Today is the first day of Sukkot–and (very possibly) the very day Jesus the Christ (Yeshua) was born.
I know … it’s not December 25th today. And, I know, no one (on Earth) really knows the exact day of Jesus’ birth.
Yet, there is much more evidence pointing towards Sukkot (Festival of Booths) for the birth of the Christ than there is to support Christmas.
What is the point?
Tradition become embedded and ends up morphing into something different. Christmas elicits thoughts of Santa Klaus and presents. Easter is about bunny rabbits and finding hidden eggs. The Jews turned the Sabbath into a burden and a work-your-way-to-God ordeal.
But the festivals, as given in the Bible, all point to the life, burial and resurrection of the Lord.
- Work out the references to the birth of John the Baptist and it is probable John was born right after Passover. Consider Luke 1:26, count ahead six months to find the conception date for Jesus (December, or late November), then count back three months to late September/early October… you got it, Sukkot.
- The Roman census would not have been ordered during the dead of winter. Furthermore, on December 25th there would have been no “shepherds in the field.” They would have been sheltering over in the sheepfold–beginning about November 1.
- During Sukkot, the inns would certainly have been full–leaving the little Lord Jesus to be born in a rustic shelter … a Sukkot.
Maybe the Lord of lords and King of kings wasn’t born on the first day of Sukkot–the Gospel certainly does not depend on it. Scholars are fairly unanimous, however, in rejecting December 25th as the birthday of Jesus. Constantine decreed the 25th in deference to sun worshipers (just as he mandated Sunday to be the new Sabbath.)
The really important thing is that the Christ was born, he did die, and he did rise again–and he did it all so that you and I might live. What really matters is this: Is the Christ born today in our hearts and in our minds?
If you campare Yahuhhanan (John) 1:14 with Shemoth (Exodus) 40, you might gain a different perspective of Yahushua’s birth date
Well … you can go even further back to the beginning–and before the beginning. Yet, there a time when He was born of woman. That the Father created man is amazing … that He became man is almost unbelievable.