Today begins the first in a series of three concerning the birth of Jesus as we prepare for the beginning of the New Testament readings.

Much of the world celebrates the birth of Jesus on the 25th of December. Why? Is this the actual day of Jesus' birth? How do we know when to honor His birth? Scripture doesn’t tell us exactly when Jesus was born, but there are some clues, some puzzle pieces that we can put together that will give a better picture. Some of these puzzle pieces are found in the Bible and some are found in historical records and documentation.

God includes some of the puzzle pieces by giving us a few seemingly insignificant times and numbers. In order to place the date of Jesus’ birth, we need to first place the time of the birth of John the Baptist. We begin to put the puzzle together with a few pieces from the book of Luke and visit the priest Zechariah and his barren wife Elizabeth, a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus.

Luke 1:5
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron.

Zechariah was of the Levitical division of Abijah. In the time of King David, the priests were separated into 24 turns or divisions for their appointed order of ministering. After the 24 groups of priests were established, lots were drawn to determine the sequence in which each group would serve in the temple. These turns began in the first month of the Jewish calendar, the month of Nisan.

1 Chr 24:19
This was their appointed order of ministering when they entered the temple of the LORD, according to the regulations prescribed for them by their forefather Aaron, as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded him.

The appointed order of turns for ministering rotated every week until they reached the end of the sixth month, when the cycle was repeated until the end of the year. This meant that Zechariah’s division served at the temple twice a year for their regular turn of service. They, along with all the other divisions would also be required to serve on special occasions during the three commanded festival days of the Lord. The three festival days of the Lord were Feast of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Feast of Tabernacles.

Luke 1:8-9
Once when Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.

This account in Luke takes place when it was Zechariah’s division’s turn. There are two possible times for Zechariah’s regular time of service at the temple. The Bible does not specify which turn of service this one was. Beginning with the first month, Nisan, in the spring (March-April), the schedule of the priests’ turn of duty would result in Zechariah serving during the 10^th week of the year because he was a member of the course of Abijah, the 8^th course (1 Chr 24:10) and at this time both the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Pentecost would have already occurred. This places one of Zechariah’s turns in the temple beginning in the third month of the year during the month of Sivan (June). Regardless of which turn of service, Zechariah went home after his turn of service to his wife Elizabeth and she conceived. Due to laws of separation (Leviticus 12:5, 15:19, 25) two additional weeks must be counted, so most likely Elizabeth conceived John about two weeks after Zechariah’s return.

Let’s suppose Luke is recording the first turn of service which took place during the month of Sivan. Going forward nine months, this would place John’s birth in early spring, at the time of the Jewish Passover. There are another couple of clues from Scripture that lets us know that this was Zechariah’s first turn of service. There are connections with the prophet Elijah, John, and Passover. The angel told Zechariah that John was to come “in the spirit and power of Elijah”. The Old Testament prophet Malachi tells us that God will send Elijah before the coming Messiah. (Malachi 3:1, 4:5-6) Even Jesus made the connection between John and Elijah.

Matt 17:10-13
The disciples asked him, "Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?" Jesus replied, "To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands." Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.

The Jews look for Elijah to return on the day of Passover. Still today, there is an empty chair and a table setting for Elijah whenever Passover is celebrated. Everything points to the birth of John the Baptist to take place at Passover.

Luke 1:10-17
And when the time for the burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous-- to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

Luke 1:23-24
When his time of service was completed, he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion.

By the way, there were a great number of priests on duty during Zechariah’s turn so when “he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense” it was a rare high honor. No priest was allowed to serve in this capacity more than once in his lifetime. So, Zechariah had waited his entire life for this opportunity. Coincidence???

Placing the conception of John shortly after Zechariah returns from his temple service sometime in June (modern calendar) , let’s go forward six months to the month of December (modern calendar).

Luke records that Elizabeth was six months pregnant when the angel Gabriel visited Mary.
Luke 1:26-31
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.

Luke 1:36
Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month.

The beginning of Elizabeth’s sixth month would have been in December during the celebration of the Jewish feast of Hanukkah, also known as the Feast of Dedication and the Festival of Lights. The conception of Jesus (the light of the world – John 8:12) would have taken place during Hanukkah. Incidentally, it was the custom in ancient Israel to count the years of one's age from the date of conception - in other words, when a child is born he is considered one year old until three months after his first birthday when he is considered two years old. (this is still a practice in some oriental cultures today).

So Jesus’ conception, not His birth occurred in mid December.