No! “The establishment of December 25th evolved not from biblical precedent,” says the Christmas encyclopedia, “but from pagan Roman festivals held at year’s end,” about the time of the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere.Those festivals included Saturnalia,in honor of Saturn,god of agriculture, “and the combined festivals of two sun gods,the Roman Sol and the Persian Mithra,” says the same encyclopedia.Both birthdays were celebrated on December 25th,the winter Solstice according to the Julian calender.
Those pagan festivals began to be “Christianized” in the year 350, when Pope Julius 1 declared December 25th to be Christ’s birthday.” The Nativity gradually absorbed or supplanted all other solstice rites.” says the Encyclopedia of Religion. “Solar imagery came increasingly to be used to portray the risen Christ (who was also called Sol Invictus) and the old Solar disc…became became the halo of Christian saints.”
The Bible does not give Jesus’ birth date. But we can safely conclude that he was not born on December 25th.
The Bible tells us that when Jesus was born,shepherds were “living out of doors” tending their flocks at night in the vicinity of Bethlehem.(Luke 2:8) The cold rainy season usually began in October,and shepherds,especially in the colder highlands such as those around Bethlehem, brought their sheep into protected shelters at night. The coldest weather was sometimes accompanied by snow and occurred in December.
Its is also interesting to note that Jesus would,according to Jewish custom, have been baptized as soon as he was 30 years old,(in 29 CE). He would then have commenced his ministry work without delay. He did is ministry work for three and a half years (See Daniel 9:25-27) before being put to death on Nisan 14 according to the Jewish calender and that would have been in the spring time of 32CE, – exactly thirty three and a half years after his birth in the autumn of 2BC!