Another Christmas Tradition

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
2016

Most of us are fairly familiar with the birth accounts found in Matthew and Luke, even if we jumble the two stories together in our heads, or mix up which one has the wise men and which one has the shepherds. Many details that are displayed in the Nativity, whether in a set of statues, in songs, or in movies, are not found in the Bible. We almost always see exactly 3 wise men (which is based on Matthew's account), but never does the author of Matthew indicate the exact number of wise men present.  We also always see the birth of Jesus set in a stable filled with animals (which is based on Luke's account), but never does the author of Luke specify that Jesus was born in a stable, nor that animals were present at all, only that he was placed in a manger after he was born because there was no room in the inn. And of course, there is no mention in either Matthew or Luke of the Little Drummer Boy.

Many of these extra details outside of Matthew and Luke that have become so familiar to us are not unreasonable. After all, the wise men present 3 gifts to baby Jesus, so maybe each was from one corresponding wise man. If baby Jesus was placed in a manger, maybe he was born in the shelter of a stable, and there were animals in it at the time. Who knows?

Part of the reason it is so easy to fill in additional details around the birth of Christ is because we are not given a lengthy account in either Matthew or Luke. Indeed, of the 28 chapters of Matthew, only 2 are dedicated to the birth of Jesus, and only 1 in the 24 chapters of Luke. In fact, because both stories found in Matthew and Luke are so lacking in detail, it is easy for Christians to combine them as if they really told one coherent story, despite the fact that the key details described in each are dramatically different.^[1]

Despite the authors' brevity on the subject, we are still obsessed with the story, and can't help but want and supply more details to it. This is not new, either. In fact, a once-very-popular third account of the birth of Jesus still survives today, which not only weaves both Matthew and Luke's stories into one narrative, but also adds its own substantial details that didn't make it into our modern versions of the Nativity. This account is know as the Gospel of James.

God With Us

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
2015

"Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel," which means, “God is with us.” 

(Matthew 1.23)^[1]

Upon hearing this familiar verse, most Christians immediately recognize who Emmanuel really is. If not for hearing it dozens of times around Christmastime, the conceiving virgin bit is a pretty good clue that we are talking about Jesus Christ. While this seems obvious enough to most Christians, if we stop a moment to reflect upon what we just read, we may realize that there is something kind of odd about it. Sure, according to Matthew and Luke, a virgin named Mary becomes pregnant by the Holy Spirit and births a child, but she names her child Jesus, NOT Emmanuel.

Is it really that odd? After all, Jesus is known by many things in the New Testament: Son of God, Son of Man, Lord, etc. Could it be that Emmanuel is just another title Jesus was commonly known as? Probably not. In fact, there is only one mention of Emmanuel in the New Testament, and it is quoted above from Matthew 1.23. No other passage in the New Testament ever calls Jesus "Emmanuel."

To understand why Jesus became equated with Emmanuel, we must explore what the author of Matthew is quoting: Isaiah 7.14. However, when we look at this verse, we see that it reads a little bit differently from Matthew's quote. The part of Isaiah 7.14 that Matthew quotes is italicized below:

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. 

This raises even more questions. What kind of sign is Isaiah referring to? Why does Isaiah call Emmanuel's mother a "young woman," while Matthew calls her a "virgin"? Why was this verse included in Matthew to begin with?

This article will explore why Emmanuel became commonly associated with Jesus of Nazareth. First we will look at why Matthew 1.23 reads slightly differently than Isaiah 7.14, and then look at the historical context of both verses to get a better understanding of the relationship between Jesus and Emmanuel.

The Birth(s) of a Savior

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL
2014

When you look at a Nativity Scene, you will see Joseph, Mary, and a baby Jesus in a stable accompanied by shepherds and kings, all of whom are typically white. You will also probably also see an angel or two over them, and over the entire scene a star. These Nativity Scenes are more for cuteness than historical accuracy. Christians have long noticed that the Nativity Scene awkwardly mixes two stories found in the Christian Bible: the birth account found in the Gospel of Matthew and the birth account found in the Gospel of Luke. Many Christians today "correct" the Nativity Scene by pointing out that the kings were not kings, but magi, and they came after Jesus's birth. Thus the typical "corrected" Christian view of the Nativity is as follows:

Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. She and Joseph were living in Nazareth, but due to an unusual census which required Joseph to return to his ancestral home, they traveled to Bethlehem. But because the inn was full, Mary and Joseph stayed in a stable. When Mary gave birth she placed her baby in a manger to rest. They were soon visited by shepherds, who were told by an angel that a savior was born in Bethlehem.
After eight days they had Jesus circumcised, and then, probably 32 days after that (or 40 days after birth), they sacrificed two birds on behalf of Jesus (their firstborn) at the Temple in Jerusalem as the law required. Then they returned to Bethlehem. Jesus's family stayed in Bethlehem for a while (many say two years), and then were visited by magi, who had seen in the stars that a "King of the Jews" was to be born. Prior to finding Jesus, however, the magi met with Herod the Great, who saw himself as King of the Jews. Craftily, he asked the magi to report the whereabouts of this new King of the Jews so that he could pay homage to him, but in reality wished to kill him. After the magi had visited Jesus, they were warned in a dream to not report back to Herod, so they took an alternative route home. Herod, furious at their actions, ordered that all the children two years and younger in Bethlehem were to be killed. Joseph, however, had also been warned in a dream of Herod's coming infanticide, and so he took Mary and Jesus to Egypt, escaping Herod's wrath. They stayed there until Herod died, at which point an angel told Joseph to return to Israel. So Joseph, Mary and Jesus packed up and attempted to return to Bethlehem. But, being warned in another dream that Herod's son was ruling over the region in which Bethlehem was located, they returned to Nazareth.

This is a pretty intense tale, filled with violence, miraculous messages from God, and a lot of traveling. For those who take the Bible completely literally, they must believe a story similar to this actually happened. This story, however, is doing the same thing the Nativity Scene does: it is smooshing together two very distinct stories of Jesus to make one narrative. Let's look at what the birth accounts of Matthew and Luke actually say, and more importantly, why they are saying it.