Day 128: Luke 2:1–7

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole empire should be registered (v. 1).

I have heard the questions thousands of times: Why do we celebrate Christmas on December 25? How do we know when the birth of Christ took place? Why celebrate Christmas at a time originally set for ancient pagan celebrations?

The Scrooges are right; we don’t know when Christ was born. But I happen to think His is a birth worthy of celebrating at some time of year. After all, God didn’t just tolerate celebrations and festivals commemorating His faithfulness—He commanded them! His idea! Some were solemn; others were for the pure purpose of rejoicing before the Lord.

On one such occasion Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy choice food and sweet drinks, and send some to those who have nothing prepared. This day is sacred to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). The Book of Esther also speaks of an annual day set aside for “joy and feasting . . . a day for giving presents to each other” (Esther 9:19). The most concentrated list of Old Testament feasts appears in Leviticus 23. The chapter describes seven different feasts. In verse 5 we read, “The Lord’s Passover begins at twilight on the fourteenth day of the first month.”

The first month falls, according to the new moon, over the last half of March and the first half of April. The timing has significance to all of us who have carried children in our wombs. In the Jewish calendar, the fourteenth day of the first month is called the day of conception. If our God of perfect planning and gloriously significant order happened to overshadow Mary on the fourteenth day of the first month of His calendar, our Savior would have been born toward the end of our December. We have absolutely no way of knowing whether or not He did, but I would not be the least bit surprised for God to have sparked His Son’s human life on one Passover and ended it on another.

No, I don’t believe in Easter bunnies, and I don’t have much of an opinion on Santa Clauses, but I’m a hopeless romantic when it comes to celebrating Christmas, the birth of my Savior. Until a further “Hear ye! Hear ye!” comes from heaven, December 25 works mighty fine for me.