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Happy Birthday Jesus! (No, not Christmas)

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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?

Happy birthday, Jesus. Happy birthday, Yeshua. Your entrance into this world is the most important birthday of all!

(Illustration courtesy of Gebhard Fugel [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons)

The Morning’s Reading

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Display of Jesus on the Cross

An observation in the Psalms. What do you think?

Reading in the Psalms (Tehillim) this morning, it occurred to me that Psalm 22 (My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?), Psalm 23 (The LORD is my shepherd;I shall not want) to the end of Psalm 24 (Who is this King of glory?) may be read together as a string leading from the crucifixion to the glorification of Yeshua (Jesus).

Okay, I know the entire story points to Him, but try reading those three Psalms as a structure and you will see what I mean.

By the way, have you read Psalm 25 lately? Immediately after the power of the Messianic message in Psalms 22-24, comes an appropriate response:

To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me.
Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause.
Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.
Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old.

Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O LORD. Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.
All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

For Your name’s sake, O LORD, Pardon my iniquity, for it is great. Who is the man that fears the LORD?
Him shall He teach in the way He chooses. He himself shall dwell in prosperity,
And his descendants shall inherit the earth. The secret of the LORD is with those who fear Him,
And He will show them His covenant. My eyes are ever toward the LORD, For He shall pluck my feet out of the net … (NKJV)

The remainder of Psalm 25 takes on more of a Messianic tone again. But, I’m wondering, is that because we enter in to His sufferings when we pick up our own crosses and follow Him?

Anyway … just thinking …

Shalom!

(Thank you to j4b for the photo)