The Biblical Narratives of the Birth of Jesus

The Story of Christmas

By Rev. Dr. Emmanuel James

 The Biblical Narratives of the Birth of Jesus

The narratives of the birth of Jesus in the Holy Bible are written in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. We have to put together these two narratives to get a comprehensive picture of the birth of Jesus.

Luke tells the story of the birth of Jesus Christ in this way. God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth. He had a message for Mary. He was a descendant of King David. The angel came to her and said, "Peace be with you! The Lord is with you and has greatly blessed you!"  Mary was disturbed to hear the angel's message. So the angel said to her, "Don't be afraid, Mary; God has been gracious to you. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High God. The Lord God will make him a king, as his ancestor David was, and he will be the king forever; his kingdom will never end!"  Mary said to the angel, "I am a virgin. How, then, can this be?"  The angel replied, "The Holy Spirit will come on you, and God's power will rest upon you. For this reason the holy child will be called the Son of God. Remember that there is nothing that God cannot do."  Mary said, "I am the Lord's servant, may it happen to me as you have said." And the angel left her.

Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph. Before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace. So he was thinking of divorcing her quietly. When he had considered this, an angel of the Lord God appeared to him and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary to be your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. Jesus means that he will save his people from their sins." This took place to fulfill what the Lord God had said through the prophet Isaiah: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel"-which means, "God with us."  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. When she gave birth to a son, he gave him the name Jesus.

Around this time, the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. Everyone was required to return to his ancestral home to be registered.  Since Joseph was a member of the royal line of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea. Bethlehem was King David's ancient home. It is near the city of Jerusalem. Joseph and Mary travelled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee to his native place Bethlehem. Mary was pregnant at this time. While they were in Bethlehem, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him in clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. They gave him the name Jesus.

 The night that Jesus was born, some shepherds were in the fields outside Bethlehem, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly an angel appeared among them, and the glory of the Lord shone bright. They were terribly frightened, but the angel assured them, "Don't be afraid! I bring you the most joyful news and it is for everyone!  The Lord has been born tonight in Bethlehem. He is the Savior, Christ the Lord. You will recognize him when you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger! Suddenly there appeared with the angel a vast host of angels of heaven praising God, “Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace among those with whom He is well pleased."

When this great host of angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Come on! Let's go to Bethlehem and see this wonderful thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us."  They went to the village in haste and after searching found Mary and Joseph, and there was the baby, lying in the manger. When they saw the baby the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds' story were greatly surprised but Mary quietly treasured these things in her heart and often thought about them. Then the shepherds went back again to their fields and flocks, praising God for the visit of the angels, and because they had seen the child, just as the angel had told them.

Matthew adds some more information to this narration as follows: When Jesus was born in Bethlehem Herod was the king in the Province of Judea. At that time some Wisemen or the Magi (astrologers) came to Jerusalem from the East asking, "Where is he that is born to be the King of the Jews? We have seen his star in far off eastern lands and we have come to worship him." When King Herod heard this, he was greatly disturbed. The city of Jerusalem was filled with rumors.  Then King Herod called a meeting of the Jewish religious leaders and anxiously asked them about the newborn child. They searched the scriptures and said, "He will be born in Bethlehem because this is what the prophet Micah wrote.

 Then Herod sent for the Wise men and asked them for correct information about the exact time when they first saw the star. Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I too may go and worship him." After this the astrologers started out again on their journey. Surprisingly, the star that appeared to them in the East appeared again and went before them.  They were thrilled beyond measure. The star led them right up to the house where baby Jesus was. So alighting from their Camels the wise men entered the house where the baby and Mary his mother were.  They fell down before the child and worshipped Him. Then they opened their presents and gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

They were very happy that they had found the answer to their search. That night an angel of the Lord appeared to them and warned them in a dream to go home another way. So, they returned to their own country by a different way. They did not go through Jerusalem to report to King Herod.  After they went, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up and flee to Egypt with the baby and his mother and stay there until I tell you to return, because King Herod is trying to kill the child." That same night Joseph left for Egypt with Mary and the baby and stayed there until King Herod's death.

When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and told him, "Get up and take the baby and his mother back to Israel, for those who planned to kill the child are dead."  So he returned immediately to Israel with Jesus and his mother. But on the way he was warned not to go to Judea, so they went on to Galilee instead and lived in Nazareth.