When was the Word made flesh(part 5)

 

1. The birth of John Baptist

The birth of John Baptist can also be considered as further proof to prove the date of Christ’s birth, for it is well known that John Baptist was six months older than Jesus Christ, because when the angel visited Mary he said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end."

Then Mary said to the angel; “How can this be, since I do not know a man?" And the angel answered and said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren: For with God nothing will be impossible" (Luke 1:34-37).

Now there is without any shadow of doubt that Mary was conceived at the instant she said to the angel, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. Because, Mary arose in those days of her visitation by the angel and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth.

And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy: Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfillment of those things which were told her from the Lord."

And Mary said: "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name” (Luke 1:38-49).

So there is ample proof that Mary was already conceived when she visited Elizabeth and according to Elizabeth, “blessed is she who believed,” so the moment Mary believed what the angel said to her and she replied; “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word" she became conceived.

So then, if we can find out when was Elizabeth conceived and gave birth to John Baptist it would not be that difficult to know when was Mary conceived and gave birth to Jesus Christ. And so, with regard to this matter we learned that, Zacharias the father of John Baptist was serving in the temple according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.”

And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth.” (Luke 1:8-14).

The rest of the story is that Zacharias doubted, for he said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years." And the angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time” (Luke 1:18-20).

But as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. Now after those days, (which refers to the days of his service in the temple) his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, "Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people" (Luke 1:23-25).

So the logical question now is, when was Zacharias days of service? According to the scriptures; “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.” It is further stated that Abijah from whom Zacharias the father of John Baptist descended was of the eighth division (Luke 1:5, 1Chronicles 24:10).

What is important to know is that the priesthood, according to the schedule of their service for coming into the house of the LORD according to their ordinance by the hand of Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded, was made up of twenty-four divisions which means that, the period of service for each division would be 14.75 (approximately 15 days) per year. This calculation is derived from dividing the number of days in the lunar year which is 354 days into the 24 divisions; and therefore, the eighth division under which Zacharias the father of John Baptist fell would be during the last two weeks of the fourth month of the year.

So, at the end of the fourth month of the year, Zacharias departed to his house and after those days, which lead us to the fifth month of the year his wife Elizabeth was conceived. Therefore, if Elizabeth was conceived during the fifth month of the year, the birth of John Baptiste was during the first month of the following year, and since John Baptist was six months older than Jesus Christ, this means that Jesus Christ was born during the seventh month of the year which brings us back to the Feast of Tabernacles which falls on the 15^th day of the seventh month and which commemorates and honor the King of kings and Lord of Lords.

I therefore beg to ask the question, is this not more credible than promulgating the falsehood and the notion that no one knows the date of Jesus’ birth and hence the reason why Christmas is being celebrated as the date of Jesus’ birth? And the Eighth Day does it not better coincide with the Lord's circumcision rather than celebrating it as the beginning of a new year when a new year does not start in the dead of winter? What a hoax! What a deception? But truly, these times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.

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With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph