Nativity of Jesus

The Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth in two of the Canonical gospels and in various apocryphal texts. It is the basis of Christmas, which is an important Holy day celebrated by Christians.

The New Testament provides two accounts of the birth of Jesus: one in the Gospel of Matthew and the other in the Gospel of Luke. In Matthew, Jesus is born in Bethlehem to a virgin, hailed as the king of the Jews by magi, and feared by King Herod. To escape from Herod, the holy family flees to Egypt and then relocates from Bethlehem to Nazareth. In Luke, Joseph and Mary (a virgin) travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a census, and Jesus is born in a manger, where shepherds come to adore him.

Other early nativity accounts, namely Justin Martyr'sand that of the Protoevangelium of James, appear to harmonize the accounts in Matthew and Luke. The birth narratives of Matthew and Luke have some elements in common. They both relate that Jesus of Nazareth was the child of Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph, a descendant of the Biblical King David. The narratives also present the conception, preceded by an angelic annunciation, not as the result of marital relations, but of the power of the Holy Spirit  (Virgin birth of Jesus).

Meanwhile, Aramaic Matthew and the Gospel of John are silent on the nativity, as is the Gospel of Mark, which most textual critics consider the earliest of the canonical gospels. In the majority viewpoint, the Gospel accounts of the nativity are two contradictory narratives.  Matthew's narrative appeals to the gospel's Jewish audience by portraying Jesus as the prophesied Messiah and as like Moses. Here, where Jesus is born the king of the Jews, we have adoring magi, a worried king, and bloodshed. Luke's narrative appeals to that gospel's gentile audience, emphasizing Jesus' lowly birth. Here Jesus is born in a manger while his parents are traveling, and shepherds come to adore him, not magi. In any event, the majority of historians credit neither account with authenticity. A minority of significant scholars defend the historicity of both birth narratives, attributing differences to the authors' different perspectives.

The remembrance and re-enactment of the Nativity in the Christian celebration of Christmas signifies their belief that Jesus is the "Christ" or Messiah promised by the Old Testament and the Incarnation of the Logos or second person of the Trinity. The main religious celebration among members of the Catholic Church and other Christian groups is the Church service at midnight on Christmas Eve or on the morning of Christmas Day. During the forty days leading up to Christmas, the Eastern Orthodox Church practices the Nativity Fast, while the majority of Christian congregations (including the Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, many Mainline churches, and Baptists) begin observing the liturgical season of Advent four Sundays before Christmas—both are seen as times of spiritual cleansing, recollection and renewal to prepare for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Biblical narratives

Gospel of Luke

Mary and Jesus in a manger, early 1900s Bible illustration

In the account of the Gospel of Luke, Mary learns from the angel Gabriel that she will conceive and bear a child called Jesus. When she asks how this can be, since she is a virgin, he tells her that the Holy Spirit would "come upon her" and that "nothing will be impossible with God". She responds: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word".

At the time that Mary is due to give birth, she and her husband Joseph travel from their home in Nazareth about 150 kilometres (90 miles) south to Joseph's ancestral home in Bethlehem to register in the census of Quirinius. Mary gives birth to Jesus and, having found no place for themselves in the inn, places the newborn in a manger (feeding trough).

An angel of the Lord visits the shepherds guarding their flocks in nearby fields and brings them "good news of great joy": "to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord." The angel tells them they will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger. The angel is joined by a "heavenly host" who say "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!". The shepherds hurry to the manger in Bethlehem where they find Jesus with Mary and Joseph. They repeat what they have been told by the angel, and then return to their flocks. Mary and Joseph take Jesus to Jerusalem to be circumcised, before returning to their home in Nazareth.

Gospel of Matthew

In the Gospel of Matthew, the impending birth is announced to Joseph in a dream, in which he is instructed to name the child Jesus,  A star reveals the birth of Jesus to a number (traditionally three) of magoi (magi, Greek μάγος, commonly translated as "wise man" but in this context probably meaning "astronomer" or "astrologer") who travel to Jerusalem from an unspecified country "in the east".

Joseph is warned by an angel in a dream to flee Bethlehem. Rembrandt, 1645.

Herod understands the phrase "King of the Jews" as a reference to the Messiah, since he asked his advisers where the Messiah was to be born. They answer Bethlehem, the birthplace of King David, and quote the prophet Micah: "Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage," a deceitful Herod tells the magi.

As the magi travel to Bethlehem, the star "goes before" them and leads them to a house where they find and adore Jesus. They present Jesus with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. In a dream, the magi receive a divine warning of Herod's intent to kill the child, whom he sees as a rival. Consequently, they return to their own country without telling Herod the result of their mission. An angel tells Joseph to flee with his family to Egypt. Meanwhile, Herod orders that all male children of Bethlehem under the age of two be killed, the so-called "Massacre of the Innocents".

After Herod's death, the family return from Egypt, but, instead of going back to live in Bethlehem, fears concerning Herod's Judean successor Archelaus cause them to move to Galilee and settle in Nazareth, fulfilling, according to the author, a prophecy: "He will be called a Nazorean".

Matthew's nativity narrative paints Jesus as a second Moses: like Moses, the infant Jesus is saved from a murderous tyrant; like Moses, he flees the country of his birth until his persecutor is dead and it is safe to return; like Moses, he is the saviour of his people. The most difficult passage comes in the so-called prophecy at the very end, "He will be called a Nazorean." The Greek for this word is Ναζωραιος, of uncertain etymology and meaning, nor is there any prophecy to match it in the Hebrew bible. It may be referring to Judges 13:5, 7, "the boy shall be a Nazirite" (one consecrated to God, an ascetic); or to Isaiah 11:1, "A shoot shall come out from the stock of Jesse, and a branch (netzer) from his roots" (a prediction that a new ruler would emerge from the line of Jesse, father of David); or it may be an involved word-play on the use of "nazirite," "Holy One of God," in Isaiah 4:3, meant to identify Jesus with the Nazoreans,a Jewish sect who differed from the Pharisees only in regarding Jesus as the Messiah.

Traditional details

The Christian tradition has developed interpretations and additional details that elaborate on the nativity of Jesus, such as a date for celebrating Jesus' birthday and the names of the magi.

Date of birth

Chronology of Jesus and Anno Domini

The Nativity by Caravaggio, 1609. The angel’s parchment reads “Gloria in Excelsis Deo (Luke 2:14)”.

The nativity accounts in the New Testament gospels of Matthew and Luke do not mention a date or time of year for the birth of Jesus. In Western Christianity, it has been traditionally celebrated on December 25 as Christmas (in the liturgical season of Christmastide), a date that can be traced as early as the year 330 among Roman Christians. Before then in Eastern Christianity, Jesus' birth was generally celebrated on January 6/7 (late at night on January 6) as part of the feast of Theophany, also known as Epiphany, which commemorated not only Jesus' birth but also his baptism by John in the Jordan River and possibly additional events in his life. Some scholars have speculated that the date of the celebration was moved in an attempt to replace the Roman festival of Saturnalia. Some scholars note that Luke's descriptions of shepherds' activities at the time of Jesus' birth suggest a spring or summer date. The theory that December 25 was the birthdate of Jesus is earliest noted in a fragment of the Chronographiai of Sextus Julius Africanus in the year 221.

The Gospel of Matthew places Jesus' birth under the reign of Herod the Great, who died in 4 BC. The author of Matthew also recorded that Herod had all the male children in Bethlehem two years old and younger executed, based on a prophecy relayed to him by the magi that a new King of the Jews had been born in the town. The order's instruction of "two and under", along with the inference that it took Herod time to realize that the magi were not about to deliver the child to him, implies a birth no later than 6-4 BC. The Gospel of Luke dates the birth ten years after Herod's death during the census of Quirinius, described by the historian Josephus. Most scholars consider the Gospel of Luke to be mistaken, though some writers still attempt to reconcile its account with the details given by Josephus.

Location

Grotto of the Nativity in the Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem — where it is believed Jesus was born.

The Gospels of both Matthew and Luke place the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The Gospel of Matthew account implies that the family already lived in Bethlehem when Jesus was born. According to the Gospel of Luke, Joseph and Mary (who lived in Nazareth) had traveled to Bethlehem to register for the census of Quirinius, because it was the town of Joseph’s ancestors, the birthplace of David.

The Gospel of Luke account states that Mary gave birth to Jesus and laid him in a manger “because there was no place for them in the inn," but does not say exactly where Jesus was born. The Greek word kataluma may be translated as either “inn” or “guestroom”, and some scholars have speculated that Joseph and Mary may have sought to stay with relatives, rather than in an inn, only to find the house full (whereupon they resorted to the shelter of a room with a manger).

Although in Western art the manger is usually depicted as being in a man-made free standing structure, many biblical scholars conjecture that, as in Byzantine art, the manger was probably positioned in a cave carved in the side of a hill. In the second century, Justin Martyr stated that Jesus had been born in a cave outside the town, while the Protoevangelium of James described a legendary birth in a cave nearby. The Church of the Nativity inside the town, built by St. Helena, contains the cave-manger site traditionally venerated as the birthplace of Jesus, which may have originally been a site of the cult of the god Tammuz.

The Gospel of John makes only a passing reference to the nativity in a discussion among Pharisees in chapter 7, where they are disagreeing among themselves. John 7:41-43 quotes some as saying 'This is the Christ'; while some others say "Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Hath not the Scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem." And so dissension arose aong them. Later in John 7:50-53 Nicodemus challenges them on this point, but they reply that "Search, and look: for out of Galilee ariseth no prophet," believing that Jesus was not born in Bethlehem but in Galilee. This is the only reference to the birth of Jesus in the Gospel of John; John instead focuses on the concept of the Word of God become flesh. The Gospel of Mark also states that Jesus came "out of Galilee" but gives no other details on his birth.

Paternity

The earliest sources on Jesus's paternity are the letters of Saint Paul, written between about the years 50 and 65. Paul addresses Jesus's paternity only twice. In both cases, he says that Jesus was born "under the Law" (i.e., a Jew, and therefore of a Jewish father), of the line of David (which could only be traced through the male line), but "declared to be the Son of God" through his resurrection from the dead.

The Gospels are all removed by at least a generation from the time of Jesus. Mark, the earliest of them, makes no mention at all of Jesus's father Joseph, but casts doubt on the idea of descent from David: "How can he [the Messiah] be his [David’s] son?’” The famous birth narratives appear only in the later Gospels, those of Matthew and Luke. John, which does not give a nativity account (other than a passing mention in John 7), does concur with Matthew and Luke in stating that a man named Joseph was the father of Jesus.

In first century Judea, betrothal was a binding contract that might take place while the couple, and in particular the girl, was prepubescent. The contract was for life, but under some circumstances could be broken by a formal divorce. After the ceremony of betrothal, the young bride would remain in her father's house for a year or more until she had reached sufficient maturity. At this time the husband would take the bride into his own home, accompanied by public celebration.

A medieval depiction of the betrothal of Mary and Joseph from the Nuremberg Chronicle.

Mary, although formally betrothed and therefore contracted to Joseph, became pregnant "before they came together", which could be interpreted as either before they had sexual intercourse together or before they lived together as husband and wife.

That Mary was a virgin at the time of the conception of Jesus is indicated by her statement recorded in Lk 1:34, when she responds to the news of the impending birth with the words "How shall this be, as I know not a man?"The theology of most Christian Churches accepts the virgin birth on this statement. Matthew's gospel indicates that Mary and Joseph did not have intercourse before Jesus was born, the passage stating that he took her into his home "And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son".

