[B-7] The Magi and The Date of Jesus' Birth
{As compiled by Sonny Stephens}
{Revised and updated December, 2009}
[These notes are available at: http://www.TheWordNotes.com]
magi.pdf
Luke
1:26-36 And in
the sixth month
the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named
Nazareth, (27) To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph,
of the house of David; and the virgin's name was
Mary.
... (36) And, 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.
Lev 12:3-4
KJV "(3) And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin
shall be circumcised. (4) And she {the child's mother} shall then
continue in the blood of her purifying three and thirty
days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the
sanctuary, until the days of her purifying be fulfilled."
Luke 2:22 "And when the days
of her purification according to the law of Moses were
accomplished, they brought Him
to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord;"
Luke
2:39 "And when they had performed all things according to the law of
the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city
Nazareth."
**After
the 40 days of Mary's purification, Mary and Joseph
went to the temple and performed the sacrifice required in Leviticus
chapter 12, then returned to their home in Nazareth. If
the magi came when Jesus was two years old as some speculate, they
would not have found Him in Bethlehem but in Nazareth. To say
otherwise is to accuse Luke of falsehood.
Luke
himself was a Jew from Antioch according to the early church
fathers. Luke's gospel is written to gentiles as is evidenced by
his explaining many of the Jewish traditions.
I. How the Magi knew
about the coming King
A. There are three passages in the Old Testament
which were written in Aramaic {Chaldee}
[The language of the Babylonians.]
rather than
Hebrew: Ezra 4:7-6:18, Ezra
7:12-26, and
Daniel 2:4b-7:28.
1) In the first
part of Daniel chapter 2 which is in Aramaic King
Nebuchadnezzar had a dream
and demanded that the
astrologers and other “wisemen” first tell
him
the dream he
had then interpret its meaning. If they did not, he
would
have
them executed. The astrologers
of course couldn't do
what he was asking. Daniel prayed
to the Lord
and the Lord
revealed both the dream and its
interpretation.
The dream tells
about the coming world empires {including the
coming
of
God's Kingdom}.
Chapter
7 of Daniel ends with another
vision of the coming
kingdoms and the coming
of the
everlasting
kingdom of God.
2) Daniel 9:24-9:27 {which is written in
Hebrew}-- tells about
the seventy sevens of years
decreed upon the nation of
Israel.
These seventy 7's of
years begin with the decree to restore and
rebuild Jerusalem, continue with
the messiah being executed
in the sixty-ninth seven of
years, and ends with
the seventieth
seven
when a new messianic kingdom over all the earth.
3) Ezra 6:3 which is in Aramaic tells us that it
was Cyrus in his
first year of kingship who issued the first decree {This was to
fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 44:28 written
over two hundred
years earlier.}
4) Ezra 7:12-26 records a letter of King
Artaxerxes giving Ezra
and the people of Israel
permission to return to Jerusalem and
permission to request
items for sacrifice to be offered at the
newly completed Temple.
B. Matthew's gospel tells us the Magi saw the
"star" while they were
in the East. The "East" is generally believed and
according to
tradition
is the area in and around Babylon.
{Matt. 2:2}
C. This means the magi had the prophecies about the coming
King in
their
own language as prophesied by
Daniel. By
translating
Daniel
9:24-27, the magi knew the exact year
of the coming King's
death and therefore the general
time of His birth.
II. The
chronology of the coming of the shepherds and magi
A. Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem {See Luke
2} because of a
decree by Caesar Augustus that
that all Jews
return to the city of
their ancestry for census purposes. {The census itself was
for determining taxes.}
[Interestingly, the census did not direct
people to register in the town
they were currently living
in.
-- It was
necessary that Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem in
order that the prophecy concerning Bethlehem could be
fullfilled.
Mic.
5:2]
B. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in a stable {Luke 2}
C.
The shepherds came the same night of Jesus' birth to the stable
where he was born {See Luke
2:8f}
D.
Jesus was circumcised on the 8th day according to the law of
Moses. {Lev. 12:1-4} Luke
2:21
E. The magi arrived
in Jerusalem searching for the Christ Child
some days later. {See Matt. 2:1f}
F. When the magi arrived in Bethlehem to worship Jesus, his
family was then staying in a
house [not the stable] in Bethlehem.
