A Study on the Birth of Jesus Christ

By Mary Stephens
Sept. 2014

Since we don't observe Jesus Christ's birth in December as most Christians do, we occasionally hear comments regarding the observance of His birth that seem to imply that we don't appreciate it as much as we "should." I find this sad and unkind, in all honesty. Consequently, this September (2014) I decided to start a Bible study dealing with the birth of Christ. It seems quite possible that He was born in September (see The Star Research) around the feast of Tabernacles, which is why I picked this month to start this study. It is possible, however, that His birth was in the spring at the beginning of the Jewish year.

Even though it has been many years since my family stopped celebrating Christmas, it has still been interesting to me to dig into this wonderful event without all the trappings of the "holiday season" stuck to it to distract me and reinterpret things for me. It's really amazing to me how much the traditions of "Christmas" have influenced the celebration of Jesus' birth among Christians and blinded us in part to the realities of it. If you study it without any reference to the "holiday spirit," it seems so different from the glitzy, superficial event that goes on in so many churches and homes in December. This alone is reason enough to rethink how we deal with it, in my humble opinion.

This is a basic verse by verse study, but not one where every word is detailed and wrung out of every shred of possible meaning. Because this is a long study, I am going to divide it up into sections to make it easier to read.

A Study on the Birth of Jesus Christ

Luke 1:1-25

Luke 1:26-28

Luke 1:29-34

Luke 1:35-38

Luke 1:39-45

Luke 1:42-47

Luke 1:48-56

Matthew 1:18-21

Matthew 1:20-21