Monday, January 09, 2023

Calculating Jesus' birthday using the story of Zacharias

The story of Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, is found in the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke. According to this story, an angel appeared to Zacharias while he was serving as a priest in the Temple in Jerusalem and announced that his wife, Elizabeth, would bear a son who would become the forerunner of the Messiah.

The birth of John the Baptist is not explicitly dated in the Bible, but scholars have attempted to determine the approximate time of his birth based on historical and scriptural information. One argument that some people use to suggest that the birth of Jesus was in December or January is based on the timing of the Jewish calendar and Zacharias' service in the Temple.

The Bible states that Zacharias was a member of the division of Abijah, and that his service in the Temple was in accordance with the custom of the priesthood. According to the Mishnah, a Jewish oral law, the division of Abijah served in the Temple during the week of the festival of Sukkot, which typically falls in September or October.


From this information, some scholars have suggested that the birth of John the Baptist took place around six months before the birth of Jesus, which would place Jesus' birth in the spring, around March or April. However, some use the verse in Luke 1:5-8 which mentions, "in the days of Herod king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah." argue that the verse is referring to the days of King Herod's rule, during his lifetime there were multiple priests, who would've served at different times, so the scripture does not necessarily to refer to specific time of the year.

Therefore, there is no clear reference in the Bible that pinpoints the month of Jesus' birth, and the argument that it took place in December or January is not a biblical one. The biblical narrative does not provide a date of Jesus' birth and it is not a central point in the New Testament's account of Jesus.

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