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PART ONE
The Birth of Jesus in the New Testament
Our story is subliminally infused with the tension between the universal claims of the Roman ruler, who had based the Pax Romana, as a Pax Augustana, on the strength of the Roman legions, and the universal claims of the Jewish […] Messiah, who was crucified by a Roman prefect, Pontius Pilate, after proclaiming God’s dominion and preaching non-violence.
Rudolf Pesch, Das Weihnachtsevangelium (The Christmas Gospel, 2007)
If, instead of the Three Kings, Confucius, Lao-tzu and Buddha had travelled from the Orient to the crib, only one of them – Lao-tzu – would have recognised, though not worshipped, the insignificance of the Almighty. But even he would not have recognised the stumbling block that Christian love represented in a world of established connections and stratified hierarchies based on domination. Jesus is the countersign to this domination, and it is precisely this sign that is countered through the gallows.
Ernst Bloch, The Principle of Hope (1969)
The ‘Christmas story’ has been called the ‘best-known story in world literature’9 and that is probably no exaggeration. Its influence on religion – not to mention culture, literature, music and painting – is immeasurable. Yet Jesus’ birth is obscured by the veil of history. The New Testament accounts have too obviously been composed according to a model of predestination to be accepted as historical sources. Prophecies made in the Hebrew Bible are fulfilled and confirmed by frequent quotes from the books of the Prophets. Everything is so bathed in the light of extraordinary events – angelic apparitions, the Immaculate Conception by the Holy Spirit, cosmic events directing ‘astrologers’, the new-born baby’s rescue from murderous attacks – that it is impossible to separate fact from fiction. We also find variations on these miraculous signs accompanying the birth of the founders of other religions, for example Moses and Buddha, but also Muhammad, as we shall see and investigate in a separate chapter devoted to the accounts of Muhammad‘s birth.
1. The primary sources
What is striking, however, is that the Christian primary sources are relatively restrained in contrast to the wealth of detail provided by later texts known as the Infancy Gospels.10 Moreover, the majority of the New Testament is completely uninterested in stories of Jesus’ birth. The Evangelists Mark and John provide no birth accounts whatsoever and nor does St Paul: there is not a single word about the Bethlehem tradition in any of Paul’s epistles.
Only Matthew’s and Luke’s Gospels relate the story of Jesus’ birth, but they do so in a way that reveals not its mythical and eternal features, but rather the immediate, temporal aspects of events. The New Testament stories testify to the fact that the accounts are still in flux when it comes to the birth of the ‘Messiah’. Many of their characteristics are not yet definite, and many details still vary. The broad mythical and legendary traits are not fully fleshed out, as is usual with ‘founding fathers’. The very fact that there are two very different accounts merely serves to underline this. So let us first take a few minutes to examine these two texts.11
God’s peace on Earth: the story according to Luke
I
Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and they were both well advanced in years.
So it was, that while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.
But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. For he will be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’
And Zacharias said to the angel, ‘How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in years.’
And the angel answered and said to him, ‘I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.’
And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he lingered so long in the temple. But when he came out, he could not speak to them; and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple, for he beckoned to them and remained speechless.
So it was, as soon as the days of his service were completed, that he departed to his own house. Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying, ‘Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people.’
Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, ‘Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!’
But when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and considered what manner of greeting this was. Then the angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’
Then Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I do not know a man?’
And the angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God. Now indeed, Elizabeth your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. For with God nothing will be impossible.’
Then Mary said, ‘Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.
Now Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted Elizabeth. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfilment of those things which were told her from the Lord.’
And Mary said:
‘My soul magnifies the Lord,
And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour.
For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He has put down the mighty from their thrones,
And exalted the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.’
And Mary remained with her about three months, and returned to her house.
Now Elizabeth’s full time came for her to be delivered, and she brought forth a son. When her neighbours and relatives heard how the Lord had shown great mercy to her, they rejoiced with her.
So it was, on the eighth day, that they came to circumcise the child; and they would have called him by the name of his father, Zacharias. His mother answered and said, ‘No; he shall be called John.’
But they said to her, ‘There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name.’ So they made signs to his father – what he would have him called.
And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, ‘His name is John.’ So they all marvelled. Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea. And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, ‘What kind of child will this be?’ And the hand of the Lord was with him.
Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying:
‘Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,
That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest;
For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways,
To give knowledge of salvation to His people
By the remission of their sins,
Through the tender mercy of our God,
With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;
To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death,
To guide our feet into the way of peace.’
So the child grew and became strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his manifestation to Israel.
II
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Now there were in the same country shephe...
