The Nativity of Jesus Christ
Written for Principles of Biblical Theology with Dr. Joshua Madden, October 16, 2019
The synoptic Gospels of Matthew and Luke give us two reports of the birth of Jesus. While they differ in detail, together they show us the Incarnation, its place in salvation history, and how various prophesies are fulfilled. In comparing and contrasting the stories told by each Gospel, contemplating why details were included or excluded, and considering the initial audience each wrote for, we can come to a better understanding of what the Incarnation means for all peoples and all generations.
Matthew begins with the genealogy of Jesus, which shows that Jesus fulfills the prophecy of 1 Chronicles 17:11-14, that of being a son of David. He then briefly states that when Mary became pregnant, Joseph would have divorced her had not an angel appeared to him in a dream who told him that the pregnancy was through the power of the Holy Spirit. The angel said the boy was to be named Jesus; as Matthew notes, this name fulfills the prophecy at Isaiah 7:14. Matthew then tells of the visit of the magi to King Herod, and their subsequent visit to the child Jesus. Again, here, Matthew makes specific reference to prophesy, stating that the chief priests and scribed tell Herod that the Messiah is to be born in Bethlehem, for it is written “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so is written by the prophet ‘And you O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; from you shall come a ruler who will govern my people Israel.’”[1]
The Magi do not return to Herod, for they are warned in a dream. Joseph has another dream, in which an angel tells him that the family must flee to Egypt to avoid Herod’s wrath and fear. Matthew refers the prophecy in Hosea 11:1: “[they] remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have I called my son.”[2]
Matthew next tells of Herod killing of all boys in Bethlehem of two years of age and younger, and again quotes a prophet, Jeremiah 31:15: “A voice was heard in Ra’mah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children, she refused to be consoled, because they were no more.”[3]
After Herod dies, Joseph has another dream, in which he is told by an angel that it is safe to leave Egypt and return home. Joseph is fearful of the current ruler, Herod’s son Archelaus, and further warned in a dream, rather than returning to Bethlehem, Joseph takes his family and “went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, so that what had been spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled. ‘He shall be called a Nazorean.’”[4] It is worth noting that the Old Testament as we know it does not contain a direct reference to Nazareth. It is possible that Matthew is referencing a prophecy that has been lost to time. There are also other theories about this, such as the two possibilities referenced in the USCCB’s footnote to Matthew 2:23: “The town of Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament, and no such prophecy can be found there. The vague expression “through the prophets” may be due to Matthew’s seeing a connection between Nazareth and certain texts in which there are words with a remote similarity to the name of that town. Some such Old Testament texts are Is 11:1 where the Davidic king of the future is called ‘a bud’(nēser) that shall blossom from the roots of Jesse, and Jgs 13:5, 7 where Samson, the future deliverer of Israel from the Philistines, is called one who shall be consecrated (a nāzîr) to God.”[5]
That is the end of Matthew’s infancy narrative. In two short chapters, he has detailed six prophesies that have been fulfilled by the birth of Jesus. In telling of the dreams Joseph has, and the dream the Magi have, Matthew also shows God’s active involvement in the birth of Jesus and the events surrounding it. Clearly, something out of the ordinary has happened here.
