December 25th, the Birthday of Jesus Christ.

According to some writings on Christianity, most Christians celebrate December 25^th as the birthday of Jesus Christ.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a Palestinian town, south of Jerusalem in the West Bank. Bethlehem is a major Christian pilgrimage site. The Holy Bible does not specify on the exact day and exact year in which Jesus was born.

In the Gospel of Matthew 2:1, states,

“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem.” (The Holy Bible, New International Version, The Bible Society of Singapore, 2011).

In reference to this verse, gospel of Matthew claims that Jesus born during the days of King Herod. Every scholar agreed that, according to historical evidence, Herod the Great who ruled in Judea, died in 4 B.C. After Joseph and Mary fled Bethlehem with Jesus, Herod ordered to kill all boys two years old and younger in that vicinity. This may indicate Jesus could have been as old as two before Herod’s death. Base on this scenario the date of Jesus birth may be between the year of 5 B.C. and 6 B.C.

For the month of December, it would be unusual for shepherds to be “abiding in the field” at this cold time of year, when fields were unproductive. The normal practice was to keep the flocks in the fields from Spring to Autumn. A more probable month which Jesus was born would be sometimes late September.

The oldest existing record of a Christmas celebration is found in a Roman almanac that tells of a Christ’s Nativity festival led by the Church of Rome in 336 A.D.

The precise reason why Christmas came to be celebrated on December 25th remains obscure, but most scholars believe that Christmas originated as a Christian substitute for popular Roman pagan celebration commemorating the “birthday of the Unconquered Sun (natalis solis invicti)", on December 25^th. The argument says, early Christians deliberately chose this date to encourage the spread of Christmas and Christianity throughout the Roman world.

Jesus was a Jew. He was born of a virgin Jewish mother. All of his friends, associates, colleagues, disciples, all of them were Jews. He regularly worshipped in Jewish communal worship, what we call synagogues. He preached from Jewish text. He was a Jewish rabbi (teacher of Torah), who preached his message orally, and was baptized by John the Baptist. He celebrated the Jewish festivals. He went on pilgrimage to the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The gospels don’t even have a sense that he came to found a new religion, an idea completely foreign to all the gospel text.

Some writings say Jesus died in the afternoon on Friday, April 3, 33 A.D. at the age of 33 to 35 years old. Jesus was arrested, put on trials before Jewish ruling council (Sanhedrin). He was accused of blasphemy. They agreed that Jesus should be put to death. But they did not have authority to put anyone to death under Roman Law. They took Jesus to Roman Governor accusing him of treason against the Roman Empire for claiming to be the King of the Jews and for urging people not to pay taxes. Finally, Jesus the innocent man was found guilty of crimes and sentenced to death by crucifixion. He was crucified by the order of the Roman Prefect Pontius Pilate, in conjunction with the annual feast of Passover.

“As you know, the Passover is two days away and the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.” (Matthew 26: 2).

According to Christian religious belief, after Jesus being put to death on Friday known as Good Friday, and on the third day Jesus rose again from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is known as Easter Sunday. Jesus later appeared to many people over a span of forty days before he ascended into heaven.

“For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures …” (The Holy Bible, Letters of Paul, First Corinthians 15: 3-4).

And Allah knows the best.

References:
1.    “The Holy Bible”, New International Version, The Bible Society of Singapore, 2011.
2.       Alister E. Mc Grath, “Christian Theology: An Introduction”, Fifth Edition, Wiley-Blackwell, United Kingdom, 2011.
3.    “Jesus”, Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus
4.    “What Year Was Jesus Christ Born? When Was Jesus Born?”, http://www.gotquestions.org/what-year-was-Jesus-born.html
5.    “Christ Is Born?”, This Day In History, http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/christ-is-born
6.    “The Christmas Story: When Was Jesus Born? Predictions Of His Birth”, http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_date.htm
7.    “What Trials Did Jesus Face Before His Crucifixion”, http://www.gotquestions.org/trials-of-Jesus.html

Note: This article is rearranged from some authorized writings on Christianity