Who was the first to celebrate Jesus birth? –

Heaven itself, “a multitude of the heavenly host praising God” (Luke 2:13-14). And it says in verse 11 of Luke 2, the angel brought the “good tidings of great joy” to the shepherds: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord”. This good news is not just for the shepherds but “which shall be to all people”. Christ is the Gospel, the good news is the Gospel, and that is what we desperately need to hear. What did the shepherds do? did they keep quiet? “they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child”. We are to declare to the world the good news that man now can have a right relationship with God. He has made it possible now for us to come from under His condemnation. Christ came into the world to share with mankind that there is a way of escape from hell itself. Christ came into the world — to bring the Gospel and to be the Gospel.

Luke 2:8-11 “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

Luke 2:13-14 “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, 14Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Luke 2:17 “And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.”

• Which year was Jesus born? – Historically the tradition of “Christmas”, commemorating the birth of Lord Jesus Christ, is fixed on December 25th, a pagan holiday, the time of the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere, when the day begins to become longer than the night. Roman calender made an error with the assumption that Jesus was born in year zero. In truth, the actual day is insignificant in the celebration of His birth, because we are not commanded to, nor are we commanded not to observe it. We can remember and celebrate the significance of Jesus’ birth every day of the year. The year and date were not revealed in the Bible directly. But there is enough information in the Bible to come to the year of Jesus Birth, though we do not know with correct precision. Herod the Great, according to historical and secular evidence, reigned from 37–4 BC and died in 4 BC at the age of 70. So Jesus was definitely born before 4 B.C because Herod was still living in 4 B.C. The wise men found that a king would be born to be connected to the star through the prophesy of Balem in Num 24:17, and that Christ is going to come from the tribe of Judah, from Jacob’s prophecy in Gen 49:10. And considering that two years passed after King Herod had inquired of the wise men (Matt 2:16), and before he had the Children of bethlehem killed, we can add at least another two years to the date (He obviously, was alive 2 years after he inquired of the wise men to make this proclamation). So it is clear Jesus must have been born 2 years before 4 BC, which would be sometime around or before 6 BC.

Matt 2:7 “Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared”

Matt 2:16 “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying,…”

Matt 2:19-20 “But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life.”

• Day of Atonement significance – What was the historical or ceremonial feast day connected to the proclamation of liberty in Leviticus 25? It is the Jubilee. Jesus is the very essence of the Jubilee, who came to proclaim the liberty (Luke 4:18). Jesus might have been born on the Day of atonement in the month of Tisri (Lev. 25:9), which was the ushering in of the Jubilee year of 7 B.C., or the feast of tabernacles. According to the Jewish calender, 7 B.C is the jubilee year. This of course would also explain why Mary and Joseph found no room in the Inn, as Jerusalem and the neighboring communities would have no doubt been inundated with Jews who would have come from all over Israel to celebrate the Jubilee and feast days of the seventh month. It not only fits with circumstantial evidence of Herod and the timing of the star, but also fits perfectly with Biblical teaching of unfolding of God’s plan. Remember all the feast days and ceremonial laws are the shadows that point to Christ. For example, Jesus was crucified on the ceremonial feast day of the Passover. When Jews were observing Passover, Jesus hung on the cross as a God’s Passover Lamb. Jesus was announced as the Lamb of God by John the Baptist on the first day of seventh month of AD 29, which also is a special feast day, also identified with Jubilee. The Holy Spirit is poured out in AD 33, when Jews were observing the Pentecost.

Lev 25:9-10 “Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubile to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month, in the day of atonement shall ye make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. 10And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubile unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.”

Luke 4:17-19,21 “And there was delivered unto him [Lord Jesus] the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 21 And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.”

• What date was Jesus born? – As far as the day Jesus was born, God has given us couple of clues. In connection with John’s birth (6 months prior to our Lord’s) and the Priestly office of Zecharias, there is also a great deal of evidence which would lead us to believe that the date is in October. First clue is in Luke 1:5, speaking of Zacharias, father of the John the Baptist, it is written that he is from course of Abia or in Hebrew called Abijah. We see in 1 Chronicles 24:10, in connection to the conduct of temple worship, King David established 24 courses. Eighth was the course of Abijah (1 Chr 24:10). Eighth is the end of 1/3 of all 24 courses, served over period of 12 months of the Biblical calender. That means, the priests are officiated in the temple in the 4 month after the first day of the year. Since we know, Jesus was born in 7 BC, the Priestly office of Zecharias was in a year before, that would be 8 BC. In 8 BC, the last day of the 4th month of the Biblical calender was in the first week of July, when he received angel visitation about the birth of John the Baptist and finished his course. So Elizabeth might have conceived in the month of July in 8 BC and John the Baptist might have been born in April the following year. The second clue is in Luke 1:36 “behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her”. So John the Baptist is about 51/2 months older than Jesus. So Jesus was born sometime between September and October. In the year 7 B.C., the day of Atonement is on October 2nd. Day of Atonement has everything to do with Jesus Birth. So we have every reason to believe that Lord Jesus Christ was born on October 2nd in 7 B.C.

Luke 1:5 “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia [Abijah]: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.”

Luke 1:31,36 “31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 36And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.