Luke’s Infancy Narrative is more detailed, and shows God sending angels to announce the coming of the Savior. Gabriel appears to Zachariah, announcing that Zachariah and his wife, Elizabeth, shall have a son, to be named John, who “ will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”[6] Six months later, Gabriel is sent to Mary, announcing that she will bear a son, to be named Jesus, who “will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” [7]
Luke continues. ells a straightforward tale. The Emperor has ordered a census, each to be counted in their own town, so Joseph takes Mary with him “from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David.”[8] Luke does tell us that when the child is born, they “laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.”[9] An angel appears to the shepherds who were watching the flock at night, announcing “I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people, for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”[10] The shepherds come to see the baby. Eight days later, the child is circumcised and named Jesus. At the proper time, Joseph and Mary take him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord, “(as it is written in the law of the Lord, ‘Every male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord,’) and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord.”[11] There they meet a holy man named Simeon, to whom “[i]t had been revealed … by the Holy Spirit that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.”[12] When Simeon saw Jesus, he recognized him as the Messiah, and prayed to God “my eyes have seen your salvation which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”[13]
There was also a prophetess there, Anna, who likewise recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and “she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”[14]
Luke tells us that Mary, Joseph and Jesus then returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth, where “the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon him.”[15] Luke then jumps to Passover, in the year that Jesus was twelve. That year, as all years, the family goes to Jerusalem for the feast. Upon their return, Jesus remains behind without Mary and Joseph’s knowledge. Mary and Joseph at first believe he is with the caravan, with others of the family, and journey on for a day looking for him. When they realized he is not among the caravan, they return to Jerusalem. “After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions, and all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.”[16] When questioned by his parents as to why he had remained behind in the Temple, Jesus responded “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” [17]
Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph did not understand this response. Jesus returned with them “to Nazareth, and was obedient to them…[and he] increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favor with God and man.”[18]
The first conclusion we can draw from the Gospels is that not all of the Evangelists considered the birth of Jesus to be part of the central story of salvation history. As Pitre points out, the Gospels are not standard biographies. “The Gospels are not just about the life of the man Jesus of Nazareth; they are about the coming of God in the person of Jesus.”[19] John, who seeks to establish the divinity of Christ, begins with “the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” and then moves on to John the Baptist. John writes not of the Incarnation itself, but of how Jesus lives out his mission. Likewise, Mark begins with John the Baptist, fulfilling a prophecy of Isaiah. Matthew and Luke, who each write for different audiences with different backgrounds, offer us the most detailed stories.
Of the four Gospels, only Matthew and Luke give us any detail of the birth of Christ. Whatever is included in Scripture is there for a reason. “Therefore, since everything asserted by the inspired authors or sacred writers must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit, it follows that the books of Scripture must be acknowledged as teaching solidly, faithfully and without error that truth which God wanted put into sacred writings for the sake of salvation. Therefore ‘all Scripture is divinely inspired and has its use for teaching the truth and refuting error, for reformation of manners and discipline in right living, so that the man who belongs to God may be efficient and equipped for good work of every kind’….” [20] Thus, we need not be concerned as to why some stories are in one book but not another, as ultimately, all stories God wanted to put into sacred scripture are in sacred scripture.
In comparing the Infancy Narratives, we must look at what Matthew and Luke tell us, which elements they share, and which elements differ. Matthew gives us Herod, Magi, and the Flight to Egypt. Luke gives us the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Presentation, and the Finding in the Temple. Luke leaves no doubt that John the Baptist and Jesus are related; no other evangelist makes note of this. In both Infancy Narratives, people recognized the infant Jesus as Messiah. In Luke’s gospel, Elizabeth, the unborn John, Simeon, and Anna all recognize Jesus. In Matthew, three Magi recognize him and come to pay him homage. Both Matthew and Luke tell us that, from birth, this is a special child.
Faley tells us that Matthew’s audience is “largely a Jewish Christian one,”[21] pointing the Matthew’s “reverential attitude toward Jewish law and his audience’s presumed familiarity with it.”[22] “Matthew used the Old Testament to develop his picture of Jesus.”[23] Matthew’s audience and his use of the Old Testament are both shown by his opening genealogy. He shows that Jesus is from the line of David; he is a descendant of Abraham. The genealogy itself is split into three sections, each of fourteen generations. “Fourteen is two times seven, with the number seven signifying the perfection of creation.”[24] Dauphinais and Levering explain that we thus have six sets of seven leading up to the birth of Jesus, and thus his birth “signals the end of exile and the arrival of the seventh seven, the day of the Lord.”[25]
Harris tells us that “Whereas Matthew’s Gospel addressed the concerns of Jewish Christian in Syria confronting Jewish hostilities, the needs of a Hellenistic Gentile group were met with Luke’s edition….”[26]
Both Matthew and Luke specifically uses the term “Holy Spirit.”[27] This initially confused me, for while both Matthew and Luke are writing after the Ascension, having knowledge of the Trinitarian nature of God, and using a phrase that would be understood by early Christians, how would Joseph and Mary understood it? Since the Bible does not state that either Mary or Joseph questions its meaning, we must assume understanding. Joseph and Mary are both people of deep faith, living in a time when people accepted that God would communicate with them directly in dreams. They may have understood the term “Holy Spirit” to mean “the spirit of the Lord” rather than its current Trinitarian meaning. My limited research did not locate any commentary on this point. However, how they understood the phrase is not material to the mystery of the Incarnation, and need not be resolved here.
