#Jesus keep me near the cross is it unscriptural free#
Interested in learning about the birth of Jesus? Learn more about the history of Christmas and the date of Jesus’ birth in the free eBook The First Christmas: The Story of Jesus’ Birth in History and Tradition.Įaster, a much earlier development than Christmas, was simply the gradual Christian reinterpretation of Passover in terms of Jesus’ Passion.
Jesus is crucified the next morning-still, the 15th. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, however, the Last Supper is held after sundown, on the beginning of the 15th. This would have occurred on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Nisan, just before the Jewish holiday began at sundown (considered the beginning of the 15th day because in the Hebrew calendar, days begin at sundown).
According to John, Jesus is crucified just as the Passover lambs are being sacrificed. Each of the Four Gospels provides detailed information about the time of Jesus’ death. This stands in sharp contrast to the very early traditions surrounding Jesus’ last days. 1 As far as we can tell, Christmas was not celebrated at all at this point. 165–264) goes so far as to mock Roman celebrations of birth anniversaries, dismissing them as “pagan” practices-a strong indication that Jesus’ birth was not marked with similar festivities at that place and time. The extrabiblical evidence from the first and second century is equally spare: There is no mention of birth celebrations in the writings of early Christian writers such as Irenaeus (c. Yet most scholars would urge caution about extracting such a precise but incidental detail from a narrative whose focus is theological rather than calendrical. The biblical reference to shepherds tending their flocks at night when they hear the news of Jesus’ birth (Luke 2:8) might suggest the spring lambing season in the cold month of December, on the other hand, sheep might well have been corralled. The Bible offers few clues: Celebrations of Jesus’ Nativity are not mentioned in the Gospels or Acts the date is not given, not even the time of year. Although Jesus’ birth is celebrated every year on December 25, Luke and the other gospel writers offer no hint about the specific time of year he was born. A blanket of snow covers the little town of Bethlehem, in Pieter Bruegel’s oil painting from 1566.