Nativity Made New, Part One: Matthew

Image belongs to Blake's family. Text font in image is "Cretino."

The kickoff of a special journey into the four Gospels.



By Blake



Originally posted December 29, 2009.




Welcome to the first of four installments of “Nativity Made New,” a series of articles comparing the telling of the Christmas story as it is written in the first four books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Today we’ll take a look at Matthew 1:18-25 and Matthew 2:1-18.


The story starts out fairly simple, without many of the details that make up the well-known Christmas story that’s displayed in many families’ manger scenes each year. We are told that Mary and Joseph were a couple and that Mary, a virgin, became pregnant through the Holy Spirit. Although we aren’t yet told about an angel visiting Mary in her dreams, we are told of Joseph’s similar encounter with an angel, in which the angel told Joseph that Mary was still loyal to him, and instructed him to likewise be loyal to her. In this same visit, the angel told Joseph to name Mary’s child Jesus, and that the child would be the Savior of all people’s sin. Joseph obediently followed the angel’s instructions.


Interestingly enough, all that is told about the actual birth of Jesus in Matthew is that “ . . . [Mary] gave birth to a son. And [Joseph] gave him the name Jesus.” (NIV) Nowhere to be found is Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem or the couple being turned away at the inn. It isn’t mentioned that Jesus was born in a manger, either. We’ll get to that later, but for now the details about Jesus’ birth aren’t yet talked about.


Next, in Matthew chapter two, the three wise men are brought up and are referred to as the Magi. It is told that the Magi followed an eastern star to Jerusalem in search of the newborn king of the Jews. When they inquired on where they could find Jesus, King Herod of Jerusalem became quite intrigued to hear more details. Herod instructed the Magi to find Jesus and then report back to him so that he could also worship Jesus. The Magi saw that the eastern star they had been following had moved and stopped above where they would find Jesus. They found Him and gave Him gold, incense, and myrrh. They did not return to Herod due to a warning they received in a dream.


Next, Joseph received another visit from an angel, instructing him, Mary, and Jesus to head to Egypt to escape Herod. They did so until Herod died.


Sure enough, Herod, out of anger towards the Magi for not returning to him, ordered that every boy age two and under in Bethlehem be killed. This gives us a little insight into the time frame of the wise men’s visit to Jesus. Since Herod ordered only to kill boys ages two and under, we can conclude that the wise men’s arrival could have been up to two years after Jesus’ birth. This is quite different than the story we are led to believe in typical manger scenes, depicting the wise men alongside Jesus when He was born in the manger.


Throughout Matthew’s telling of the Christmas story, he notes several prophecies that had become reality as a result of the events occurring. These include one from Isaiah 7:14 (written about 700 years before Jesus’ birth) proclaiming that a virgin would become pregnant with a son named “Immanuel,” God with us. Another from Micah 5:2 (also written about 700 years before Jesus’ birth) described that a ruler that would shepherd the people of Israel would be born in Bethlehem. Yet another from Hosea 11:1 (written about 850 years before Jesus’ birth) stated that God would call his son to Egypt, as he did through an angel’s warning to Joseph. Lastly, a prophecy from Jeremiah 31:15 (written even before the previous three prophecies) told that a mother would mourn over the loss of her child, a scene that came to fruition as a result of Herod’s orders.


Although there’s still a long way to go and there are many more details to have some light shed upon them, Matthew gives us the basic structure for the Christmas story. We learn more about the events following Jesus’ birth than we do His actual birth itself, but those will be talked about later. Stay tuned as we continue this ambitious journey into the true meaning of Christmas.




By Blake; posted December 29, 2009. Image belongs to Blake's family; text font in image is "Cretino." All Scripture appears in New Living Translation.