Question
Gramps,
If it’s said Jesus was resurrected on Sunday, then on what weekday could He have been born?
Samuel
Answer
Samuel,
It’s one of those questions that makes you stop and think for a moment. The New Testament clearly teaches that Jesus Christ was resurrected on the first day of the week—Sunday. Since we know that with certainty, it’s natural to wonder whether we can also determine what day of the week He was born.
The simple answer is that we can’t.
The scriptures never reveal the day of the week on which Jesus was born. In fact, they never explicitly give us His calendar birth date. While there are faithful opinions about when He was born, there is no revealed answer to the question of what weekday His birth occurred.
What the Lord has revealed is far more important than the day itself.
In The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles begin with this powerful testimony:
“As we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ two millennia ago, we offer our testimony of the reality of His matchless life and the infinite virtue of His great atoning sacrifice. None other has had so profound an influence upon all who have lived and will yet live upon the earth.”
What we do know with certainty is that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week. All four Gospel writers record this sacred event. Matthew says that “in the end of the sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week,” faithful women came to the tomb and found it empty (Matthew 28:1). Mark writes that they arrived “very early in the morning the first day of the week” (Mark 16:2). Luke and John record the same witness (Luke 24:1; John 20:1).
Because of the Savior’s Resurrection, the early Christians began gathering for worship on the first day of the week. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continue that pattern today by observing the Sabbath on Sunday in remembrance of the risen Lord.
The Resurrection stands at the heart of the gospel. It is the assurance that death has been conquered and that every person who has ever lived will one day be resurrected because of Jesus Christ.
When we turn to the Savior’s birth, however, the scriptures become much less specific.
The Bible tells us that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. It tells us about Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, the heavenly host, and later the visit of the Wise Men. The Book of Mormon adds another remarkable witness by describing the miraculous night when there was no darkness at the time of Christ’s birth (see 3 Nephi 1:15-21).
Yet nowhere do the scriptures tell us the day of the week on which Jesus was born.
In fact, they don’t explicitly give us the calendar date either.
Latter-day Saints are familiar with Doctrine and Covenants 20:1, which states that the Church was organized “one thousand eight hundred and thirty years since the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh.”
Because the Church was organized on April 6, 1830, many faithful members have understood this verse to suggest that Jesus was born on April 6. Elder James E. Talmage accepted that interpretation in Jesus the Christ, and several later Church leaders also referred to April 6 as the anniversary of the Savior’s birth.
At the same time, faithful Latter-day Saint scholars have noted that Doctrine and Covenants 20:1 may simply identify the year in which the Church was organized rather than reveal Christ’s exact birthday. Because of this, the Church has not issued an official doctrinal statement requiring members to accept a specific calendar date for the Savior’s birth. As with many historical questions, faithful members have reached different conclusions while remaining united in their testimony of Jesus Christ.
Even if we somehow knew that Jesus was born on April 6, we still could not confidently determine the day of the week.
Why?
First, historians are not certain of the exact year of Christ’s birth. Most place it several years before the death of Herod the Great, likely between 6 and 4 B.C. Second, the modern Gregorian calendar did not exist in New Testament times. The Jews followed their own calendar, while the Roman Empire used the Julian calendar. Converting dates between ancient calendars and our modern calendar introduces uncertainties that simply cannot be resolved with complete confidence.
In other words, there is no reliable way to calculate whether Jesus was born on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or any other weekday.
That may seem a little disappointing, but perhaps it teaches us something important.
The Lord has revealed everything we need to know for our salvation. We know that Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten Son of the Father in the flesh. We know He lived a perfect, sinless life. We know He suffered for our sins in Gethsemane, gave His life on the cross, and rose again on the third day. We know that because He lives, every son and daughter of God will also live again.
Questions like this can actually strengthen our scripture study. They remind us to distinguish between revealed doctrine, thoughtful scholarship, and sincere speculation. There is nothing wrong with asking questions. The Lord encourages us to “seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118). But He has also chosen not to reveal every historical detail.
So if someone asks, “If Jesus was resurrected on Sunday, then what day of the week was He born?” the most accurate answer is also the simplest:
We don’t know.
The Bible doesn’t tell us. Modern revelation doesn’t specify it. History cannot determine it with certainty.
But perhaps that’s exactly as the Lord intended. The scriptures focus our attention not on the weekday of His birth, but on who He is and what He accomplished.
As The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles concludes:
“His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come.”
In the end, whether Jesus was born on a Monday, Thursday, or any other day of the week is an interesting question—but it isn’t a saving truth. The saving truths are that He was born into the world as the promised Messiah, lived a perfect life, performed the infinite Atonement, died for our sins, and rose triumphantly from the tomb on the first day of the week. Because He lives, death is not the end, hope has replaced despair, and all mankind will one day be resurrected.
That is the message the scriptures proclaim. And that is a truth worth celebrating every day of the week.
Gramps
