Today we want to think briefly about the birth of our Lord Jesus. It is a wonderful thing to remember that God became man and that this man, Jesus Christ, came to earth to die on the cross of Calvary. But when did His birth take place? Let’s think about this for a moment by referring to Luke 2: 10-12

And the angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I announce to you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people; for today a Saviour has been born to you in David's city, who is Christ [the] Lord. And this is the sign to you: ye shall find a babe wrapped in swaddling-clothes, and lying in a manger.

It is relatively easy to explain that this birth could not have taken place at the end of December – or even, as originally celebrated, at the beginning of January. One could hardly think that winter would be the time for a census to be carried out (cf. Lk 2: 1-7), which would involve long journeys throughout the Roman Empire.

There is a second clear indication of the approximate date of the Lord’s birth. For this we have to look at Zacharias, the husband of Elisabeth and father of John the Baptist. We know from 1 Chronicles 24: 1–19 that David divided the ministry of priests into 24 consecutive divisions. These 24 priest classes were put into service once a year for two weeks.

Zacharias belonged to the division of Abia (Lk 1,5), whose service was eighth in the sequence (1 Chr 24,10). Since the Jewish year began in the month of Abib or Nissan (cf. e.g. 2 Mo 13.4; 5 Mo 16.1) - that is roughly our March / April - Zacharias had his two-week service in about the middle of June. That means that Zacharias probably came home at the end of June, so the angel's appearance must have been at the beginning of his ministry (cf. Lk 1:23).

His wife Elisabeth became pregnant immediately after his service (Lk 1:24), i.e. at the beginning of July. Thus, John the Baptist was born around the middle of April. When Elisabeth was six months pregnant (Lk 1:26), the angel Gabriel came to Mary - that is, in December - to announce the birth of Christ to her. The birth of our glorious Lord would therefore have taken place nine and a half months later - in October of the following year. So our Savior was probably born in October - not December or January if we follow this account in the Gospel of Luke.

It is important for us Christians to hold on to the actual biblical report. Ultimately, the specific date - we don't know exactly anyway - is not certain. But it does seem that Jesus was born in October or around that time. This also fits in wonderfully with a model that we find represented by a festival called the Feast of Tabernacles which took place in Israel in October.

This feast of tabernacles may first remind us that the Lord Jesus came to this earth to live here. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (and we have contemplated his glory, a glory as of an only-begotten with the Father) full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14). In fact, the word “dwelt“ literally means in the original text: tabernacled or camping. The Creator of the world camped here on earth as a human being - beginning with the feast of Tabernacles.

Doesn’t this explain why there was no room in the inn? It was the Feast of Tabernacles on which all the Jewish people had to go to Jerusalem (Deut. 16: 13-16). Therefore all inns in the vicinity of Jerusalem would have been occupied. We also know that this festival is to be understood as a reference to the 1000 year kingdom, in which the peace of God through the person of the Lord Jesus will reign here on this earth.

The birth of the Lord Jesus is one of the most significant events this world has ever experienced. It was never intended by God to provide a means for family celebrations or to increase the sales volume of retail businesses. But it was intended by God to touch the hearts and consciences of men. May our hearts be softened whenever we think of the way our Saviour came into this world.