I know that over the years I have touched on the Jesus Infancy Narratives. But I return to them again in this second week of Advent 2025, simply because so many people have asked me to do that.
The Infancy Narratives are not strictly historical. They are creative images to convey theological perspectives on the historical Jesus. Our Sacred Scriptures, in fact, have a variety of literary forms by which our Christian beliefs are expressed and communicated. We find poetry, drama, symbolism, metaphors, imaginative recreations of past events, and varying degrees of historical narration.
The Bible – Hebrew Scriptures & New Testament — has a lot of history of course but it is not primarily a history book. The focus is the human Faith Experience and Hebrew and Christian beliefs, often expressed symbolically. I resonate with the observation of the Irish-American biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan (born 1934): “My point, once again, is not that those ancient people told literal stories and we are now smart enough to take them symbolically, but that they told them symbolical and we are now dumb enough to take them literally.”
Most people really ignore the differences found in the Jesus Infancy Narratives in Matthew, chapters 1 and 2, and Luke, chapters 1:5 to 2:52. They simply combine the accounts without noticing the differences. Nor do they know or realize that folkloric legends that began centuries after Jesus’ birth were added to the mix.
In Matthew we do find: the visit of the wise men, the star, and Herod’s plot to kill Jesus. These are not found in Luke however.
In Luke, on the other hand, we find: the birth of John the Baptist, the shepherds, and the presentation of Jesus at the Temple. But these are not found in Matthew.
The differences between Matthew and Luke are nearly impossible to reconcile, although they do share some similarities.
The U.S. American biblical scholar and Catholic priest, John Meier (1942 to 2022), often stressed that Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem is not to be taken as an historical fact. Meier describes it as a “theological affirmation put into the form of an apparently historical narrative.”
For example, the belief that Jesus was a descendant of King David led to the development of a story about his birth in Bethlehem, because King David (c. 1010 to c. 970 BCE) was born and raised in Bethlehem.
The Bethlehem Church of the Nativity, built in the fourth century CE and located in West Bank, Palestine, was built over a cave where supposedly Mary gave birth to Jesus. The church was originally commissioned by Constantine the Great (c. 272 to 337 CE) a short time after his mother Helena’s visit to Jerusalem and Bethlehem in 325 and 326 CE.
Helena (c.248 to 330) had been instructed by her son to find important Christian places and artifacts, since Christianity was becoming the dominant religion of the Roman Empire. She hired “helpful” tour guides.
Helena paid her tour guides very well, and they came up with very creative “discoveries” for her that greatly pleased her son Constantine. Helena’s tour guides found a bunch of old bones called the “relics of the Magi.” They were kept first in Constantinople; but then moved to Milan.
Eight centuries later, in 1164, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (1122 to 1190) took the “relics of the Magi” and gave them to the Archbishop of Cologne. Whatever they really are has been debated since 1864 when the contents of the reliquary were examined. Researchers found human bones, some young and some old; remnants of clothing; and coins from the the twelfth century. The relics are still in Cologne Cathedral.
[Helena’s tour guides also found for her: three pieces of wood said to be actual pieces of the “True Cross;” two thorns, said to be from Jesus’ crown of thorns; and a piece of a bronze nail, said to be from the crucifixion itself. And finally, they found a piece of wood said to be from the sign Pontius Pilate was said to have erected over Jesus when he was crucified. Helena and Constantine were delighted.]
Some differences in Infancy Narratives: Unlike the infancy narrative in Luke, Matthew mentions nothing about a census, nothing about a journey to Bethlehem, and nothing about Jesus’ birth in a stable. In Matthew, after Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, the Wise Men from the east visit Baby Jesus at Joseph and Mary’s house in Bethlehem. They were led there by a star, to fulfill the Hebrew Scriptures prophecy of Micah 5:2, that a ruler for Israel would come from Bethlehem.
Most contemporary scholars do not consider Matthew’s story about a star leading the Wise Men to Jesus to have been an historical event. The ancients believed that astronomical phenomena were connected to terrestrial events. Linking a birth to the first appearance of a star was consistent with a popular belief that each person’s life was linked to a particular star.
According to Luke, a census was called for throughout the Roman Empire. It meant that Joseph and a very pregnant young Mary – probably between 12 or 14 years old — had to go to Bethlehem, since Joseph was of the “house of David.” It could have taken nearly a week to do this journey. When they got there, there was “no room for them in the inn,” and so Jesus was born and put in a stable’s manger. [Some people really do not know that a manger is a feeding trough for animals. The English word comes from the Old French word mangier — meaning “to eat” — from the Latin mandere, meaning “to chew.”]
Difficulties in Luke: There are major difficulties in accepting Luke’s Roman census account. First it could not have happened in the days of King Herod. Luke refers to a worldwide census under Caesar Augustus when Quirinius was governor of Syria. But Publius Sulpicius Quirinius was not appointed as the governor of Syria until 6 CE, when Herod had already been dead for ten years.
In addition, according to the records of ancient Roman history, no such census under Caesar Augustus ever took place. In fact, there was no single census of the entire Roman Empire under Augustus. More importantly, no Roman census ever required people to travel from their own homes to those of distant ancestors. A census of Judaea, therefore, would not have affected Joseph and his family, living in Galilee.
Luke clearly followed the models of historical narrative which were current in his day. He needed an explanation for bringing Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem, in order to have Jesus born there. Let’s call the journey to Bethlehem an example of Luke’s “creative historical imagination.”
In Luke, we have no Wise Men, as we saw in Matthew, but angels appear to lowly shepherds, telling them to visit Baby Jesus. The angels then sing out the famous words: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, and good will to all people.”
According to Luke, Jesus was circumcised eight days after his birth. Then forty days after his birth, Mary and Joseph took the infant Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem to complete Mary’s ritual purification after childbirth. Mary and Joseph simply followed the regulations in Leviticus 12:1-8. The holy family then returned to their home in Nazareth. Notice that Luke makes no mention of a trip to Egypt, which was mentioned by Matthew in chapter 2.
Luke’s Infancy Narrative concludes with the story about a very bright twelve-year-old Jesus. While on a trip to Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph temporarily could not find Jesus. But to their later amazement, they later found him speaking in the temple and astounding the temple teachers with his understanding.
To summarize:
Matthew’s infancy narrative, written between 80 and 90 CE, and after the Jerusalem Temple’s destruction in 70 CE, focuses on establishing that Jesus was the promised Hebrew Messiah, the fulfilling Hebrew Scripture prophecy for his Hebrew-Christian audience. Matthew’s genealogy (Matthew 1:1-17) traces Jesus’ lineage therefore from Abraham to Joseph, structured in three sets of 14 generations to emphasize Jesus as the promised Messiah.
Luke’s infancy narrative, also written between 80 and 90 CE, focuses on Jesus as the universal Savior for all people, emphasizing his humble birth and God’s care for the marginalized, setting the stage for Jesus’ mission of global witness and salvation, not just for those linked with the Hebrew tradition. Luke’s genealogy (Luke 3:23-38) traces Jesus’s lineage backward from Joseph, through David, Abraham, and all the way to Adam and God, emphasizing that Jesus is for all humanity.
We, two thousand years later, are astounded by Jesus, his life, and his message.
The Infancy Narratives in Matthew and Luke give us some of the most cherished New Testament images, which have influenced and inspired the imagination of all who read them. As we hear these familiar stories once again this Christmas, we would do well to remember that these Infancy Narratives are not just about Baby Jesus.
The Infancy Narratives are about Jesus’ vision and spirit. They animate us and give us hope for today and tomorrow.
- Jack
Another Voice 