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Chapter Three – Birth Narrative
Read Matthew 1 & 2; Luke
1:1 – 2:40
First things first!
I had a professor in
Seminary who started a New Testament class with this line, “Everything you have
learned about Jesus healing and other miracles is a myth.” I remember many of
the class got up and walked out at that point. The class was excellent for
those of us that stayed. What he wanted us to understand is that we were not
there at those events, so we simply have the accounts of those that were. And
it is faith in the end that allows our unbelief because of the lack of
materialistic tangible evidence to be overwhelmed by the accounts of witnesses
who gave their very lives for that witness. I mean really, who would give their
lives for a lie. Maybe one or two might do such an unthinkable thing, but
thousands and thousands across the generations. Not likely and this strong
testimony has brought many to Christ.
So to fully understand the
birth narratives we have to understand that there is an audience for each of
the Gospel writers and it affects the story they tell. All too often we have
bought into the nativity scenes that I love so much and collect which include
both shepherds and Magi together in a winter scene with snow on the ground. So
let me be like the Professor I had so many years ago and work through some of
the issues we have with birth narratives.
Is December 25th
the day?
Bible says in Luke 1: 24-36
that Jesus is conceived in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Zacharias
was a priest serving in the temple during the course of Abijah (shifts for
serving, twice a year). Historically we place this around June, meaning John
was conceived in June. Six months brings us to December which means John was
born in March and Jesus likely around September. We have further evidence in
Luke 2: 7-8, the shepherds were watching their fields by night. Shepherds
typically would have taken their sheep into winter quarters in the late part of
October since Israel is wet and cold in the December.
Why then
December 25th?
December 25th was
a holiday long before it became an official Christian holiday in the fourth
century. The holiday was to celebrate the winter solstice and praise of the sun
god across a number of civilizations and understandings. It was the practice of
the early church to take these pagan holidays and make them Christian holidays.
You may glean whatever you want from that, but suffice it to say that we
celebrate the birth of the light of the world during the darkest time of the
year for the Northern Hemisphere.
What year did
it happen?
We are not certain of the
date. The original Gregorian calendar is off anywhere from 4-10 years in its
year 0. We know some facts that help us to pinpoint it a little better. Herod
died in 4 BC. Herod was alive when Jesus was born in both the Matthew and Luke
narratives. Herod’s decree to kill all the male children 2 and younger place
the date of the Magi at the latest to be 4 BC and probably before that since
some point to March of 4 BC for his death. Further confusion comes from the
Luke story that Quinarius was Governor. Quinarius became the Governor almost 10
years after Herod’s death. Luke and Matthew both had agendas for their stories
though they would have incorporated truth in them to validate the stories.
How many Magi?
In Matthew’s story (Matthew
2: 1-12) no number is given and it is likely that there were more than three.
Three has been the traditional number because of the number of gifts but in
truth, the Magi would have come with greater numbers to see this fulfillment of
prophecy. We believe the Magi to be those who followed closely Astrology and
were descendants likely of the Court of Daniel under Nebuchadnezzar. So they
would have known the prophecies concerning the Messiah and would have been
looking for signs in the heavens.
Was the Star
real?
Certainly the Magi followed
something. Over the centuries there has been much debate about what they saw.
Unable to pinpoint an exact date creates some confusion among scientists as to
exactly what they saw. Without holding out the possibility of some miraculous
image that God put there, there are accounts of at least one super nova, a
comet and a conjunction of the planets during the time period Jesus birth could
have come.
Did they
really bring gifts?
More than likely! They would
have come expecting to find a King since the prophecy that they believed to be
fulfilled would be the King of Israel in the same nature as David. The actual
gifts listed in Luke have significant meaning to the life and death of Jesus.
Gold represents the idea that He was King. Frankincense was a healing balm
which could lead us to the miracles of His healing or His need for healing at
the hands of the Romans and Jewish leadership at the end. Myrrh was also a
healing balm but more importantly was used to disguise the stench of death in
the tomb. We can glean the significance of this gift.
Interestingly enough gift
giving was part of the pagan practice of winter solstice and praise to the
appropriate sun god. Santa Clause was a take-off on a real saint. The true
story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third
century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is
now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be
a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying
Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor,"
Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the
suffering. Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ruthlessly persecuted
Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned.
The prisons were so full of bishops, priests, and deacons, there was no room
for the real criminals—murderers, thieves and robbers. After his release,
Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea in AD 325. He died December
6, AD 343 in Myra and was buried in his cathedral church.
Was Jesus born
in a stable?
Stables were not the norm in
first century Israel with the exception of the Roman’s or the very affluent.
Most people kept their animals in their homes, if they had a little money they
might have multiple levels within their homes with the animals in the basement
or in a cave adjacent to the home. More than likely Mary and Joseph’s situation
would have found them in crowded quarters when her time comes due and she was
probably moved to the basement or cave to get the birth away from others.
Remember that 30 % of Hebrew children did not make it through birth. There were
no drugs or medical procedures to make the process easier so it would have been
painful and loud. Not to mention that a manger makes a perfect first crib.
Was Mary Pure
from Birth?
This has long been a
Catholic position that Jesus was born without sin because He was born to Mary
who also was divinely born. There is no scriptural evidence of this and so most
Protestant churches discount this stance. Mary is simply a young woman with
whom God finds favor and she brings the burden of being the mother of the Son
of God.
There is no
record of the slaughter of the innocents, did it happen?
