Calculating the Date of the Messiah's Birth
For almost two millennia, Christians have celebrated the events of their Savior's life. To be clear, there are only two events in the life of Jesus of Nazareth which can be associated with a particular date on the calendar based on the scriptural evidence alone. They are his death just before Passover, and his resurrection which occurred on the following Sunday. Indeed, even in this instance, we find much to debate and haggle over! Moreover, Jesus himself only left instructions for his disciples to commemorate his death (the Eucharist). Even so, Christians have persisted in celebrating their Lord's birth, dedication, baptism, death, and resurrection.
There are a number of very good reasons for all of this. For Christians, the appearance and work of Jesus Christ is the most important occurrence in the history of humankind. For his disciples, his sacrifice for the sins of humankind means salvation and life. For them, his teachings and example underscore love, compassion, empathy, kindness, forgiveness, mercy, and peace. For Christians, Jesus is the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures - the culmination of God's plans for all of us. In short, Jesus is everything to his followers, and anything associated with him is worthy of celebration and remembrance.
That this impulse to celebrate their Messiah has been present from the beginning of the movement is beyond all question. Two of the Gospel accounts (Matthew and Luke) contain elaborate narratives associated with his birth. The Gospel of John celebrates Christ's existence prior to his human birth and Divine nature. Three of the Gospel accounts (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) relate events surrounding his baptism, and all four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) have detailed accounts of the events surrounding his death and resurrection. In other words, the foundations for these celebrations of the life of Christ were laid by the authors of the canonical Gospels themselves!
We would also be remiss not to mention the fact that Christ himself said that he came to this earth to fulfill the Law and the Prophets of the Hebrew Bible! Indeed, the Gospels are literally full of passages from the Hebrew Bible which it is claimed that Jesus fulfilled. Moreover, in numerous of his epistles, Paul suggests that things in Torah pointed to Jesus Christ, and that he constituted the reality which they symbolically portrayed. And, finally, in the anonymously authored epistle to the Hebrews, Jesus is quite explicitly tied to the temple, priesthood, sacrificial system, and Sabbaths of the collection of writings known to us as the Old Testament.
Now, the rites of Baptism and the Eucharist are undoubtedly the oldest celebrations of the Christian Church (ekklesia). However, we know that the celebration of Christ's resurrection began almost immediately after that event. Indeed, in other posts on this blog, we have demonstrated that Christian worship on the first day of the week was well-entrenched by the conclusion of the First Century. Likewise, from the writings of a Christian Bishop named Hippolytus, we know that Christians had already begun giving serious consideration to fixing a date to celebrate Christ's birth.
According to the Biblical Archaeology Society, Hippolytus based his calculations on the widespread belief that God organized events throughout the cosmos to happen in conjunction with seasonal and celestial events. In this case, the calculation was that the date of Christ's conception had occurred on the vernal equinox of that year (March 25). Hence, nine months later would make December 25 the date of his birth! Moreover, as no one actually knew the precise date of Christ's birth by that time (early in the Third Century), the bishop's calculations seemed like a reasonable estimation to many within the Church (the Eastern Church made a similar calculation, but their starting point was in early April). At any rate, the date eventually caught on, and the rest is history.
Personally, I wish to make clear that I believe that it is completely appropriate to celebrate any and all of the events surrounding the life of Jesus of Nazareth. Moreover, I believe that Bishop Hippolytus of Rome's calculations regarding the date of Christ's birth were sincere and are fine (especially from the vantage point of longstanding tradition). Nevertheless, as I have already indicated here and elsewhere, I believe that Jesus was the fulfillment of Torah - including all things relative to the festivals which the ancient Israelites were commanded to keep.
Hence, while I agree with the presumption that God has organized significant events in "His" plans along a spiritual timeline, I now believe it is more likely that Christ's birth occurred sometime during the festival which portrayed him tabernacling in the flesh. The current celebrations are fine, and I participate in them. However, if we're taking an objective look at the available evidence, I would say that it is more likely that Jesus was born at the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles/Booths/Temporary Dwellings. Anyway, that's my two cents.