{See Mat. 2:11}
G. The same night the magi left, Joseph was warned in a dream to
flee
to Egypt with Mary and Jesus. {Matt. 2:13} [The Egyptian
border was about 100
miles southwest of Bethlehem during the
lifetime of Jesus, according to maps
contained in the backs of
most
Bibles.] The journey would normally take about 10 days on
foot but remember --
Joseph was in a hurry!
H.
Some time after arriving in Egypt Joseph was told in a dream
that
Herod was dead and he should return to Israel.
{Matt.
2:15, 19-20} [Note
that Joseph did not have to wait for
word
of Herod's death to reach him
by word of mouth.]
I. Mary and
Joseph were in Jerusalem at the required time of
purification (Jesus was 40 days old {7+
33} ) {Lev. 12:1-4}.
Luke 2:22-24
J. Jesus and his family returned to Nazareth
[ not Bethlehem]
following
the time of purification. {Luke
2:39}
K.
Based on the above analysis, Herod had to have died after Jesus
was eleven days old, and before Jesus was 30
days
old, in order
for
Mary and Joseph to be back in Jerusalem by the day Jesus
was 40 days old as required by
the Law of Moses.
III.
Facts
A. Both Matthew and Luke received their information
from eye
witness
accounts. {Luke specifically
states this in chapter 1.}
It is obvious from both accounts that much of
the information
contained in Jesus' birth
narratives had to have come from Jesus'
mother, Mary.
[She is the only one who
would have known
much of the information.] She was alive
throughtout Jesus'
ministry so Matthew and
probably Luke would have known
her personally.
B.
According to tradition, the Magi arrived in Bethlehem on the 12th
day. {Hence our tradition of the 12 days of Christmas. [ Also
known as Epiphany]}
C. Based on the above Biblical facts {sections I
- II} we can determine
the following:
1) The Magi had to have arrived after the 8th day following Jesus'
birth.
Reason: That
same night Joseph and family fled to Egypt and
Jesus probably
would not have been circumcised as Luke
states if they
came before the 8th day and were fleeing for
their
lives.
2) The third day following a surgery [and
circumcision is a
surgery] is usually one of a patient's worst
days of recovery.
This would imply that the
magi probably came after the
eleventh day.
3) It would have taken about 10 days each way to travel by foot
from Bethlehem to Egypt and back. If the Magi
came after the
8th day
[and probably after the eleventh day] and before the
40 days were up, then they had to have come before the
20th day
and
Jesus' family would have spent at the most a
couple of weeks {40 days minus 8 days minus 20 days leaves
12 days maximum} in Egypt.
4) When Jesus was 40 days old his family took Him to the
temple in Jerusalem according to
Luke's account, to fulfill the
law of Moses (Lev. 12:1-4) then
they returned to
Nazareth -- not
Bethlehem [Luke 2:39]} This means that if the Magi
came after the 40 days, Jesus'
family had to move from
Nazareth back to Bethlehem long
enough for the
Magi to find
them
in a house in Bethlehem and then move back to
Nazareth before Jesus' first
birthday because according to
Luke's
account Mary and Joseph made the trip from
Nazareth to Jerusalem every year at
the passover {Luke
2:41}.
5) If the Magi came when Jesus was almost two
years
old
as many theologians claim,
Jesus' family would
have had to move to Bethlehem after Jesus' first
birthday and then
back to Nazareth before His
second birthday
in order to fulfill
Luke's account.
6) The possibility that Mary and
Joseph moved back and forth
between Bethlehem and Nazareth possibly multiple
times
during Jesus' first couple of years of life,
seems to me to be
rather far fetched and there
isn't anything in Scripture to
support it. To my knowledge there
is no historical or
traditional evidence to it either.
IV.
The appearance of the "star"
A. Many theologians erroneously assume that because
Herod asked the
Magi the exact time of the first
appearance
of the star and then had
all children under two killed that this implied the magi told
Herod
the star appeared two years
earlier and thus Jesus must be two years
old. What they neglect is that
historical accounts indicate Herod was
not in his right mind before the
time of his death. If Herod
thought
the
child was two years old, he probably would have killed all
children under four years old to
be sure he got the right child!