Bethlehem was a small town
and the number of young males under the age of two would likely have been so
small that any record of such an event would have gone virtually unnoticed. The
better question is could Herod have done such a thing. Herod was an evil person
who had his wife and two sons killed just because he was concerned they wanted
his throne. To have Magi come looking for the new King of Israel would
undoubtedly have caused him to become angry enough to eradicate such a threat
to his rule.
So what do the
Gospels say and why do they say it?
Dr. Efird from Duke Seminary
often says that we need to ask the right question when it comes to scripture.
To understand the right question here we need to ask ourselves who the audience
is for each Gospel author. Let’s start with those who have no birth narrative,
Mark and John.
Mark is writing the Gentile world, specifically to the Roman
world and where Jesus was born is insignificant to the idea that he was born.
In fact, it serves Mark’s Gospel account better to leave this omission hanging
out there because it doesn’t matter where God’s servant came from. That Jesus
would come as both servant and Lord is a great paradox that Mark would want to
be absorbed by the Roman reader. To come to know that God reaches out to the
world, regardless of where you came from is further stated when we have no
family status to bind us.
John is writing the intellect of his day. John’s focus in making
a connection between Logos (Word) and the idea of logic used to support a claim
and its authenticity. So John begins his narrative by indicating what Christian’s
embrace, the idea that Jesus is part of the Trinity and has always been. That
this birth is truly unique in the history of the world, that God had become
flesh and lived among us. John has no desire to get bogged done in the
controversy of a virgin birth that swelled around the early church so he simply
doesn’t spend time there. He states what he knows to be truth.
Matthew is clearly writing to the Jew, the nation of Israel when he
writes the birth narrative. Matthew believes that Jesus is the fulfillment of
the plan that God put in place with Abraham for the nation of Israel.
Interestingly he flows us through this elaborate genealogy that includes four
women, five if you include Mary. Matthew may have had several things in mind in
doing this. Tamar mothers an ancestor to David, Rahab assures the nation survives;
Ruth’s son is David’s grandfather, and Bathsheba whose son is Solomon. Since
Joseph is not the biological father to Jesus and lineage was traced in the
ancient world through the male, maybe he was trying to proclaim Jesus rightful
lineage through Mary. But maybe even more important two of the women were
Gentiles. Matthew may well be trying to tie together the rightfulness of a
Gentile/ Jewish Christian faith nation.
Matthew uses the Magi as
proof that Jesus is who He is proclaimed to be, anointed by none other than the
Magi who anoint those who are born to be Kings and Rulers. Jesus bloodline is
pure and His right to rule the nation of Israel is secure. The further
narration of Matthew will go further to establish that Jesus is pure, that He
follows the Law of Moses, that He is obedient to God’s will and that what we will
see at His death is the true culmination of what God had put in place through
Abraham and Jacob. Jesus flight to Egypt remembers for us the story of Joseph
and His return the story of Moses and the wilderness fulfilled completely when
Jesus becomes the Lamb of God on the cross.
Luke on the other hand is writing to the Gentile. Unlike John is
focused most likely on the intellectual Greek, but Luke is writing to common
folk like you and I who have not had the deep rich historical perspective of
the Hebrew nation ingrained in us from birth. The census, even though it is
clearly out of context, is probably in their to remind us that Rome has placed
an unfair burden on the Hebrew people and Herod their puppet is enforcing it
drawing resentment and anger. Luke may well have felt that Gentiles needed to
understand Hebrew history and context to get what Jesus meant.
His use of Shepherds serves
multiple purposes for Luke. Since they are considered the lowest class of
people in Jesus day, that they would receive the message and be the first to
see Baby Jesus indicates that Jesus has come for the world, not the elite, the
religious special people or the affluent. Also we cannot help but make the
comparison to David who was himself a Shepherd that God called to rule the
nation of Israel. Luke also wants us to get this connection with prophecy that
the Messiah would have one who comes before Him, proclaiming the way for Him.
This could serve two purposes for Luke regarding John the Baptizer. John the
Baptizer’s birth parallels well the story of Abraham and Sarah, barren and
aged, who God brings to them a son. John then paves the way for the conclusion
of the Israel story as he goes about baptizing a baptism of repentance and
proclaiming that the Messiah will follow him. It also assures that John’s role
in the story is subservient to Jesus who follows him. Luke is also concerned
that we see that Jesus message is for the marginalized, the children, the sick,
the poor and women.
Jesus Early Life
What we know about
Jesus early life comes more from historical anthropology and archeology than
from the Bible. We know that Joseph was a craftsman and his children would have
been most likely to become craftsmen as well. So in all likelihood Jesus would
have been raised learning Joseph’s craft. Jesus would have spent His early life
studying the Torah. He would have learned to read and probably write so He
would not have been illiterate. We know from scripture that His knowledge of
the scriptures surprised the older, much more learned teachers. We can guess
that Mary may well have spent time with Jesus telling Him the story of His
birth. How much that would have influenced Him to spend more time in the
scriptures is purely room for pondering. We know that He was a Jew, would have been
circumcised no later than His eight day of life which (Luke 2: 20) gives us
this splendid story of Simeon and Anna in the Temple. The true census which
occurred ten to twelve years after His birth may well be what brings Him to
Jerusalem or the observance of Passover which every family would have tried to
come to the Temple each year to participate in.
Jesus would have
grown up in a family with brothers and sisters (identified in Matthew and Mark)
and would have had to do whatever the family was required to earn a living.
That would mean working in the fields at harvest time. There He would likely
have seen the unfairness of labor methods, the rich becoming richer over the
efforts of those they hired and treated unfairly. He would have seen the
taxation of families and the poverty that was all around him. This would likely
have shaped His future and we see this in His teaching use of Vineyards and
Laborers.
