But Christmas Is The Wrong Day, Or Is It?
We Celebrate Christmas on December 25th but is it the right day? We think of Christmas as the birth of Jesus but what day would be His birthday? Well I am here to tell you that it is very unlikely that December 25th was the birthday of Jesus. So, let us look at the Bible for clues as to when Jesus would really have been born, and maybe discover a unique way to view and think about Christmas.
The first clue is the shepherds were living out in the fields watching their sheep by night (Luke 2:8) Shepherds from that area did not watch their flocks out in the fields by night in the winter. In winter they would bring the sheep into the low lands and the cities and towns because it got so cold. So we know that it was most likely not winter or December 25th.
The second clue is the birth of John the Baptist. John’s father was a priest named Zacharias who was old and married to an older woman named Elizabeth. They were unable to have children and an angel came to Zacharias and told him his wife would conceive. Zacharias was in the division of Abijah (Luke 1:5) serving in the temple when the angel came. The Priests of the division of Abijah were the ones who served in the eighth cycle and would be serving in the temple during June. So if his wife conceives in June, then John the Baptist was born around nine months later in March.
March is the time of the Passover when the Israelites would commemorate and celebrate the way they were delivered from Egypt. In this celebration they are looking for the Messiah who will come now to deliver them. So during this time the Jewish people would (and still do) put out an extra chair and table setting at the Seder or meal because they are waiting for Elijah. They know from a prophecy in Malachi that before the Messiah will come Elijah must appear. So they put out this chair and after dinner the children go out the door and look for Elijah. Jesus said that Elijah had come in spirit in the form of John the Baptist. So it is not a stretch to believe that John the Baptist in the spirit of Elijah came when they were waiting for the appearance of Elijah. I say this because in Colossians 2:17 it says the festivals are a shadow of things to come, and as I will show you God has actually fulfilled them on the exact day they take place.
In Luke 1 Mary is told by an angel that she will conceive through a miracle, and to go see her cousin Elizabeth who was six month pregnant (also a miracle) with John the Baptist. So six months after John was born Jesus was born. So if John was born in March during the Passover Jesus would have been born in September. Colossians 2:17 says the seven feasts are all about things to come and Jesus Christ. What do I mean? When the people were slaying a lamb in the temple on Passover Jesus the Lamb of God was being slain. When the people were celebrating the Passover they would do what is called Yahats. They take three pieces of matzah (unleavened bread) and the middle matzah of the three ceremonial pieces is broken and wrapped up and is put aside or hidden for the afikoman where the children are then sent to search for it. The kids are promised a reward to whoever finds it. While this was going on Jesus the middle part of the trinity whose body was broken was wrapped in grave clothes and hidden in a tomb. And dare I say there is a reward now for any one of His children who find Him. Then three days later on First Fruits Jesus was the first to rise up from the dead, the first to be born again (the first fruit). 50 days latter Pentecost is a feast about when they received the law and disobeyed and 3000 died. The fulfillment was when the Holy Spirit came and 3000 were saved on that day. The bible says the law brings forth death but the spirit brings life. All of these important events of Jesus happened on feast days to fulfill the prophetic meaning of them. Therefore it should not be surprising that Jesus was born on a feast day. So what feast is in September? Tabernacles
Tabernacles celebrate how God was with the Israelites in the desert 1500 years before Jesus came. Remember how God gave them bread (manna)? Well while they were remembering this God was giving us the real bread of life. The one who is the bread of life was birthed in Bethlehem (house of bread) only five miles from Jerusalem. In the time of Jesus four huge menorahs were being burned during this festival they were stories tall. The historian Josephus said you could see this light from a hundred miles away. At that same time there was this bright light at the temple in Jerusalem, the light that was come to earth was being born. John 1:4 said of His coming “In Him was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it”. During the feast or festival of Tabernacles they had come into Jerusalem and camped in small tents (Tabernacles) and they were celebrating how God was with them in the desert. While they did this, just five miles away Jesus called Immanuel or “God is with us” was being born in a manger. In John 1:14 says “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” the word used in Greek for dwelt is skeeno meaning to tent or encamp or dwell as God did in the tabernacle.
