Q&A: When Was Jesus Born?

Question: Why do so many Bible scholars disagree on when Jesus was born. The range seems to be from 4 BC to 2AD. Some say he was born in the spring, some in the summer and some say in the winter. I thought he was born on December 25th and that is why we have Christmas. It’s very confusing, so what is the truth?

The Bible only tells us that Jesus was born while Herod the Great was King of Judah and that there was a brilliant star in the sky that stopped over the village where He was born. But, with the help of computer driven astronomical software used by NASA, we now know for certain that the star was a rare conjunction of the planets Venus and Jupiter. They created what appeared to be the single  brightest celestial object ever seen in recorded history. And we can now also see that the two planets retrograded or stopped directly above the village of Bethlehem. This conjunction occurred on June 17th 2B.C. Herod died an excruciating death the last week of December 1 B.C. on the one year anniversary of his orders to murder the infants of Bethlehem during a partial eclipse of the moon. His death and the eclipse were both documented by the respected Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.

However, the Magi or Wise Men saw the conjunction from their home to the west of Bethlehem in Babylonia. It took them three months (July-September) to prepare for the arduous 900 mile journey east, and three additional months (October - December) to make the journey. Thus, they arrived in Bethlehem on December 25th 2 B.C. So, Jesus was born on June 17th  but His birth was first celebrated in His home in Bethlehem on December 25th (Matthew 2:11). And the wonderful tradition of celebrating His birth on this date continues to this day.