This verse is generally accepted by Protestants as implying only that Mary and Joseph did not have intercourse until after Jesus was born. The majority of Christians, in particular the Eastern Orthodox, Coptic Christians, Armenian Apostolic Church and the Catholic Church, argue that the passage is less explicit in the Greek and indicates that Joseph never had intercourse with Mary, supporting the belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary. David Hill,[who?] a Presbyterian, acknowledges that the wording does not absolutely deny perpetual virginity, but argues that had this been the belief during the 1st century, then Matthew would have stated it. The Genealogy of Jesus as detailed in both Matthew and Luke's Gospels are traced to Joseph, in each case indicating him as a surrogate father. However the genealogy in the oldest surviving copy of the old Syriac version of the Gospel of Matthew—the Sinaitic Palimpsest— shows that, at least for practical earthly purposes, Jesus was considered the son of Joseph.

Role of Joseph

The exact meaning of the Gospel of Matthew's description of Joseph as a "just man" is much discussed; the Greek term is dikaios, and it has variously been translated as just, righteous, upright, and of good character. Most of the ancient commentators of the Bible interpreted it as meaning that Joseph was law abiding, and as such decided to divorce Mary in keeping with Mosaic Law when he found her pregnant by another, but, tempering righteousness by mercy, he intended to keep the situation private.

Philippe de Champaigne's The Dream of Saint Joseph painted around 1636

A second view, first put forward by Clement of Alexandria, and held by many modern Christians is that Joseph's righteousness is his mercy itself, with the decision to ensure Mary was not shamed being proof of his righteousness rather than an exception to it.

Joseph's original intent, though, was to divorce Mary once he had discovered her pregnancy, though some scholars and most older translations have expressed this more euphemistically since Joseph, a man having just been described as righteous, undergoing divorce would imply that divorce was righteous. Recent discoveries have found that legal avenues for divorce certainly existed at the time in question. The Greek word here translated as divorce is aphiemi, and the only other time it appears is in 1 Cor 7:11 where Paul Tarsus uses it to describe the legal separation of a man and wife, and thus almost all modern translators today feel that divorce is what is being described, although doctrinal reasons cause some to use other wording.

Guido Reni's Joseph with the Infant Jesus, about 1635.

In the first of several dream sequences in Matthew, an angel visits Joseph to dissuade him, and explain what has happened. The angel is described in a manner much more like early Jewish descriptions, as in the Pentateuch, merely as a pure functionary with no individuality, unlike the more esoteric descriptions that arose nearer the author's own time, under Hellenic influence, such as described in the Book of Enoch. Joseph carries out the angel's instructions exactly, rather than arguing with them, which appears to be a common theme in the Gospel—rapid and unquestioning obedience is treated in Matthew as an important virtue.

The Gospel of Matthew does not describe how Mary came to be pregnant, which Schweizer thinks implies that its audience were already well aware of the story of the Virgin Birth—there were several virgin birth stories in the Jewish tradition and so the idea of virgin births was generally accepted by the population. The account mentions the paternity of the Holy Ghost very quickly, even before any of the characters in his narrative are aware of this fact, which Brown argues is because the author does not want the reader to ever consider alternate scenarios as to how Mary could have become pregnant.

Visitors

The three Magi before Herod, France, early 15th century.

Main article: Biblical magi

The Magi bear gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Though traditionally described as wise men or kings, the Matthew Gospel account actually refers to magoi, or astrologers.

Neither the names of the magi nor their number are specified, but – because the gifts described are three in number – a tradition arose that there were three magi: Balthasar, Melchior, and Caspar. Balthasar is a Greek version of the Babylonian name Belshazzar, meaning "May Bel protect his life." Melchior means "The king is my light" in Aramaic. Caspar is a Latinized version of Gondophares, a Parthian (i.e. Persian) name. In free retellings of the Nativity events, the magi are sometimes called "kings" because of prophecies that kings will pay homage to Jerusalem and a king.

