As Christians, we have to know biblical facts about the birth of Jesus Christ for us to gain a deeper appreciation of his role as our savior. While having traditions relevant to his nativity is okay, like Christmas, the Church of the Nativity as his birthplace, and the resulting belief in Santa Claus, we still have to seek only the truth regarding how we celebrate his birth.
Fortunately for us, the Bible has plenty of verses that reveal the facts concerning the birth of the Messiah, whom the Scriptures proclaim as the savior of those who believe in Him.
Here are the top biblical facts and verses about Christ's birth you should know:
He was not born in December (winter). According to Luke 2:8: "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night." Using this argument, Christ's actual birth month or season could not have been in December at winter time since shepherds are highly unlikely to go outside in cold weather just to tend to their flock.
Mary gave birth to Jesus at least half a year after her cousin, Elizabeth, gave birth to John the Baptist. There are several verses in the Bible that support this statement. According to Luke 1:26: "In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee." You should also read Luke 1:5, Luke 1:7, Luke 1:11-13, and finally, Luke 1:23-33, where you can glean that John was conceived when his father came home from his duty at the temple.
These verses illustrate that Elizabeth's priest-husband, Zechariah, was a servant at the Temple of the Lord on Tammuz (the fourth month in the Hebrew calendar). Tammuz coincides with July in the Gregorian calendar. From July (which the Bible said was when Zechariah went home from his temple duty), John the Baptist would have been born in April, nine months from the month he was conceived. Now, six months from his probable month of being conceived (which would be January, the month the Bible says the angel told Mary about Jesus being conceived in her womb), we only have to count nine months forward to arrive at the probable month of Jesus's birth.
Thus, biblically speaking, Jesus Christ's actual birth month could not have been December, but probably during the last week of September or the first week of October. Mary will have been roughly two months overdue if we believe the tradition that she gave birth to Jesus in December. Believing otherwise goes against all established logical and scientific facts.
Jesus was born during a census period. The Bible says in Luke 2:1, "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world." Then, in Luke 2:3-7, we are told: "And everyone went to their own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them."
Christ was not only not born in December, but he was also not born on December 25. Nowhere in the Bible did it say that Jesus was born on December 25. And, as we learned earlier, it was just impossible for Mary to give birth to him in December. Instead, we should focus on the following verses: Psalm 2:7, John 17:5, 24, and Micah 5:2.
These biblical passages tell us that God the Father had given Christ glory before he even decided to create the world as we know it. Additionally, the verses mentioned Christ coming from everlasting, which logically means he is not subject to the counting of time. In short, his being begotten by God is the more important birth to focus on, not the date of his physical birth (although it is a significant fact to establish, nonetheless).
Jesus was born at a time of peace. In Luke 2:14, we are told, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests." This passage written by the Apostle Luke tells us that the true significance of Christ's birth lies in His peace-bringing physical presence on earth. This should supersede any modern interpretation of Christ's birth, especially the ones that tend to focus on material possessions and traditions that do not have biblical foundations.
Related Article: What the Bible Says About Sin, Salvation, Eternal Life, and Resurrection
