{"id":54577,"date":"2023-12-13T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-13T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/?p=54577"},"modified":"2023-12-07T13:01:43","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T21:01:43","slug":"a-chronological-reading-of-jesus-birth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/a-chronological-reading-of-jesus-birth\/","title":{"rendered":"A Chronological Reading of Jesus&#8217; Birth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/store\/product.php?productid=42752\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chronological Study Bible<\/a> is an excellent resource for reading about the birth of Jesus. Since it arranges all the biblical events in chronological order, you\u2019ll read through John\u2019s prologue first, then move back and forth between Luke\u2019s and Matthew\u2019s accounts. We want to give you a glimpse of what this looks like so keep reading to see how the differing accounts of the birth of Jesus are intertwined in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/store\/product.php?productid=42752\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chronological Study Bible<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-the-prehistory-of-jesus\"><strong>The Prehistory of Jesus<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.\u201d <\/p><cite>John 1:1-5<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog1-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54579\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog1-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog1-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog1-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog1-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The prologue of John\u2019s Gospel locates the beginning of the story of Jesus in timeless eternity, before the dawn of creation (see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Phil+2%3A5-11&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Php 2:5\u201311<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Col+1%3A15-20&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Col 1:15\u201320<\/a>). John at once identifies \u201cthe Word\u201d as God the Son and distinguishes Him from God the Father. Although there was a time when Jesus of Nazareth did not exist, there never was a time when the Word did not exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Yet John announces a time when \u201cthe Word became flesh\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=John+1%3A14&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jn 1:14<\/a>). The Word became incarnate in this Jesus. This event, the Incarnation, marks the time when the Revealer of God became a specific human being. After the Incarnation, John\u2019s Gospel never again refers to Jesus as \u201cthe Word.\u201d Since the Incarnation, God may be known in the person and work of Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Word Becomes Flesh<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.\u201d <\/p><cite>John 1:14<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>John\u2019s Gospel describes Jesus\u2019 preexistence by identifying him as the divine \u201cWord\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=John+1%3A1&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jn 1:1<\/a>), or, as expressed in the Greek language, the Logos. Many Greek philosophers spoke of the Logos as universal Reason. People familiar with Greek thought could have understood John to be proclaiming Jesus as the organizing principle or \u201cReason\u201d behind the universe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some Jewish people adapted the Greek idea of Logos to fit the traditional Jewish idea of the Word. But more thought of the Word in traditionally Jewish categories. They identified God\u2019s creative Word with divine Wisdom, which they also identified with God\u2019s Law (the Torah). They brought various ideas together: that God created all things through the Law or Wisdom (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=John+1%3A3&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jn 1:3<\/a>), that the Word was life and light (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=John+1%3A4&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1:4<\/a>), and that Wisdom had been with God from the beginning (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=John+1%3A2&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1:2<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the prologue of his Gospel, John declares something that neither the Greek philosophers nor the Jewish teachers conceived: the Word became flesh and dwelt among his people. To the Greeks Logos was invisible reason, not part of the material world. To the Jewish teachers Wisdom was a divine attribute of Yahweh. But to John the Word was the divine Christ who became a human being. The Word\u2019s glory was \u201cfull of grace and truth,\u201d revealing to us the full character of God (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=John+1%3A14&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jn 1:14<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=John+1%3A17&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">17<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=John+1%3A18&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">18<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog2-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54580\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog2-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog2-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog2-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The Birth of Jesus<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>No one knows precisely when Jesus was born. Even his year of birth is only an educated guess based on the information available. The intention of the medieval creators of our calendar was to set the date of Jesus\u2019 birth at A.D. 1. They simply miscalculated. The Jewish historian Josephus places the death of Herod the Great in 4 B.C., and both Matthew (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Matt+2%3A1&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mt 2:1<\/a>) and Luke (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Luke+1%3A5&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lk 1:5<\/a>) presume that Herod was king at the time of Jesus\u2019 birth. But it is not clear how much before Herod\u2019s death Jesus was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We know that Herod became king of the Jews in 37 B.C. Outside of Matthew (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Matt+2%3A16&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mt 2:16<\/a>), no historical record mentions Herod\u2019s slaughter of the infants in Bethlehem. Josephus does write that Herod ordered the murders of members of his own family to protect his throne. So it is not surprising that a few peasant children in Bethlehem went unnoticed among Herod\u2019s many atrocities, leaving us no help with dating. Since Herod\u2019s calculations led him to target children under two years old, Jesus\u2019 birth likely occurred one or two years before Herod\u2019s death\u2014in either 6 or 5 B.C.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog3-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54581\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog3-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog3-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog3-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog3-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A date of about 5 B.C. could fit with Luke\u2019s note that Augustus, who reigned from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14, was the Roman emperor when Jesus was born (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Luke+2%3A1&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lk 2:1<\/a>). Luke\u2019s mention of Quirinius (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Luke+2%3A2&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2:2<\/a>), however, creates a problem. After Herod died, Rome divided his territory among his surviving sons. Archelaus ruled in Judea (see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Matt+2%3A22&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mt 2:22<\/a>) until he was deposed by the Romans in A.D. 6. Only then was Quirinius appointed governor, after serving for more than a decade as commander of the Roman troops in the area. Perhaps Luke simply identified him by his later office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Signs in the Heavens<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, \u201cWhere is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.