The Infancy Narratives and the four Gospels.
Each of the Gospels present the birth of Jesus differently. The Gospels of Luke and Matthew present the Infancy Narratives in great detail. The Gospels of Mark and John do not mention the event at all. Each of the four were written for a specific audience. All of them record the life, death and resurrection of Jesus from different perspectives.
The Gospel of Mark: Scholars believe that Mark was written after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in AD 70 and is considered to be the first Gospel to be written. It is regarded as the frame for the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. Mark opens with Jesus’ ministry near the Sea of Galilee. It does not relate or refer to any events in the Infancy Narratives. The focus for the writer was to establish Jesus as the Son of God for the new communities within Judaism which were facing threats from Roman authorities.
The Gospel of John begins with the words ‘In the beginning was the WORD.’ John focuses on the divinity of Jesus which does not require references to the birth of Jesus. For the writer of John’s Gospel the focus was Jesus being sent to reveal God as Father. This Gospel is written from a theological perspective. The central theme is the good news that God is revealed in Jesus, that ‘the WORD became flesh’’
The Gospel of Matthew is a story that begins with the genealogy of Jesus going back to Abraham. Jesus’ birth is recorded as a human birth, not a miraculous birth. The writer relates the virgin birth as a historical event. The concept of a virgin birth is not referred to in the rest of the Infancy Narrative. For Mathew the story of Jesus was central to the belief that God was with us. Jesus was the Messiah spoken of by prophets and expected by the Jews.
Joseph is central in Matthew’s account of the birth narrative. He was not the biological father of Jesus. But as the son of Joseph, Jesus belonged to the House of David. Matthew also records the visit of Magi to the manger and their encounter with Herod.
The Gospel of Luke traces Jesus’ lineage to Adam and as the ‘Saviour of the World’. This account of the birth of Jesus records the presence of Mary and Joseph, Zechariah & Elizabeth, shepherds coming to the manger, the flight of Joseph and his family to Egypt for the Census. It is the only Gospel to record the births of both John, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, and Jesus, the son of Joseph and Mary. Luke’s Infancy narrative has no parallel in the other Gospels and is sometimes referred to as a ‘miniature Gospel’.
The accounts in Matthew and Luke have differences. To emphasise the differences is to lose the essence of the significance of the Infancy Narratives that mark the end of the period of waiting for the Messiah as recorded in the Old Testament. Now God is beginning a wonderful new order. It is not merely a birth of a child. It is “turning the world upside down”.
The Bible is not just a book for the church. It is a Family Book with stories of families throughout history. Its message speaks to us today.
Ranjini Wickramaratne-Rebera