Birth

The birth of Jesus is celebrated extensively each year, also by people who do not have the slightest idea who Jesus was. However, there are some remarkable thing about His birth.

a. The year of birth of Jesus.

In the part about Herod I wrote that according Matthew Jesus was born close before the death of Herod, who died in the year 4 BC. Tradition has it that it was two year before Herods death, so Jesus was born in 6 BC, in Bethlehem. From Matthew one gets the impression Joseph en Mary lived there. Nothing is said about moving from Nazareth.

When Jesus was born a star appeared, causing wise men from the East to come and worship Jesus. A separate part will deal with these wise men.

Much had been speculated about the star. A comet is presumed, but that is unlikely, because the appearance of a comet was a bad sign. It foretold disaster.

Nowadays a special constellation of the planets is the most likely theory. The nice thing about that is that we can calculate simply the constellation of the planets at that time. In the mentioned year 6 BC a special constellation was present, such a one that astrologuers could explain as a sign of the birth of a king.

If this constellation coincides with the birth of Jesus, than Jesus was born on the 17th of April of the year 6 BC.

We celebrate it on the 25th of December, but that is because on that day a heathen festival was celebrated, and such a festival could not be abolished without problems.

Luke in Luke 2 tells a completely different story.

He writes: "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed", and "And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child"

This census, as it is also called, we know from Roman history.

According to them it happened in the year 6 AD and only in Judea, so not in Galilee. It was necaessary, because Archelaus was deposed as a king of Judea, and Judea became a Roman province. If Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth, they were not subject to this census.

Many people looked extensively in Roman documents to find other censuses, but not one could be found.

There are other reasons why Jesus could not have been born in 6 AD: in that case he would be condemned by Pilate in 39 AD. But Pilate had been called back to Rome in 36 AD. In chapter 3:1 Luke gives another indication for the year Jesus was born. He write that John started in public in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. And in 3:23 he writes that Jesus was 30 years old when he started. Tiberius became emperor in the year 14, so this fits with the year 0 from our era.

So we have three possibilities for the year of birth of Jesus. 6 BC, 0, and 6 AD. When Dionysius Exiguus calculated in the year 544 when Jesus was born, he chose the middle year.

Nowadays we mostly follow Matthew.

b. Both Matthew and Luke stress the fact that Joseph descended from David. Highly remarkable, because at the same time both indicate that Joseph was not the natural father of Jesus. According to Luke Mary was a cousin of Elisabeth, so probably from the tribe of Levi, and so Jesus. Then He was no “son of David”.

Matthew and Luke differ greatly in the persons between Joseph and David. According to Matthew all kings of Juda were ancestors, according to Luke they were not.

c. The virginal birth.

Although the stories of Matthew and Luke about the birth of Jesus differ a lot, they agree that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and thus Christians believed it, and most still do.

Modern Christinas have problems with it, because modern Christians do not believe in miracles.

But what is a church without a believe in miracles?

According to Deut. 23:2: “A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the LORD.” bastards were treated harshly. If Jesus was not considered to be a son of Joseph he was a bastard, and was treated as such.

WikiCommons devoted a category to the birth of Jesus. The following images are derived of it.