A FEW NOTES ON THE INFANCY NARRATIVES IN MATTHEW AND LUKE

Matthew and Luke are the two Gospels that give us the familiar stories we love concerning
Jesus’ birth. Both evangelists pulled data from traditions that preceded them and reworked the
material, plus added their own reflections according to the faith testimony of their community.

Both Gospels open within a Jewish milieu and present a bridge leading to Christian beginnings
and the meaning of Jesus. Remember the first Christians were Jewish Christians since Jesus’
ministry was primarily to the Jews.

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

Matthew’s Gospel begins with a genealogy of Jesus starting with son of David, son of Abraham,
establishing Jesus’ place within the Jewish tradition. It was important for Matthew to stress the
Jewishness of Jesus since Matthew’s community initially was made up of Jews who believed
Jesus was the awaited Messiah. Compare Matthew’s genealogy with Luke’s (beginning Luke
3:23). Luke begins with son of Joseph, ending with son of Adam, son of God, thus emphasizing
Jesus’ universal significance.

According to Jewish tradition at that time, a man assumed the legal obligations of paternity by
publicly naming the child and taking the mother and child under his roof. In the Gospel of
Matthew, Joseph learns of Mary’s pregnancy and is told to name the child Jesus (God saves). A
second name is applied to Jesus—Emmanuel—or God is with us. A similar note is struck in the
final verse of Matthew: “And know that I am with you always, until the end of the world”--
Matthew 28:30. In a way Jesus assurance of his continued presence in our lives brackets the
Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew gives us the story of the Magi, which tradition now fixes at three, but the number was
as small as two in the early centuries and grew to 12 during the Middle Ages—along with 12
names. Incidentally, Matthew never tells us how many wisemen there were, but perhaps the
three gifts—gold, frankincense, and myrrh—makes us think of the number three. The episode
of the wisemen might reflect the early church’s experience of the Gentile’s eager readiness to
accept Jesus and the disappointing turning away of Israel toward the end of the first century.
(Matthew was written around the year 85.)

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE

Luke’s Gospel opens in the Temple, with Zechariah preparing the incense in the outer room of
the sanctuary at the incense altar. In the same room there was also a Menorah or lampstand as
tall as a man, and a table on which twelve fresh loaves of bread were placed each Sabbath (12
being the number of tribes of Israel). A curtain divided the outer room from the inner room
called the Most Holy of Holies in which the Ark of the Covenant (an elaborate box -made into
God’s Throne -- which held the clay tablets containing the Ten Commandments) was kept,
symbolizing God’s Covenant with Israel. Incidentally, the curtain is described in a
contemporary writing of the time, as beautifully embroidered with heavenly figures as moons
and stars. This was probably the curtain that was torn in two at Jesus’ crucifixion. Josephus, a
Jewish historian, writes of an earthquake around that time that tore the Temple curtain and
cracked the stone on the outer porch of the sanctuary.

Zechariah was of the line of Aaron, as all Temple priests were, but he lived in a rural area so his
duty time at the Temple was infrequent. Each day priests chose lots designating their Temple
responsibilities. They might have prepared the incense for burning or trimmed the candle wicks
on the Menorah, or made sure there was enough wood for the great outer altar on which
sacrifices were offered, etc. Incidentally the altar fire was kept perpetually going, night and day,
even during the final days of the Roman siege of Jerusalem, 70 A.D., in which the Temple was
destroyed, until there was no animal to sacrifice and no firewood for a fire. Thus the era of
sacrifice ended for the Jewish people.

In chapter two Luke presents the familiar story of Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem during the
time of census taking. He deliberately depicts the couple as peaceful, law abiders, dispelling any
rumor that might have existed during the time Luke was written, 85-90 A.D., that Jesus or
Christians were part of a plot to overthrow the Roman government.

“…wrapped him in swaddling clothes.” Strips of cloth used to bind the child to make sure he/she
would grow straight and strong were signs of parental care and royalty: “I was carefully
swaddled and nursed; no king can begin better.” Wisdom of Solomon 7:4.

“…because there was no room for them in the place where travelers lodged.” Lodging or inn,
katalyma, signifies the place to put your things down at the end of the day. In the Greek
translation of Hebrew Scriptures, “katalyma” describes the dwelling place of God in the desert
during the Hebrew wanderings.

Luke’s Gospel gives us the familiar shepherds’ story. Since Luke’s Gospel theme is salvation for
all, even those on the fringes of society as the shepherds certainly were. They were looked on as
thieves since they often grazed their animals on someone else’ land; and due to their nomadic
existence, they rarely kept a kosher diet. The rabbis considered shepherds unclean ritually
(which meant they could not participate in a synagogue or Temple service) and were ineligible as
witnesses in a court. (Incidentally, women were ineligible as witnesses, also.)

There was an area near Bethlehem where the sheep to be sacrificed in the Temple were grazed
and whether there was any connection is unknown. Shepherds were symbolic of the Jesus’ story
since Bethlehem was the site of King David’s beginnings, David also being a shepherd boy. It’s
interesting that Luke calls Bethlehem the City of David, when it was Jerusalem, not Bethlehem
that was known as such. Also Jesus was likened to God’s sacrificial lamb by John the Baptist
and Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd, both found in the Gospel of John.

Luke completes the story of Jesus’ birth and childhood by writing of the Circumcision-eight days
later (it was at this time that the baby would receive his name), the Presentation in the Temple
and the finding of the young Jesus in the Temple twelve years later. Then we’re told Jesus
progressed steadily in wisdom and age and grace before the Lord.