And, so this is Christmas, what have we done? as the lyrics from John Lennon go. As we maybe gather around a dining table laden with traditional Christmas fare of turkeys, crackers and plum pudding – all mentioned in the Bible, of course; with present wrappings adorning the floor – aha, that’s biblical; or perhaps even following a watch night service at Church : I wish you a very merry Christmas and a happy new year, let’s hope it is a good one, without any fear.
Well, fear is a constant concern for many people across our world today: in Ukraine, Russia, Syria, Gaza, Lebanon, Yemen, and so many more countries. We also have fear over political leadership, where democracy may be become less of a focus. The waiting for what might change can be hard.
During Advent, in that time of waiting, I have been looking at the Christmas story. In previous posts, we have looked at the issues with the virginity of Mary, why possibly Nazareth was the actual birthplace of Jesus, and the lack of evidence for the Massacre of the Innocents. Today, I’d like to explore the whole Christmas story and Jesus’ birth. What exactly is mentioned and where?
Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth
It is only found in 2 of the 4 Gospels: Matthew and Luke. Being that it forms such an important part of the story of Jesus, the first Gospel to be written, according to scholars, Mark fails to mention it at all. John, considered to be the last Gospel to have been written, also doesn’t mention it except obliquely.
I have tried to compare Matthew and Luke, as shown in this Table.
| Luke’s Gospel | Matthew’s Gospel | Old Testament link |
| Angel speaks to Mary in Nazareth. “Be ye not afraid’ despite you being a virgin | Genealogy links Abraham to Joseph; Mary is a virgin but engaged to Joseph. Angel speaks to Joseph and informs him that a child will be conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit | Isaiah 7:14 Here, given that it was the Greek Septuagint or LXX version for the Old Testament, the word found was parthenos. The original Hebrew had two different words for virgin and maiden. This led to some ambiguity.* |
| In the time of Caesar Augustus, the Governor of Syria, Quirinius, called for a Census, where everyone would travel to their home town (Joseph’s was Bethlehem) | Jesus is born in Bethlehem: no travel was needed as the Mary and Joseph were already living there. | Micah 5:2 |
| Jesus was born in a manger | Jesus was born in a house during reign of Herod | |
| Angelic chorus line signposts Shepherds to Bethlehem | Star is seen, which leads wise men (not limited to 3) from the East to Jerusalem and then to Bethlehem, but they return by a different route. | |
| A few months later, Mary, Joseph and Jesus go to the Temple where they meet Simeon and Anna. | Angel tells Joseph to leave Bethlehem to go to Egypt | Hosea 11:1-4 |
| Herod orders the massacre of the innocents, any child under 2 years olds | Jeremiah 31:15 | |
| The family travel direct to Nazareth | Angel tells Joseph to return to Nazareth |
What did you notice in all that?
There appears to have been a disconnect in the different stories: not only in the details, but also in the timeline, and the geography. We are often presented with a homogenised melded story – which includes donkeys. Note also that Luke has lowly shepherds whereas Matthew includes wise men, rich, opulent and influential.
And so this is Christmas
For weak and for strong
For rich and the poor ones
The world is so wrong
Who else told the story of Jesus’ birth?
Ah, problem here. If Paul was one of the first to start writing about the followers of Christ, he did not mention the birth. Paul does say in Galatians Chapter 4 that Jesus was born of a woman, but that’s it. There are no other mentions of the birth of Jesus in the New Testament. So from early 50AD through to 70AD, there’s no mention of the virgin birth.
I would like to say that even though Mark also doesn’t mention it there is a flavour of the birth in John’s Gospel. John is not one of the synoptic Gospels, those ‘seen together’. This Gospel has a a very different take on who Jesus is. Whereas Matthew and Luke mention that Jesus is born of Mary, hence a human being, John speaks of Jesus being with us, incarnate. In the beginning there was Jesus is the belief. But that is it.
