Birth of Christ and Passover

The Birth of Christ and Passover

The LDS Church teaches that the birth of Christ and the Passover occured on the same
day.

Elder David A. Bednar, one of the current Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, said in the April 2014 General Conference address (Bear Up Their
Burdens With Ease"): "Today is April 6. We know by revelation that today is the actual and
accurate date of the Savior’s birth.”

See also D&C 20:1 - "The arise of the Church of Christ in these last days, being one thousand
eight hundred and thirty years since the coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in the flesh,
it being regularly organized and established agreeable to the laws of our country, by the will and
commandments of God, in the fourth month, and on the sixth day of the month which is called
April."

Ensign - Jan 14 1994 - Passover and the birth of Christ

Some highlights.

The law of Moses “was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ” (Gal. 3:24), wrote
the Apostle Paul, offering “a shadow of good things to come” (Heb. 10:1). How?
One example is the actual sacrificing of the Passover lamb, which was in similitude
of the death of Jesus. (See 1 Cor. 5:7.) It appears that the symbolism also included
the timing of the Savior’s death: the Passover lamb was killed between 3:00 and
5:00 P.M.² on the afternoon of the fourteenth day of the spring month specified in
the law of Moses (see Ex. 12:1–6), which was when the Lamb of God actually died
as a sacrifice (see John 19:14; Matt. 27:46). We are assured that not only the death
but also the coming of Christ was typified in the law. Nephi rejoiced, “Behold, my
soul delighteth in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for
this end hath the law of Moses been given.” (2 Ne. 11:4; emphasis added.)

Passover Feast: 15 Nisan. The day 15 Nisan was the day of the exodus of the children
of Israel from Egypt. (See Num. 33:3.) The Lord declared it to be an annual holy day
in order to remind Israel of its liberation from the bondage of Egypt. (See Ex. 12:17,
42; Ex. 13:3.) It was a day of rejoicing, and even today Passover is practically
synonymous with “liberation.”

On 15 Nisan, the Israelites began a one-week celebration called the feast of unleavened
bread. (See Lev. 23:6.) The first day was the feast of the Passover, at which the Passover
lamb was eaten. It was a special sabbath day of rest. (See Lev. 23:7.) It was held in the
evening that began the day 15 Nisan, shortly after the sacrifice of the lamb in the
afternoon that ended the previous day, 14 Nisan; thus, technically, the sacrifice of the
lamb and the Passover feast occurred on different calendrical days. (See Lev. 23:5–6.)

Leviticus 23:5 - In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the Lord's passover.

Numbers 9:5 - And they kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the first month at
even in the wilderness of Sinai: according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did
the children of Israel.

Numbers 28:16 - And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the passover of the
Lord.

Numbers 33:3 - And they departed from Rameses in the first month, on the fifteenth day
of the first month; on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with
an high hand in the sight of all the Egyptians.

Deuteronomy 16:1 - Observe the month of Abib, and keep the passover unto the Lord thy
God: for in the month of Abib the Lord thy God brought thee forth out of Egypt by night.