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Story of the Birth of Jesus: From Birth to Resurrection

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by Murrell G. Selden         Revised on November 25, 1995

Introduction

The Story

Now, it was after the angel appeared to Zecharias, that his wife became pregnant with John. Actually, it was about Nisan 14, so that Jehovah might begin the year with one of his first acts of the holy year of  3 B. C. E.  This parallel's the first act of Herod the Great, who had rebuilt the temple in Jerusalem some years previous; for Jehovah was laying the groundwork for his spiritual temple building work. Now, almost six months later (Luke 1:26) that the angel Gabriel approached Mary to tell her that Elizabeth, the wife of Zecharias, was in her sixth month of pregnancy, since it was in the last days of Elul. The scripture as Luke 1:26 correctly says, "Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee call Nazareth,..." So, for the Jews, the sixth month was the month of Elul, and Jehovah was serious. Luke 1:3 says, "I also have determined, after following up all things carefully from the very first, to write for thee, most excellent Theophilus, an orderly account,...." This was true.

Now, Jesus was not conceived immediately, but it was about Tishri 14, the fourteenth day of the seventh month, in 3 B. C. E. Why on the 14th day of Tishri? It is because the Day of Atonement was on Tishri 10, and Mary needed the sin atoning value of the sacrifices made on that day, so that she could be clean as a vessel for use by Almighty God, Jehovah. Now, it was Tishri 14, since that is the day of the first full moon after Tishri 10. (And John the Baptizer was six lunar months older.)  Now, Mary made haste to visit Elizabeth, and she arrived just after she had become pregnant with Jesus. When Mary arrived, in the hill country of Judea (Luke 1:39), she spoke and Elizabeth's baby leap in her womb. Anyway, Mary stayed with Elizabeth for almost three lunar months. But, she returned home to Nazareth in Galilee just before the end of the ninth month.

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On Tebeth 14, the first day of the tenth month (nine lunar months later, the time it takes a baby to develop on average), John the Baptist was born to Zecharias and Elizabeth in 3 B. C. E. This was the same day on which Mary had been pregnant exactly 3 months with the baby Jesus. Now, in 3 B. C. E., and extra month had to be added to the calendar, and that was Veadar. So, after an additional six months, it was Sivan 14 in 2 B. C. E. that Jesus Christ was born. It was June 16th in 2 B. C. E. (Julian Day number 1,720,858.5). It was the month of first fruits when the Festival of Weeks (Sivan 6) is held, and we know that Jesus was the first born of all creation. Indeed, he was a first fruitage of Jehovah's plan to conquer the world. Now, the babe was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, namely Sivan 22. This all took place at Bethlehem in Judea, south of Jerusalem, during the period when registration took place according to law. But, the family of Jesus was able to find a home in Bethlehem, so they moved there. However, the child had to be taken to the temple in Jerusalem for purification.

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Now, it is possible that Jesus was actually brought to Jerusalem for purification as early as Sivan 23. Why?  It was the anniversary of the marching in of troops by Herod in 36 B. C. E. and by Pompey in 63 B. C. E.  So Jehovah might have thought it appropriate to march his son into Jerusalem on that very same day.  As to whether this is true or not, it is not said.  But, it was certainly possible and appropriate. Anyway, 40 days after Sivan 14 was Tammuz 24 of 2 B. C. E.  That is the same as July 26 of 2 B. C. E. It is interesting that Tammuz 9 was the date of a fast in Jerusalem, and no doubt Anna and Simeon were present for that fast.  Just after that may have been the lunar eclipse on about Tammuz 14 or 15 as reported by Josephus in his Antiquities of the Jews.  So, Jehovah answered their prayers, and they were inspired by Holy Spirit to give prophecies about Jesus on Tammuz 23. Then, Jesus was taken back to his home in Bethlehem in Judea. (Now, it was at this period that an eclipse of the moon took place, it is believed, as written by Josephus, the ancient historian.  All eclipses take place on the 14th or 15th of a Jewish month, since they take place on days with full moons.)

