WHAT YEAR WAS CHRIST BORN?

Allow me to repost an article I have published both on this blogsite and in the bulletins of parishes where I have served over the course of my active ministry.  I do so because so many have found the subject interesting and informative.  So, begging your indulgence, I post this once again.

Scripture does not provide an exact date on which Christ was born.

In a previous post, I offered a number of popular explanations regarding the reasons why most of Christendom celebrates December 25th as the day of Christ's Birth.  

The exact year in which Jesus was born in Bethlehem is open to conjecture, since it is not recorded in the Bible. 

However, certain details of history narrow a determination of the year of Christ's Birth to a reasonable window of time.

The biblical details of Jesus’ birth are found in the Gospels. Matthew 2:1 states that Jesus was born during the days of Herod the king.

Now, since Herod died in 4 B.C., we have a parameter within which to work. Furthermore, after Joseph and Mary fled Bethlehem with Jesus, Herod ordered all the boys 2 years old and younger in that vicinity killed. This indicates that Jesus could have been as old as 2 before Herod’s death. This places the date of His birth between 6 and 4 B.C.

Luke 2:1-2 notes several other facts: “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria.” 

We know that Caesar Augustus reigned from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14.  Quirinius governed Syria during this same time period, with records of a census that included Judea in approximately 6 B.C. 

Some scholars debate whether this is the census mentioned by Luke, but it does appear to be the same event. Based on these historical details, the most likely time of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem is 6-5 B.C.

Luke mentions another detail concerning our timeline: “Jesus, when he began his ministry, was about thirty years of age” (Luke 3:23). 

Jesus began His ministry during the time John the Baptist ministered in the wilderness, and John’s ministry started “in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas” (Luke 3:1-2).

The only time period that fits all of these facts is A.D. 27-29. If Jesus was “about thirty years of age” by A.D. 27, a birth sometime between 6 and 4 B.C. would fit the chronology. More specifically, Jesus would have been approximately 32 years old at the time He began His ministry (still “about thirty years of age”).

What is known is that biblical and historical details point to an approximate year of birth. Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea approximately 6-4 B.C.

Whatever exact date or year of Christ's Birth, the fact that the Word of God became Flesh has changed human history forever.  May the celebration of His Birth rekindle the flame of faith in all our hearts.  May we celebrate His Coming each and everyday by living lives of charity and mercy toward all our sisters and brothers.

Merry Christmas!  God bless you!