B. As for the appearance of the star we are
not told when it first
appeared. If it first appeared at the time of Jesus'
conception {which I
am inclined to believe}--
the Magi would have had 9 months to make
their journey. Even at a
camel's pace the journey from Babylon [the
supposed origin of the magi]
should have been
easily accomplished
in less than 9 months time. After all,
these men probably didn't
want
to waste
any time in coming to see this Child and would have traveled
as quickly as possible. In
any event, if
the magi followed the star,
it is
apparent that the star had to appear before Jesus'
birth.
C. If the star appeared at His conception, and the
magi told Herod the
time, He probably reasoned to himself that the star
appeared at
His
birth and
further reasoned that the Child was almost a year old. This
is why he ordered all
children under two to be killed.
V. What date was Jesus
born?
A. The date of Gabriel's message to Mary and the
time of Jesus'
conception.
1) According to Luke 1:26, Gabriel appeared to
Mary in
"the
6th month." {Luke 1:26
makes no reference to
Elizabeth
in
that verse and "the 6th month" of Luke 1:26 is not worded
the same as "her 6th month" [referring to Elizabeth's 6th
month] of Luke 1:36}
2) There were primarily three
calendars in use in Israel during the
time
of Jesus; the Roman calendar {which begins in January},
the
"old" Jewish calendar {which begins
in September to
October} and the "modern" or "Mosaic" Jewish
calendar {which
begins in March to April}. The
"Mosaic" calendar is the same
as the old Jewish calendar except the first month was changed
from
September-October to March-April at the Lord's
command in Exodus 12:2.
Modern Jews, however, still celebrate
Rosh Hashanah {New Year} in September-October
and number
their calendar years {but not
their months} from that date. A
rabbi explained to me {while I
was at chaplain school in New
York} that they celebrate their new year during the seventh
month rather than the first
month.
3) When the angel Gabriel appeared
to Mary {in the sixth month},
Elizabeth her cousin, was
6 months pregnant with John
the
Baptist.
{Luke 1:36}
B. Luke records that when Mary learned of Elizabeth's
pregnancy she
went
quickly to Elizabeth's home. {See
Luke 1:39-40}}
C. When Mary arrived at Elizabeth's home she had already
conceived
Jesus.
[Which is why John leaped in Elizabeth's womb.]
{See Luke 1:41-45}
D. Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months {see Luke 1:56}
[This means Mary stayed with
Elizabeth until or about the time
John
was born. It also means
that Mary was about three months
pregnant herself when she
returned to her home and to Joseph.
{Probably the reason Joseph
considered divorcing Mary.}]
E. According to historical records Herod died at the end
of March or
first
part of April very soon after issuing the decree to kill the babies
in Bethlehem. [However,
early historical records are often full of errors.]
VI. Which
calendar?
A. If Luke used the Roman calendar there is no
question about when
John and Jesus were born. John the Baptist was born sometime
in
September {around Rosh
Hoshanna -- which is in keeping with
one tradition that John was born on Rosh Hoshanna} and
Jesus would be
born sometime in March {around
the Passover}
six months later. Which is also
in keeping with the supposed
historical time of Herod's death.
B. If Luke used the “old” Jewish calendar which Mary
probably would
have
used, John would have been born sometime in the middle of
May
to the middle of June
{around Pentecost} and Jesus was
born sometime in middle of December to the middle of January.
Which the early church
fathers determined.
C. If Luke
used the “Mosaic” calendar, John was born in the middle of
December to the middle
of January, and Jesus was born
in the
middle
of May to the middle of June {around
Pentecost}
D.
According to most protestant churches the Roman Catholic church
sometime during the third century arbitrarily set
aside
December
25 as the time to celebrate the birth of Jesus,
supposedly to counter the pagan
celebrations of the time.
To say that the date was chosen arbitrarily
is simply wrong
and is based partly upon and
ignorance of the calendars,
and partly upon an anti- Roman
Catholic bias.
The church officials
probably assumed Luke was using the "old"
Jewish calendar that
Mary
would have used or had information that
we do not have available to
us today.
E.
Luke was writing to gentiles rather than Jews. We can determine
that he was writing to
gentiles because he often explains
Jewish
customs
which he would not have to do for the Jews. Since he was
writing to gentiles, the fact
that he doesn't explain which calendar he
is referring to tends to support the idea that
he used the Roman
calendar.
F.