As so clearly stated in Dei Verbum, the Bible is a meal for us: “In this way, therefore, through the reading and study of the sacred books "the word of God may spread rapidly and be glorified" …and the treasure of revelation, entrusted to the Church, may more and more fill the hearts of men. Just as the life of the Church is strengthened through more frequent celebration of the Eucharistic mystery, similar we may hope for a new stimulus for the life of the Spirit from a growing reverence for the word of God, which ‘lasts forever’"[28]
Seeing the Bible as a meal, there is one rather obscure theory that one might consider dessert. That is the theory that St. Luke met the Blessed Mother.[29] While it does not appear to be held by many scholars, it does pique my imagination. It seems likely that among the people Luke talked to in researching his gospel, there had to have been people who knew Jesus as a child, for why else would he alone have so much childhood information? I like the idea of Mary, in her old age, sitting with Luke, perhaps sharing a meal, and reminiscing of long ago days, before all these things had come to pass.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abbott, Walter M., ed., Joseph Gallagher, Translation ed. The Documents of Vatican II. New York: Guild Press, 1966
Carmody, Timothy R. Reading the Bible. Mahwah, NJ: 2004
Dauphinais, Michael and Matthew Levering. Holy People, Holy Land: A Theological Introduction to the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2005
Faley, Roland J., TOR: From Genesis to Apocalypse: Introducing the Bible. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2005
Harris, Stephen L. Understanding the Bible. 3rd Edition. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1992
Pitre, Brant. The Case for Jesus: the Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ. New York: Image, 2016.
Vatican II Council. "Dogmatic constitution on divine revelation: Dei verbum." Solemnly promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on November 18, 1965. Accessed August 26, 2019. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei-verbum_en.html
[1] Matthew 2:5-6 (Revised Standard Version, 2nd Catholic Edition)
[2] Matthew 2:15
[3] Matthew 2:18
[4] Matthew 2:22-23
[5] http://www.usccb.org/bible/matthew/2, accessed October 16, 2019.
[6] Luke 1:15-17
[7] Luke 1:32-33
[8] Luke 2:4
[9] Luke 2:7
[10] Luke 2:10-11
[11] Luke 2:23-24
[12] Luke 2:26
[13] Luke 2:30-32
[14] Luke 2:38
[15] Luke 2:40
[16] Luke 2:46-47
[17] Luke 2:49
[18] Luke 2:51-52
[19] Brant Pitre, The Case for Jesus: the Biblical and Historical Evidence for Christ (New York: Image, 2016). 77
[20] Vatican II Council. "Dogmatic constitution on divine revelation: Dei verbum." Solemnly promulgated by His Holiness Pope Paul VI on November 18, 1965. Chapter III, Section 11. Accessed August 26, 2019. http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei-verbum_en.html
[21] Roland J Faley, TOR: From Genesis to Apocalypse: Introducing the Bible. (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2005): 193
[22] Faley: 193
[23] Carmody 205
[24] Michael Dauphinais and Matthew Levering. Holy People, Holy Land: A Theological Introduction to the Bible. (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2005): 140140
[25] Dauphinais: 40
[26] Stephen L. Harris, Understanding the Bible, 3rd ed. (Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Company, 1992): 147
[27] Matthew 1:20, Luke 1:35
[28] Dei Verbum, Chapter VI, Paragraph 26
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