Nativity of Christ
The birth of our Lord took place at the time and place predicted by the prophets (Gen 49:10; Isa 7:14; Jer 31:15; Mic 5:2; Hag 2:6–9; Dan 9:24, Dan 9:25). Joseph and Mary were providentially led to go up to Bethlehem at this period, and there Christ was born (Matt 2:1, Matt 2:6; Luke 2:1, Luke 2:7). The exact year or month or day of his birth cannot, however, now be exactly ascertained. We know, however, that it took place in the “fulness of the time” (Gal 4:4), i.e., at the fittest time in the world’s history. Chronologists are now generally agreed that the year 4 before the Christian era was the year of Christ’s nativity, and consequently that he was about four years old in the year 1 A.D.
From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), by Matthew George Easton.