\u201d <\/p><cite>Matthew 2:1-2<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Some have tried to specify Jesus\u2019 birth date by appeal to astronomical phenomena that might explain the star of Bethlehem (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Matt+2%3A2&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mt 2:2<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Matt+2%3A7&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">7<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Matt+2%3A9&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">9<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Matt+2%3A10&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">10<\/a>). Halley\u2019s comet appeared in 12 or 11 B.C. and another comet in 5 B.C. But in antiquity comets were thought to forecast evil, not blessed, events. In 7 B.C. a rare (once every 794 years) conjunction of the planets Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn occurred in the constellation Pisces. Whether Matthew\u2019s star was any of these is pure speculation. For ancient people the star confirmed again that Jesus was the Messiah who fulfilled Balaam\u2019s star prophecy (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Num+24%3A17&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nu 24:17<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Early Lives of John the Baptist and Jesus<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog4-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54582\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog4-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog4-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog4-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog4-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Elizabeth and Mary, the mothers of John and Jesus, were either blood relatives or close kinswomen (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Luke+1%3A36&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lk 1:36<\/a>). The angel Gabriel appeared to both families\u2014to Elizabeth\u2019s husband and to Mary herself\u2014and announced their future sons John and Jesus. Even before birth, these babies were named (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Luke+1%3A13&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lk 1:13<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Luke+1%3A31&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">31<\/a>) and set apart for unique missions (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Luke+1%3A16-17&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">1:16, 17<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Luke+1%3A32-33&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">32, 33<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Practically nothing is known of John\u2019s boyhood, except that he \u201cgrew and became strong in spirit\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Luke+1%3A80&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Luke 1:80<\/a>). Only slightly more is known of Jesus\u2019 upbringing. Early in his life Jesus was taken to Nazareth, a town of Galilee, and there raised by his mother, Mary, and her husband, Joseph, a carpenter by trade. Hence the Child was known as \u201cJesus of Nazareth\u201d (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Mark+1%3A24&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mk 1:24<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Jesus was his mother\u2019s firstborn child; he had four brothers (James, Joses, Judas, and Simon) and an unspecified number of sisters (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Mark+6%3A3&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mk 6:3<\/a>). The only incident preserved from his first 30 years (after his infancy) was his trip to Jerusalem with Joseph and Mary when he was 12 years old (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/bible\/?query=Luke+2%3A41-50&amp;version=NIV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lk 2:41\u201350<\/a>). Occurring in the year that, as a Jewish boy, he attained the age of religious responsibility, the trip was at a crucial juncture of his development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog6-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-54583\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog6-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog6-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog6-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/nivchronoblog6-1536x1152.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption>The Journey of the Magi by James Jacques Joseph Tissot c. 1894 \u2013 Minneapolis Institute of Arts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. <\/p><cite>Luke 2:39-40<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>The NIV and NKJV Chronological Study Bible<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"580\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ChronologicalStudyBiblesNIVandNKJVComboSocial-1024x580.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-52706\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ChronologicalStudyBiblesNIVandNKJVComboSocial-1024x580.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ChronologicalStudyBiblesNIVandNKJVComboSocial-300x170.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ChronologicalStudyBiblesNIVandNKJVComboSocial-768x435.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/ChronologicalStudyBiblesNIVandNKJVComboSocial-1536x870.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/store\/product.php?productid=42752\">Chronological Study Bible<\/a> is available with both the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/store\/product.php?productid=42752\">NIV<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/store\/product.php?productid=28735\">NKJV<\/a> translation. If you want to read and study the Bible in chronological order, then this is a perfect resource for you! Follow one of the links below to purchase this unique resource in our store!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-content-justification-center is-layout-flex wp-container-core-buttons-is-layout-16018d1d wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background\" href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/store\/product.php?productid=42752\" style=\"background-color:#77aa3c\">NIV CHRONOLOGICAL STUDY BIBLE<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-white-color has-text-color has-background\" href=\"https:\/\/www.olivetree.com\/store\/product.php?productid=28735\" style=\"background-color:#77aa3c\">NKJV CHRONOLOGICAL STUDY BIBLE<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chronological Study Bible is an excellent resource for reading about the birth of Jesus. Since it arranges all the biblical events in chronological order, you\u2019ll read through John\u2019s prologue first, then move back and forth between Luke\u2019s and Matthew\u2019s accounts. We want to give you a glimpse of what this looks like so keep<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":54586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7850],"tags":[6016],"class_list":{"0":"post-54577","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-study-bibles","8":"tag-chronological-study-bible"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v27.6) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A Chronological Reading of Jesus&#039; Birth - Olive Tree Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/a-chronological-reading-of-jesus-birth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Chronological Reading of Jesus&#039; Birth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Chronological Study Bible is an excellent resource for reading about the birth of Jesus. Since it arranges all the biblical events in chronological\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/a-chronological-reading-of-jesus-birth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Olive Tree Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OliveTreeBible\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-12-13T16:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/dan-kiefer-uPl8fJ5Ce2M-unsplash-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Brad Hoffman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@OliveTreeBible\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@OliveTreeBible\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Brad Hoffman\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/a-chronological-reading-of-jesus-birth\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/a-chronological-reading-of-jesus-birth\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Brad Hoffman\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/staging-blog.olivetree.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a5aa5788c774e9c21340b24cb3f5091b\"},\"headline\":\"A Chronological Reading of Jesus&#8217; 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