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Q: Why do the gospels of Matthew and Luke offer such different stories and details about Jesus’ birth? Shouldn’t they be the same?
I’m glad you asked this question because it’s an important one, especially if you pay attention to the readings around the Advent and Christmas seasons.I was watching the film The Nativity Story with my family (if you haven’t seen it, you should – it’s excellent). From an artistic standpoint, the film is beautiful…the costumes are pretty accurate, the geographical landscape and customs shown in the film are both very well done. The actors are talented and the cinematography (especially in the climactic scene at the end) are beautiful, sincerely.I’m telling you this not because I’m a movie critic (I leave that to our Catholic Movie Reviews Podcast). No, I’m saying these things because you can judge a historical movie on several levels – historical accuracy, historical truth and historical fact.When you read the gospels you’re not reading a science textbook...or a storybook about mythology.The film was historically accurate and truthful – there were a few moments within the film, however, that were not quite “factual”. The magi show up on the very night of Christ’s birth, for example, soon after Jesus is born. Now, were the magi depicted accurately (according to tradition) in the film? Yes.Did magi truly come to worship the Christ child? Yes.Did they factually arrive that night? Not necessarily. Were there factually three magi, according to Scripture? No.(Tradition gives us the three men and the three names. Take some time to read more about the Magi.)So, where am I going with all of this?There are differences between Matthew and Luke (as you pointed out) and it’s okay. For instance, in Matthew the revelation given to Joseph is in God's plan made known to the Gentile magi. In Luke the revelation given to Mary is in God's plan made known to the Jewish shepherds.We shouldn’t worry about the discrepancies between Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels, however, and here’s why…1. The Holy Spirit was perfectly content to give us two different accounts through St. Matthew and St. Luke. We can only interpret them faithfully if we treat them separately.2. Each infancy account can be accurate and truthful even if not entirely historical. They don’t need to be in perfect “harmony” to both be true.3. The most important thing to look for between history and fiction is the truth, the core fact of what God is teaching us through the Spirit.4. Many people want to say that it has to be absolutely “word for word” believed. That is naïve fundamentalism. Many others want to throw both accounts out because they don’t agree “word for word”. That is destructive skepticism. Both are reactionary and short-sighted. When you read the gospels you’re not reading a science textbook. That’s not how or why the Spirit had them writing. You’re also not reading a storybook about mythology. God wasn’t just trying to entertain you, either.5. The main points we need to take from the Infancy narratives are the identity of Jesus, how He came into this world and his role in it, in us and for us. I hope this helped – a little bit, at least.There is a lot written about the differences - really solid but heady stuff. Get to your local Catholic bookstore and flip around some books if you want to go deeper.Or, if you want a free option that’s a only a click away, be my guest:To read more about the differences between the gospels, read this posting.To read more about “how to read each gospel” or “what to look for” in each individual gospel, have a look here.Thanks for the question!Keep reading.Merry Christmas!
Youth Ministers, did you know you can plan your 2010-2011 youth ministry programming in less than a week? Join us at Covecrest
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