So the feasts all tie together and maybe Jesus was born in September during Tabernacles. But why is Christmas in December. Around the year 320 AD emperor Constantine became a Christian. The problem was most of the people were not Christian. At that time in the Roman Empire the biggest celebration of the people was called Saturnalia it was to celebrate the winter was half over. They put up evergreen trees a tradition they got from the Babylonians. Jeremiah chapter 10:1-4. Do not learn the way of the heathen, for one cuts a tree out of the forest. . . they decorate it with silver and gold. This came from a Pagan practice of worshiping false gods, and so does the Yule log, poinsettias, and holly. So if Jeremiah says don’t do it why do we? Well Emperor Constantine decided he could not change all the traditions because they were so ingrained, so instead he just redeemed it, He called it Christ’s Mass. He decided we will just say the symbols represent other things, and transform this pagan celebration into one about Jesus. So can God take something that is of pagan gods and make it something of value? Well of course, because God can take me and transform me so why not this stuff too? And the truth is He has done just that.
But it’s on the wrong day for Jesus Christ’s birth so what would be the point? Well if Christ was born on tabernacles which make sense then go back nine months and when would Jesus have been conceived? Well around December 25th. So on the darkest day of the year the light of the world came into the world, and ever since darkness has been pushed back or flees at it's presence.
The first Hanukkah was started in 164 BC when the Maccabeean brothers took back the temple from an evil occupation (Seleucid Empire) that had defiled it. So once they took back the temple the menorah was lit but they did not have any more oil. In the menorah was only a one day supply of oil. But it would take eight days to make a new batch of the holy oil. The oil lasted eight days (a miracle). So why is Christmas on December 25th? The reason is because a Roman Emperor decided to make it corespond with a Pagan celibration of the winter solstice. Is there however a significance when it comes to Jesus Christ? I think so. The first Hanukkah was on 25th of Chislue. So on that day they lit the menorah and the temple had light and was restored and cleaned. The temple represents the body and oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit. So I believe there is a good chance that Jesus was conceived on that day to fulfill that festival day, and received a body (temple) and was conceived by the Holy Spirit (a miracle) at this same time. And the light of the world was concieved.
So what does that have to do with us today? Well many of us are in a dark place in our lives. There is an area of our life that is dark and depressing, maybe something we are ashamed of. Maybe our body is defiled or occupied by something evil. Its dark and we know we should be joyful but we can’t get out of this dark place. There is no life in us you might say. We have a mess that needs cleaning in our life just like that temple that was a mess. No man can help us and this problem is too big too great it is beyond what a man can do. And you might say if I could just get out of this dark place maybe God could use me. But God loves to move into the darkest day to the places that are dark and closed up where no one has been (virgin territory). This secretive and closed off place in our lives.
So what happened to Mary in her dark and secret place where there was no life when God intervened? Mary said when told the news that she could be used by God “How can this be I don’t know a man” She thought nothing could be birthed in her dark and secret place without a man. But she then said “Be it unto me according to your will”. And something came to life in her. And that is all it takes for God to use us and birth something special in our lives out of the dark places of our lives. That’s all it takes for God to transform the darkness of our lives to light is simply to say “Be it according to your will”. You see Christmas is as much about conception as it is about birth.
Revelations 3:20 Jesus was talking to the church of Laodicea and He said, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him.” So if you want the light to come into your dark problem this Christmas open the door. Christmas is not just about what God did 200 years ago but what God wants to do today. He wants to birth something in you this Christmas season in your darkness and your problems. He wants to transform the dark to light. He wants to redeem what was lost.
Isaiah 9:2 says this of the coming Christ, “The people have walked in darkness have seen the light. Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. And Isaiah 9:6, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. . . . And His name shall be Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace”. So if you are in darkness and there has never been a darker day, and it is the middle of the winter so to speak, God wants to say this to you.
Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise shine for thy light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness of the people. But the Lord will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you.” So this Christmas remember that it is not the wrong day after all, in fact it all happened at just the right time. And this Christmas think of this conception of this light to the world and see what God can birth in you this Christmas out of your darkness.