From a purely logical approach by the Romans -- it was well known
that the Jews were required to
journey to Jerusalem on
one of the
three
high holy feast times -- Feast of Tabernacles {15 days after
Rosh Hoshanna - around the end of
September}, Passover {around
the end of March}, and the Feast of
Weeks {Pentecost -- around the
end of May}. Therefore the best time to take a
census of the Jews
would be during one of these
three times. However, the Romans
would not necessarily be concerned about the
Jews convenience.
VII. Conclusion
With the evidence we have at the present time
we
may not be able to accurately determine the exact date of Jesus' birth.
It is clear that if Jesus was born in December or May that the
historical accounts of Herod dying at the end of March or first of
April are flat wrong. However, historical accounts cannot be considered
as accurate as Biblical accounts which are based on the inspiration of
God. Based on Matthew and Luke's accounts there are only 3 possible
times for Jesus' birth: the middle
of December to the middle of January, March
{around the Passover}, or the middle of May to the middle of June
{around Pentecost}.
Based on the fact that Luke
was writing to gentiles and does not explain the calendar as he does
other Jewish customs, the logic of having the census in the spring
rather than the cold of winter, along with historical accounts of
Herod's death; I have been inclined to believe and still am more
inclined to believe that Jesus was actually born in March near the time of the Passover.
However, as time goes
by, I am more and more inclined to believe that the church officials of the 3rd century may
have had information which we do not have today, and possibly knew much more than we give them
credit for. It is also interesting to note that the
Jewish "Feast of Lights" {Hannukah} occurs near the time of Christmas
[Some years more closely than others because of the construction of the
Jewish calendar. This Jewish celebration is not a "holy" day listed in
Leviticus 23 but is based on a time when God miraculously provided oil
for the lamps which gave light in the Temple during the time of the
Maccabees around 200 B.C.
Should
we as Christians not celebrate the birth
of Jesus in December? My answer is: At a time when the nights are the
longest and pagans seek for light there is nothing wrong with
Christians celebrating the birth of the Light
of the World. If Luke
actually used the "old" Jewish calendar {which Mary probably would have
used}, December 25 would have to be within a few of days of the exact
correct date!
We, as Christians, should
give thanks every day for the birth of our Saviour.
There are those who say we should
not celebrate Jesus' or anyone else's birthday. To that I reply --
"The angels of heaven
celebrated His birthday and I believe they know more than ignorant men.
I'll follow their lead in celebrating His birth."
However, when we remember the
Passover and the cross of calvary we should also remember that this may
also be the actual time of our Lord's birth, and it was for the cross
that He was born into this world in the first place. {John 12:27}
|
|
Original
Roman months
|
Roman
|
Old Jewish
|
Moses'
calendar
|
|
1
|
|
January
|
Sept.-Oct.
{Tishri}
[Ethanim -
IKi8:2]
|
Mar.-Apr.
{Nisan}
[Abib -
Deut 16:1]
|
|
2
|
|
February
|
Oct.-Nov.
{Heshvan}
|
Apr.-May
{Iyar}
|
|
3
|
|
March
|
Nov.-Dec.
{Kislev}
|
May-June
{Sivan}
|
|
4
|
|
April
|
Dec.-Jan.
{Tebeth}
|
June-July
{Tammuz}
|
|
5
|
|
May
|
Jan.-Feb.
{Shebat}
|
July-Aug.
{Ab}
|
|
6
|
|
June
|
Feb.-Mar.
{Adar}
|
Aug.-Sept.
{Ellul}
|
|
7
|
September
[Note: Sept- 7]
|
July
|
Mar.-Apr.
{Nisan}
[Abib -
Deut 16:1]
|
Sept.-Oct.
{Tishri}
[Ethanim -
IKi8:2]
|
|
8
|
October
[Note: Oct- 8]
|
August
|
Apr.-May
{Iyar}
|
Oct.-Nov.
{Heshvan}
|
|
9
|
November
[Note: Nov- 9]
|
September
|
May-June
{Sivan}
|
Nov.-Dec.
{Kislev}
|
|
10
|
December
[Note: deci- 10]
|
October
|
June-July
{Tammuz}
|
Dec.-Jan.
{Tebeth}
|
|
11
|
|
November
|
July-Aug.
{Ab}
|
Jan.-Feb.{Shebat}
|
|
12
|
|
December
|
Aug.-Sept.
{Ellul}
|
Feb.-Mar.
{Adar}
|
The original Roman calendar
had ten months. Julius Caesar and August Caesar had months inserted for
themselves [which of course had to have 31 days each].