Jesus i born
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Bibliographical Information:
When Was Jesus Really Born? Early Christianity, the Calendar, and the Life of Jesus, by Steven L. Ware. St. Louis, Missouri: Concordia Publishing House, 2013. 281 pages.
Credentials:
Steven L. Ware, PhD, is Professor of Historical Theology at Nyack College/Alliance Theological Seminary in New York City and Nyack, New York. As a member of both the Evangelical Theological Society and the American Society of Church History, he has presented widely to academic and church audiences on questions of biblical history, the chronological dates of Jesus’ life, the Paschal calendar, and historical foundations of the Christian faith.
Premise/Thesis:
The question: “When was Jesus born?” elicits a familiar answer: “December 25th.” The title of this particular work: When Was Jesus Really Born? suggests the traditional answer might be inaccurate.
While this title’s question appears to promise a reliable answer, it very quickly digresses into ulterio
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Where was Jesus born?
Answer
The Bible chronicles Jesus Christ’s birth in Matthew 1:18–25; 2:1–12; Luke 1:26–38; and 2:1–20. At the time of Mary’s pregnancy, a decree bygd Caesar Augustus went out that “all the world should be registered” (Luke 2:1). This meant that every person in the Roman Territory was required to return to the city of their ancestors to be counted in a census.
Joseph lived in Nazareth at the time but needed to travel south to the region of Judea, “to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David” (Luke 2:4). Naturally, Joseph took his betrothed, Mary, to go with him to be counted as a member of his family. Thus, the young couple ended up in the small town of Bethlehemat the time of Jesus’ birth.
This location aligns with the prophecy foretold by Micah, proclaiming that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, o
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When Jesus Was Really Born
by Stephanie Hamman | December 03 2019
Christmas can make me grumpy. And not in a “Bah! Humbug!” way. Why? Because the most anticipated event in Jewish history – the coming of the Messiah – has been hijacked and distorted beyond recognition.
I’m Jewish and I follow Yeshua (Jesus), but I’ve had a long-standing conflict with Christmas. It may not sound like it, but I’m actually all about the warm, fuzzy feelings associated with the season – twinkling lights, mugs of hot chocolate, cozy snowscapes, and festive music. Last year, I even tried my hand at making wassail.
Like many Jewish Americans, I grew up with some Christmas traditions. But as I grew older, I felt less warm and fuzzy and more and more unsettled about this day.
People loved to tell me that “Jesus is the reason for the season” – but I knew it wasn’t that simple. Long before his birth, this time of year was filled with many similar traditions—except the