The Magi were said to be following His star, commonly known as the Star of Bethlehem, that they had seen in the sky, believing it to announce the birth of the king of the Jews.

On the other hand, the Gospel of Luke's account does not mention the Magi, instead having Jesus being visited by local shepherds, who had been informed in the night by an angel who said "Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger." After this an innumerable company of angels appeared with the herald saying "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men." The shepherds went quickly to Bethlehem, finding the sign to be as the angel foretold, and subsequently publicised what they had witnessed throughout the area.

Historicity

Relief of Nativity, Cathedral St. Peter, Worms, Germany

According to the majority viewpoint, the birth narratives of Jesus are religious works rather than historical accounts. While other events in the gospels are attested to in multiple sources and date back to the earliest tradition, both birth narratives are unique to their gospels and missing from all earlier records.

Raymond Brown argues that the Gospels present two different accounts: the Gospel of Matthew relates the appearance of an angel, in a dream, to Joseph; the wise men from the east; the massacre of the innocents; and the flight to Egypt. The Gospel of Luke mentions none of these but describes the conception and birth of Jesus; the appearance of an angel to Mary; the worldwide census; the birth in a manger, and the choir of angels; none of these is mentioned in Matthew. Brown also argues that there are contradictions between the accounts, which explain the birth in Bethlehem in different ways. and give two different genealogies of Jesus. Geza Vermes sees the nativity stories either as completely fictional accounts, or at least constructed from historical traditions which predate the Gospels. Brown suggests that the account in Matthew is based on an earlier narrative patterned on traditions about the birth of Moses.

While the Nativity stories include theology (such as the Divine conception in a virgin and Davidic descent), they also contain biographical information (such as the time of Jesus' birth, the parents names, and conception between betrothal and marriage).

A minority of significant scholars, such as Darrell L. Bock and Mark D. Roberts, argue that the two accounts are historically accurate, and do not contradict each other. Roberts argue that although the two accounts differ, they do not contradict each other, and that there are similarities between the two accounts, such as the birth place of Bethlehem, and the Virgin Birth.

Prophecy in Isaiah

Emmanuel

Main article: Emmanuel

In Matthew, "an angel of the Lord" appears to Mary's betrothed husband Joseph in a dream and tells him: "she will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins". The text continues with the comment: "All this happened to fulfil what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 'Behold the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us'". Some 5-6th century manuscripts of the Gospel of Matthew, such as Codex Bezae Cantabrigensis, read "Isaiah the prophet" instead of merely "the prophet", but this does not have the support of other important textual witnesses, such as Codex Sinaiticus.

An angel announces the birth of Jesus to Mary. Fra Angelico, early 15th century.

Rather than using the Masoretic text which forms the basis of most modern Christian Old Testament translations, the Gospel of Matthew's quotation is taken from the Septuagint. The verb кαλεω kaleō (to call) is found both in the citation from Isaiah and in the words of Gabriel; but whilst the former employs the third person plural (they shall call), the latter has the second person singular you shall call. Gabriel himself therefore is not applying Isaiah's prophecy to Joseph, but his purpose is to invite him to assume legal paternity of the son to be born of Mary by naming him. It is the following comment that explains Mary's conception by the Holy Spirit, Joseph's vocation as the child's legal father, and the child's own vocation as the Saviour of his people as indicated by the name Jesus, in the light of Isaiah's prophecy that henceforth "God is with us".

Virgin birth

Scholars have other concerns with the text's reference to Isaiah. The Gospel of Matthew agrees with the Septuagint text of Isaiah in rendering the Greek term "parthenos" as "virgin", but the much older Masoretic text of Isaiah uses the Hebrew word "almah", which means only "young woman".

The purpose of the quotation is better understood by looking at the context in which it is used in Isaiah. Isaiah is in the process of promising that God can save Israel from the immediate threat of the Assyrians, but that if the Jews continue to sin, the Assyrian empire will be the instrument of God's vengeance.