Pastor's Page: "Christmas and the Infancy Narratives"
January 3, 2011
Happy New Year!
In 1943, during the Second World War, Pope Pius XII wrote an encyclical (Divino Afflante Spiritu) that
has been called the magna carta of Roman biblical statements. The Pope opened the door to scholars by
encouraging their use of scientific analysis in understanding the Word of God.
Today, there is no more exciting field of theology than that of the Sacred Scriptures.
The stories of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth were written in the context of the resurrection of
Christ - perhaps 50 or 60 years after the time of Jesus. They contain historical details, but neither
Matthew nor Luke's account is completely historical. In fact, the specifics of Jesus' birth are contradicted. By
modern standards of history, they include events that may not be historical. The narratives are theological
documents.
Remember Mark’s gospel begins with the public ministry of Jesus when he was about 30 years old
(written around the time of the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.), and John's gospel (written around the end of the
first century A.D.) begins with Jesus Christ, the Word, who always existed in the presence of God -"in the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."
Both Matthew and Luke agree on the most important points about the birth of Jesus Christ. Both agree
that this child will be great; and that the child was conceived without a human father - a virginal conception.
They agree that the child was of the house of David through the lineage of Joseph, and they are in accord
that the birth occurred in the hamlet of Bethlehem; and the child and his mother and father settled in
Nazareth.
Whenever we read the Scriptures we need to ask ourselves what does the story mean? The stories
are meant to bridge the gap between the Scriptures of Israel, the Old Testament, and the fulfillment of the
covenant in the coming of the Messiah. Both Matthew and Luke pick up key themes and motifs from the
ancient Scriptures and reveal their fulfillment in the coming of Jesus of Nazareth.
For Matthew, Jesus is clearly a new Moses and the descendent of the great King David. The
genealogy or family lineage of Jesus includes patriarchs and Kings in his family history and makes it clear
that Jesus is the inheritor of the virtues that were possessed by the great patriarchs of Jewish history. He
brings to fulfillment the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea and others. His father Joseph, like the Joseph
of the book of Exodus, dreams and journeys to Egypt. Just as the Egyptian Pharaoh tried to destroy the child
Moses, so the wicked King Herod seeks to kill the newborn "King of the Jews".
The infancy accounts prefigure what will happen in the life of this Jesus of Nazareth. He will heal
the sick, he will give new sight to the blind and announce good news to the poor. Like the ancient prophets
he will be hounded, harassed, hunted down and killed. Powerful men will conspire against him but he will
not turn to violence. "Like a lamb led to the slaughter or a sheep before the shearer, he was silent and
opened not his mouth." (Isaiah) Instead, this prophet and King, will conquer by dying and rising.
Father Bruce
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