JESUS CHRIST

Properly, our first New Testament witness of the birth of Jesus Christ is a messenger from the presence of God. Appropriately, he makes his initial appearance in the temple to a faithful priest of the Aaronic order, one who is performing the ritual function in behalf of his nation of burning incense on the altar within the holy place. In the performance of this duty, Zacharias represented the combined faith of Israel. His prayer was their prayer, and that prayer was for an everlasting deliverance from all their enemies at the hands of their promised Messiah. The ascending flames of incense symbolized the ascension of that united prayer. As Zacharias prayed within the holy place, so his fellow priests and all within the walls of the temple united their amens to his appeal.

In response to Israel’s prayer, an “angel of the Lord” appeared before Zacharias. He stood “on the right side of the altar of incense” and identified himself as Gabriel, one who stood “in the presence of God” (Luke 1:11, 19). By modern revelation we know Gabriel to be Noah, he who “stands next in authority to Adam in the Priesthood” and hold the keys of the restoration of all things.” The keys held by Gabriel make of him an Elias to prepare the way before the Lord (D&C 27:6-7). The name Gabriel, by which Noah performs his angelic duties, means “man of God,” though it has been interpreted as “God is my champion” or “God has shown himself valiant” ( The Interpreter’s BIble, New York, Abingdon Press, 1967, 6:487). (more…)

All four gospels agree that Jesus Christ was born prior to the death of Herod the Great (died March 13, 4 B.C.) and died when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea (A.D. 26-36). The challenge facing any reconstruction of Jesus’ life, the duration of which lasted almost exactly thirty-four years, is allowing sufficient time prior to Herod’s death for the early events of Jesus’ life to have taken place while at the same time having a death date of Friday on the day before Passover (Matthew, Mark and Luke) or the day of Passover (John).

Historically, scholars have assumed that the Christians assimilated their celebration of Jesus Christ’s birthday to either the celebration of the Roman winter festival of Saturnalia, the natal day of sol Invictus (the Unconquered Sun) at the winter solstice, or the birthday of the Eastern god Mithras, whose birthday was celebrated on December 25. For centuries, scholars have suggested that pagans who had converted to Christianity were reluctant to leave behind their older traditions and practices and subsequently adapted or even invented the date for the celebration of Jesus Christ’s birth to correspond to earlier pagan celebrations.

The first lists of Christian celebrations given by the church leaders Irenaeus (A.D. 130-200) Tertullian (A.D. 160-225) do not mention the birth date of Jesus Christ, and Origen (A.D. 185-254) disparages those who place emphasis on calculating Christ’s birth date. In the second century, Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150-215) referred to Egyptian Christians who celebrated the birth of Christ in late May and others who were followers of Basilides who celebrated Jesus’ birthday on January 6 (Stromateis 1.21).

The tradition of celebrating Jesus’ birth in January or midwinter appears to be quite ancient. Eastern Orthodox Christians have celebrated the date of Jesus Christ’s baptism, called epiphany, on January 6 or 10 since the first century, and though the date of the Epiphany was never really disputed, some later Christians conflated the two dates of Epiphany with the date of Jesus’ birth.

Some ancient manuscripts contain an erroneous reading in Luke 3:22 that may explain, in part, the conflation of the two dates. That version of Luke 3 quotes the Father as saying to Jesus Christ, “Thou art my beloved Son; this day I have begotten thee, ” which indicated to some early Christians that Jesus’ baptism date (January 6 or 10) was also his birth date. The early January celebration of the date of Jesus’ birth and a mid-spring celebration of his birth date have equal claim to being the first dates celebrated by Christians. For unknown reasons, the spring celebration never caught on in mainstream Christianity.

The shift from celebrating Jesus’ birth in January to celebrating it on December 25 can be traced only as far back as the early fourth century A.D. What forced the shift from a January celebration to a December celebration is now unknown, but it became the predominant practice for all Christians, both in the East and in the West, by about A.D. 350. Therefore, the earliest celebration of Jesus’ birth may have been a winter celebration in January-but almost certainly not originally on December 25.

