Why December 25 Matters

For centuries, believers have gathered on December 25 to celebrate the birth of Jesus. And yet, there’s good reason to believe that December is not His birth date, but a celebration of His immaculate inception—the moment when the Holy Spirit came to Mary and created a new creation: God in man.

Luke presents an orderly account of the life of Jesus, and the scene opens in the Temple where Zechariah ministers to the Lord. Zechariah’s name means the Lord remembers. His wife’s name, Elizabeth, comes from the Hebrew name “Elisheva” (אֱלִישֶׁבַע), meaning “My God is an oath” or “God is my oath,” combining El (God) and shava (oath/swear). It signifies being “pledged to God” or “God’s promise.” For years, the two prayed for a son, but, old and beyond the age of conception, it seemed God had forgotten his oath. But now—true to His word— God has remembered His oath.

Sometime in May, 6 BC, eight weeks after the start of the new Jewish year, while serving before God under the priestly division of Abijah, an angel appears and tells Zechariah their prayers have been heard. They will bear a son, one filled with the Holy Spirit from birth. One who will come in the spirit of Elijah to prepare the way for the Anointed One (Luke 1:5–23).

When his duties are concluded, and silenced due to doubts as to God’s faithfulness, Zechariah returns home. Perhaps in May or June, Elizabeth conceives and the pair await the birth of their son in solitude.

Six months pass before Gabriel returns again, this time to a young virgin named Mary, who is betrothed to be married (Luke 1:26, 36). The Holy Spirit comes upon her, and she conceives. Mary then travels to see Elizabeth. When Mary greets her, the child inside Elizabeth—recognizing the presence of the Messiah— leaps (Luke 1:39–44).

If Elizabeth is already pregnant by July of 6 BC, this visitation occurred six months later, perhaps in late December of 6 BC. This date aligns with the prophetic timeline of Daniel 9 where the decree to rebuild Jerusalem began and 483 years would pass before the Anointed One would come.

Some speculate that John the Baptist was born on March 29, 5 BC. Six months pass, and on September 29, 5 BC, during the Feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:33–43), Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem to be registered for the Roman census. Their child is born. This Feast of Tabernacles is in celebration of the conclusion of the agricultural year. The harvest is complete. A new year is about to begin.

But it’s more than just the start of another year. It’s be the beginning of a new covenant between God and man.

With the coming of the Anointed One, transgression is finished, atonement for iniquity completed, and everlasting righteousness has arrived. The Feast of Tabernacles is a time when God’s people leave their homes and live in temporary shelters to remember when God dwelt among them in the wilderness. Now God, in the form of a child, has come to live with mankind forever. Our time of wandering in the wilderness is over. A new kingdom has come near that joins heaven and earth.

John later wrote how the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). The Word, the Son of God, God Himself, pitched His tent among men. For those in Christ, we live in this world and are seated in heavenly places. We transcend time and space, just as Jesus did upon His arrival.

We are the offspring of the immaculate conception. And that’s a reason to celebrate in December—and all year long.