Two of the four gospels belonging to the Bible tell us about the historical events concerning the birth of Jesus. These are the gospels of Matthew and Luke. Some sceptics, reading and comparing these accounts, claim that the two stories are completely different. Actually, there is no contradiction between the two versions. The solution is found by ordering the narrated events in the right sequence. We begin to create a list of events from the two gospels.
Luke 2
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while[a] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
Luke 2:1-7 NIV
Hence we infer that Joseph and Mary were residents of Nazareth. The emperor orders a census for which the couple must travel to Bethlehem in Judea. Here, they find no place to sleep. The city is overcrowded due to the census. They find the famous manger in which Jesus is born.
Sceptics also advance arguments against the veracity of this census. But we can verify the plausibility of the census if we carefully consult all the historical fonts. I’m planning to make a post about it later.
In the following verses an angel appears to the shepherds who go to adore Jesus. The part that interests us is the one that speaks of the fulfilment of the Mosaic law about the birth of Jesus.
21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.
22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”[b]), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”[c]
Luke 2:21-24
Jesus is circumcised after eight days, and taken to the temple in Jerusalem after forty days.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
Luke 2:39-40
After the presentation, the family returned to Nazareth and settled there permanently.
Matthew 2
In Matthew’s Gospel, the events begin when Jesus was already born in Bethlehem
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi[a] from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.”
Matthew 2:1-2
From the east, the Magi see a star which, according to a prophecy, announced the birth of the Messiah. The Magi saw a star, but now it has probably disappeared, which is why they are asking the inhabitants of Jerusalem where is the king of the Jews.
3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.
Matthew 2:3-4
King Herod, who reigned at that time, is disturbed by this news and wants to know where Jesus is. Herod calls the scribes and learns that the prophecy spoke of Bethlehem.
7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”
Matthew 2:7-8
Herod secretly meets the Magi and informs them that the city is Bethlehem. Herod wants to know the exact location of Jesus. So he asks the Magi to report it to him when they return.
9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. 12 And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Matthew 2:9-12
Magi arrive at the house where Jesus was accommodated, worship him, and return to their land. As they had a dream they take another route and avoid reporting to Herod.
13 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”
14 So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”[c]
Matthew 2:13-16
Joseph has a dream too, and the family escape to Egypt.
16 When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi.
Matthew 2: 16
Because Magi don’t come back to Herod, he becomes furious and order the mass murder of infants in Bethlehem.
19 After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt 20 and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”
21 So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.
Matthew 2:19-21
Herod dies and the family go back to the land of Israel.
22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, 23 and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.
Matthew2: 22-23
Joseph was planning to move definitely to Bethlehem, probably in order to avoid the gossip in Nazareth about Mary’s pregnancy. But he is informed by some people that Judea is not safe. So they go back to Nazareth and stay there.
Apparent contradictions
If we read this story without thinking about it, we could conclude that in Luke the family movements are as follows:
Nazareth -> Bethlehem -> Jerusalem -> Nazareth.While in Matthew we have the following:
Bethlehem -> Egypt -> Nazareth.So it might seem that, according to Luke, the family never went to Egypt; While, according to Matthew, the family would never have gone to the temple, because it was precisely in Jerusalem that Herod was looking for them. According to Luke, Jesus would be in a manger; while according to Matthew, he would stay in a house. So which of the two versions should we believe?
Solution
The first most obvious consideration is that the manger was a one-night accommodation. Very probably, the following day, Joseph found a house where they could stay while Mary was recovering from childbirth. As we understand from Matthew’s version, Joseph intended to move to Bethlehem for some time, so that he could avoid problems due to Mary’s premarital pregnancy. But in the end, due to Archelaus, the family returns to Nazareth. So the Magi, who arrived in Bethlehem sometime after the birth of Jesus, found the family in a house and not in a manger.
A second observation is that Matthew’s version begins when Jesus is already born. Instead, the events narrated by Luke are prior to the birth. Therefore we can consider these events, as a completion of Matthew’s version, and not as a contradiction. Matthew tells us that Joseph and Mary stayed in a house in Bethlehem and that Jesus was already born. But he does not deny the fact that Jesus was born in a manger. The story simply begins when the family is already in a house.
We know from Luke that Jesus is brought quietly to the temple, where he is presented according to the law, and where prophecies are proclaimed aloud by Simeon and Anna. This makes us understand that when the family went to the temple, Herod was not yet a threat to Jesus.
The fact that Herod ordered the extermination of the children of Bethlehem depends on the fact that the Magi did not return to Herod. Thus, this means that the Magi must have arrived after the presentation in the temple.
But Luke would seem to want to tell us that from Jerusalem the family had returned directly to Nazareth. But, again, let’s put ourselves in Joseph’s shoes. He didn’t want Mary to risk being insulted by those who knew them in Nazareth. Nazareth in those days was a small village with few inhabitants: surely everyone knew everyone. Going back to Nazareth without a strong reason would have made no sense. Joseph wanted to stay in Bethlehem and had found a home there. So we can definitely add to the fact that the family returned to their home in Bethlehem immediately after their presentation in the temple. If we check on Maps, we see that we can walk from Bethlehem to Jerusalem in less than two hours. So it would have been very simple for them to get up early in the morning, give the presentation, and go home the same evening.
Once back home, the same evening or sometime later, the Magi arrive to adore Jesus, and Joseph is warned in a dream. The family fled to Egypt and returned to Israel after Herod’s death. Historical sources confirm the existence of Herod, Archelaus, and revolts that caused many deaths in Judea. By putting the two gospels together we have a more detailed picture of the movements of Jesus’ family:
Nazareth -> Bethlehem -> Jerusalem -> Bethlehem -> Egypt -> Nazareth.This sequence of events presents no contradictions or logical or historical problems:
- Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem for the census
- Mary gives birth in a manger
- From the manger they settle into a house
- Jesus is circumcised 8 days after his birth according to the law
- After 40 days after his birth, Jesus is presented in the temple in Jerusalem according to the law
- The fulfilment of the law is completed for Jesus
- The family returns to their home in Bethlehem
- The Magi find and adore Jesus in his house
- The Magi leave for their land, avoiding Herod
- Joseph warned in a dream, takes his family to Egypt
- Herod slaughters children in Bethlehem
- Herod dies, and Archelaus succeeds him
- The family returns to the land of Israel
- Joseph plans to return to Bethlehem
- Joseph learns of Archelaus
- The family returns to Nazareth, where they settle permanently