According to Josephus (Antiquities 7,14,7) services in the Temple in Jerusalem were performed by shifts of priests. The shifts were called "courses". Each course served an eight day period, from Sabbath to Sabbath. There was an overlap on each Sabbath and during feast days all the courses of priests served in the Temple. There were twenty-four courses (First Chronicles 24) just like there are twenty-four elders serving God in His Heavenly Temple (Rev. 4:4). The first course started with the first day of Nisan, the first month of the Hebrew religious calendar. Nisan 1 commenced with the first new moon after the spring solstice. On our calendar, Nisan 1 would occur from March 22nd to April 19th.

Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was a priest of the course of Abijah (Luke 1:5). First Chronicles 24:10 lists Abijah as the eighth course. The eight courses would cover fifty-six days. Passover Week, when all courses served, would add another seven days. So Zechariah's course would start sixty-three days after Nisan 1 and finish its service eight days later.

John was conceived after this period in June (Luke 1:23-24). Elizabeth, John's mother was over six months pregnant when Mary was told she would "be with child" (Luke 1:26-44).

Therefore, Jesus was conceived in December or January and may have been conceived on Christmas Day. Nine months later would be late September or October of the following year, which is the general time of the Harvest Feast. The Feast of Harvest, or the Feast of Tabernacles, was one of three feasts in which attendance was mandatory for all Jewish men living within a certain distance of the Temple at Jerusalem (Exodus 23:14-17).

This explains why Jerusalem, and its "suburb" Bethlehem, was so crowded that "there was no room in the inn" (Luke 2:7) at the time of the birth of Jesus. There would be no reason for all the available rooms to be taken in December. There are no mandatory feasts or holy days in December and fewer people traveled in the winter.

Caesar's census (Luke 2:1) was taken at that time for the same reasons. He waited until harvest, so as not to require workers to leave their homes and fields at this important time. Also, you cannot pay taxes if you have not gathered and sold your crops. Caesar may have also scheduled the census before winter so people would not have to travel during the colder months.

Jesus was born in September or October, probably on the day of the Harvest Feast. The prophet Zechariah (not the father of John the Baptist) implies that He will come again on that same holy day. After Jesus comes and reigns, all the nations will come to Jerusalem every year and celebrate the Harvest Feast (Zechariah 14:16). This is probably the anniversary of His return.

We assume that the calendar we use today begins with the birth of Jesus. Well, it is close. The Gregorian calendar, named for Pope Gregory who proclaimed its use, is a few years off. However, history and scripture give us a good idea of the year Jesus was born.

John 2:20 gives us a clue as to the time of the ministry of Jesus. Earlier in this chapter Jesus performed His first miracle by turning water into wine at a wedding. There is an undefined passage of time and then Jesus goes "up" to Jerusalem (it is on a mountain) for Passover. It was here that Jesus drove money-changers and offering-sellers out of the Temple. The Jews asked Jesus what was His authority. Jesus responded cryptically, "Tear down this house and I will rebuild it in three days." This astounded the Jews who knew that the remodeling of the Temple begun by Herod the Great had been going on for forty-six years.

As an aside, the Temple in the time of Jesus was the second Temple as constructed by Zerubbabel. The first Temple, built by Solomon, was destroyed by the Babylonians. The Herodian Temple was still the second Temple. Herod was merely remodeling it. He did this for political reasons, not out of love for the Lord's House. Remember, this was the Herod that had all male babies under the age of two years massacred.

History tells us that Herod began remodeling the Temple in 20 B.C. Forty-six years later would be 26 A.D. (Anno domino - "the year of our Lord"). So it appears that Jesus drove the money-changers out of the Temple at Passover time, 26 A.D.

Jewish men of the tribe of Levi started working in the Temple at age 20 (First Chronicles 23:24). However, they could not serve the Lord, or be a rabbi, until they were 30 years of age (Number 4:3-47). This is reason for the assumption that Jesus was 30 years old when He began His ministry. If this is so, then Jesus was born in the year 4 B.C.

It is possible that Jesus began His ministry upon His thirtieth birthday, which I believe was at the time of the Fall Harvest. The first miracle of Jesus at Cana of Galilee may have been in the Fall. If this is so, then He had been preaching and teaching for six months at Passover, 26 A.D. Based on the above, if the ministry of Jesus was for 3 ½ years, then He was crucified at Passover, 29 A.D.

The 3 ½ year ministry is interesting because seven is the number of completeness. The ministry of Jesus was, therefore, incomplete. He has more to do! It is described in Zechariah 14. Come, Lord Jesus! And Happy Birthday, Savior!