Stop the bickering
And so happy Christmas
For black and for white
For yellow and red ones
Let’s stop all the fight
Can we still celebrate Christmas despite the possible discontinuities within the story of Jesus’ birth? Given when the Gospels were written, why they were written, who their intended audience was, and who the authors were, they had many reasons for writing what they did. If the Apostles and Nicene Creed does not stipulate that we need to believe the Bible to be a Christian, perhaps we can gel around whatever faith that we hold. Without adding barriers, limitations, dividing lines, may we be able to extend the table of welcome, add a chair or 2 (3 or more, if wise folk are seen on the horizon); so, I wish you …
A very merry Christmas
And a happy New Year
Let’s hope it’s a good one
Without any fear
Agree, that today we follow a homogenized, melded story.
What I don’t understand here is if the Gospels were written by different authors at different times, they all must be using something (perhaps verbal communication) to base their understanding as none of them wrote it during Jesus’ times. For example, you said Mark was the first to write his Gospel as per the scholars – so why is it that others did not refer to what Mark has already written and explain to us why they think differently to something? Could be, as you mentioned sometime back, that they were oblivious of each other’s book because the Bible was not created at their time but much later on.
Whoever has put all of these books together into the Bible, was perhaps himself confused about which one was the right version and hence he included all of them together and called it the Bible, thinking the future generation will be able to dig into to figure out.
We formed so many denominations because some version of the stories in the Bible were more convenient for some people – example, the gender bias and the marginalizing of people who were different from the majority. In fact, in some places where Christianity itself is in minority, whom to get married still depends on the denomination
Catholics pray to Mary (Mother of Jesus). Did the virginity of Mary earn her this position ? How do they justify when so many women today in this world are raped and murdered for no sin of theirs ?
Hope you had a good Christmas Day.
The Gospels we have in the NT are those chosen by the clerics in 367AD. There are many more. The accounts we do have were written separately but may have indirectly used information from those and other sources. The authors of Matthew and Luke, it is surmised, used the Gospel according to Mark and the lost perceived source known as Q or Quelle. Each author wanted to write their perspective. Matthew wanted to emphasise that Jesus was the Messiah, hence many OT prophecies were inacted using verses drawn from the Hebrew Scriptures. These verses may not reflect the context in his they were used originally but they seemed to carry weight. Luke also used some of these verses.
Note also that the Gospels may not have been in their current format back then. There is dispute whether the first two chapters of Luke were added. Marks’ ending was most probably added. John’s prologue may well have been from a different author. Matthew wrote his in 5 posts to resemble the Torah.
As an aside, rather than read the Gospels as a book, it can be revealing to read them horizontally. That is, when one Gospel writer introduces one story or parable, what do other authors write, and where were they located, and in what what relation to other stories?
Those in the church, in its informative years (1st and 2nd C in particular), were keen to strongly emphasise that Jesus was the Messiah to the Jews (Matthew) and Gentiles (Luke). Mark spoke of good news, and the birth genealogy wasn’t important. John spoke of a divine Jesus from the outset. These combined to give the pre-Easter and post-Easter understanding of Jesus to the new followers.
After the 4thC confirmation of Christianity by the Romans, this accelerated. The understanding of virginal birth was well attested in mythology of the time and wouldn’t have been a surprise.
The mainstream churches have diverged in their understanding on particular tenets of faith. Like every individual, we have our own interests, strengths and areas which aren’t so great. Perhaps we need to strip away the veneer, and see what’s beating inside of us – the core message. Regrettably, that may also differ.
“Like every individual, we have our own interests, strengths and areas which aren’t so great. Perhaps we need to strip away the veneer, and see what’s beating inside of us – the core message”.
My thoughts – Most people do not bother, and some even fear to discuss these things. Some fear the church or society, while some others fear that God will not be pleased with them if they do so. Also, for some churches, it could be a matter of their reputation, as they must have formed a particular denomination after having some serious arguments regarding scripture.
In the movie “Messiah”, which is of modern times, they do not show anything about the birth. I was wondering if they had to show this in that movie, then perhaps people would have asked for a DNA test to confirm things