Somewhat after Tammuz 24, Herod the Great received astrologers from Asyria. They had been following the movements of the stars, and probably they were following the movements of the planet Mercury, since they believed its movements were related to the acts of their God Nebo (or Hermes). This one was believed to be a spokesman for the gods. On June 3rd in 3 B. C. E., the planet Mercury had come into conjunction with the sun on June 3rd after a move of 1/2 of 2.7 degrees in a 2.7 degree move from West to East.  Possibly this event  was interpreted by them as indicating a king had been born. Anyway, they were watching the stars, and this move seems like one which would have attracted their attention. So, they came to Jerusalem to find this new king. Now, they told king Herod, who was now suffering badly with his disease.  It was likely late July, the king reasoned that the child was born around June 3rd of the previous year when the astrologers were watching. So, not wanting another king to take his kingdom, he ordered all babes under the age of 2 to be killed. Of course, Jesus was not that old, since he had been born on June 16th ( but exactly the same day that Mercury came into conjunction with the sun the previous year).  So, Herod ordered the Magi, a group of astrologers, to find the babe and report back to him (for he said he wanted to worship him too).

Meanwhile, the astrologers did find Jesus and gave him their gifts, since they believed he was a child of Nebo, a false god of Bablylon.  But, they did believe in dreams, so Jehovah's angel had them dream that they should not return to Herod, so they left by another route. They did not know that they had seen a true personage from the heavens.  Now, Jehovah caused Joseph to have a dream in which he was warned to flee to Egypt, since Herod really wanted to kill Jesus (Matt.2:1-15).  Now, Jesus was two or three months old when they fled to Egypt before winter set in, so they stayed over the winter months in Egypt until 1 B. C. E. Now, at about Shebat 2, as tradition holds, Herod the Great died in 1 B. C. E. It was January 26th of 1 B. C. E. on the Julian calendar of Julius Caesar.  Now, Joseph heard that Archelaus was ruling instead of Herod,  but it was known that he was a terrible character (and they did not want to take a chance of returning to Bethlehem).  Nevertheless, they did return to establish a home at Nazareth in Galilee where Jesus grew in knowledge and wisdom.

Now, it was many years later, around Nisan 1 in 29 C. E. that John the Baptizer came baptizing, since he was thirty years of age at the beginning of the sacred year.  He had been born on Tebeth 14 in 2 B. C. E., as was told before. So, some months later in 29 C. E., which was the end of some 69 weeks of years in a prophecy by Daniel, Jesus came on the Day of Atonement, which was Tishri 10, to be baptized by John. It was about 4 months after his birthday on Sivan 14, so he was about thirty years old as required by the Law of Moses (for the priesthood).  It was the start for a grand Jubilee which was to culminate some years later at the Day of Pentacost.  It was an appropriate day, since the Jews had begun Jubilee years by announcements on Tishri 10.  The following year began the actual Jubilee period. So, Nisan 14 in 30 C. E. was to be a parallel event for Jesus and his followers and those prepared for the Kingdom of God.

Now, Jesus began his work on Nisan 1 of the following year.  He attended a wedding at Cana with his family and some followers. Then he went down to Jerusalem and announced another kind of temple rebuilding, which was spiritually analogous to the rebuilding of the temple by Herod.  But, Jesus was planning to finish his building work in three days (and/or rather three years). So, when he appeared in at the Passover on Nisan 14, he drove out money changers with a whip of ropes. Further, he challenged them to tear down the temple of his body,  as he had authority to rebuild his temple in three years (whereas it was the 46th year for the temple of Herod).  Now, much happened in that three year ministry from 30 C. E. through 33 C.E., but Jesus died on a torture stake on April 3rd in 33 C. E. and was resurrected on April 5th in 33 C. E.  On a yearly basis, it was exactly 3 solar years from the date he appeared at the Passover of 30 C. E. Thus, it was, his disciples remembered what he had said three years ago from that date. So, Jesus had kept his promise and provided a way (gate) for men to enter into heaven, and it was proven by his resurrection by Jehovah.  So, a little while later, he appeared and told them that gifts of Holy Spirit were to be given at Pentecost.

Conclusions

Click on the bomb icon below to post comments. Please keep in mind that the author did not think these things up over night. Actually, it took several years. Also, while many things are stated as fact, they are still provisional.  They are based upon the author's understanding of the scriptures, various tools developed by the author (with respect to calendars, Julian Day numbers, the conversions between Julian Day numbers and Gregorian or Julian calendars, and translations of the scriptures).   Additional information, such as explanations of the computations may be given at some time.

Explanations of Calculations

How I calculated the Passover dates for Jesus and John the Baptizer.

How I calculated the date of Herod's death.

PC DOS computer programs (free) with Turbo Pascal 7.0 souce code for chronology studies.

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Should Christians celebrate Christmas?

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