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.
Start receiving the blessings of the Father as you walk with Him in faith.
It is your inheritance in Christ and He wants you to start enjoying these
blessings right now; you do not need to wait until you reach heaven and
there is more from where they come from.
And, my friend, continue to exercise the gift of praying in tongues and
with the usage, more gifts of the Holy Spirit will be imparted to you.
The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all
your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24-26
Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee
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