Bethlehem (Hebrew for “house [or place] of bread”) was the birthplace of King David (1 Samuel 16:1-4). An unwalled village about five miles south of Jerusalem with little more than a hundred persons during the Herodian period, it was, nevertheless, the prophesied place of the Messiah’s birth (Micah 5:2-4). Joseph, Mary, and perhaps their parents were possibly born in Bethlehem before migrating north into Galilee. Matthew and Luke mention Bethlehem in the birth narratives (Matthew 2:1, 5-6; Luke 2:4, 15). The phrase “because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7) may better be rendered “because there was no space in the room,” indicating that Joseph and Mary may have found shelter in a relative’s home at the time.

Although the New Testament does not mention a cave, a second-century source states that Jesus was born in one. Many homes in Bethlehem were built in front of caves, so we can easily envision Joseph and Mary seeking appropriate privacy in a home’s back area that was used for stabling and storage. Matthew indicates that they remained in Bethlehem for some time, as Jesus Christ is not described as an infant but as a child when the Wise Men visited him (Matthew 2:11-14).

The last mention of Bethlehem is found in John when some of those listening to Jesus Christ said that Bethlehem is the birthplace of the son of David (John 7:42). Thereafter, Bethlehem disappears from the New Testament record.

Of the four gospels, only Matthew and Luke give an account of the Jesus Christ’s conception and birth. Written from two different perspectives and containing different details, these two narratives complement each other and together paint an important picture of the nativity, including that Jesus’ mother was named Mary, that she lived at one time in Nazareth, that he would be born near Jerusalem, and that his conception was a divine miracle.

Although Matthew testifies that Mary conceived by the power of God, he emphasizes that Jesus Christ was the son of David by the genealogy at the beginning of the birth narrative and by his focus on the role of Joseph, Jesus’ legal father. Through dreams, Joseph received instructions to wed Mary, accept and name the infant Jesus, and move the family when threatened by Herod and then his son Archelaus. Through the use of quotations from the Old Testament, Matthew further demonstrates how Jesus Christ’s birth fulfilled messianic prophecies.

Luke’s account, on the other hand, frequently illustrates Mary’s perspective and includes more personal and family information. His retelling of the annunciation preserves the stirring angelic instruction that Mary received, and her visit to Elizabeth provided both of them with spiritual confirmations regarding the roles their sons would play. In addition to details of the night of Jesus’ birth, Luke’s narrative also includes accounts of the naming and circumcision of Jesus, his presentation in the temple, and his teaching in the temple as a twelve-year-old.

Some of the aspects of the two narratives that traditional tellings of the Christmas story frequently harmonize provide interesting details when read separately. Matthew gives no indication that Joseph himself was from Nazareth, perhaps suggesting that he or his family were from Bethlehem or owned property there, the traditional home of King David, or that Mary was from Bethlehem, perhaps owning land there. In Luke’s account, when Joseph took Mary to Bethlehem shortly after their marriage, their accommodations seemed improvised. Interestingly, the word katalyma, traditionally translated as “inn” and often interpreted to mean a caravansary or camp, can also mean “guest room” (the other time Luke uses this word, it is for the “upper room” of the Last Supper in Luke 22:11-12). Luke’s account features angels and shepherds, who find the child in the well-known manger, whereas Matthew’s account has the Magi arrive later, and they find the family by that time living in an actual house.

Joseph seems to have intended to keep the family in Bethlehem, leaving only when warned that Herod wanted to kill the child. Herod’s death in 4 B.C. helps date the account, for that is when Joseph brought the family back from Egypt to Nazareth. Finding Herod’s unstable son Archelaus ruling in Judea, Joseph, again warned in a dream, decided to take the family instead to Nazareth which may have been Mary’s home. His fears were justified; ten years later, in A. D. 6, the Romans deposed Archelaus at the instigation of the Jews themselves because of his violence and misrule. This was also the year that P. Sulpicius Quirinus, or “Cyrenius,” began his governorship in Syria. Although B.C. 6 is the date Luke seems to give for Jesus Christ’s birth, historically, it was the year when Judea became a province.