Quick Answer: Was Jesus Really Born in the Spring?

Christians, like everyone else, can be tempted to be the smarted person in the room.  Many times this involves knowing little quirks about the Bible which supposedly debunk commonly held perceptions.  

Sometimes these quirks can be helpful.  Such as knowing alternate translations of texts, or the proper ways to fit together timelines.  Other times... they broach into the territory of "too clever by half".  

Such is the case of people insisting Jesus couldn't have been born on Dec 25 - and HAD to be born in the spring.  The evidence typically used to support this claim is from Luke's infancy account:

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night." - Luke 2:8

Folks will latch onto the detail and say:

It couldn't have been winter because there are sheep present!

There are three problems with that theory.  

First, you're talking about an animal which literally grows a wool coat.  Cold temperatures don't bother the guys in the least.

Second, Bethlehem is more than warm enough in December for animal husbandry:

Lastly... suppose it was too cold for the sheep.  Where would they even go?  There were no massive heated structure for them.  Would they have to travel down to Egypt every year?

So there really isn't any compelling reason to say Jesus had to be born in the spring - at least nothing relating to sheep.  

As for the Dec 25 date, other bloggers have done the legwork to show that it really is the best guess we've got.