Ask a Pastor Column

Q: Matthew tells us that the wise men found Jesus in a house, Luke says they found him in a manger. Why are the accounts so different? Is one more right than the other?

  A: Our nativity scenes and Christmas pageants can often portray a condensed version of the Christmas story. They tend to combine the accounts of Matthew and Luke for the sake of simplicity, but this often leads to confusion when we read the Bible to try and sort them back out from each other.

      So let’s take the two accounts of Jesus’ early life one at a time. In Luke Chapter 2, we are given an account of Jesus being born in Bethlehem, placed in a manger, and visited by shepherds. These elements are familiar to most of us and present no real problems.

As we turn to Matthew, it is important to notice any details which distinguish his account from Luke’s. The first thing to notice is that Matthew jumps over the birth of Christ and picks up the narrative “after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea” (Matthew 2:1). While Luke calls Jesus a baby, Matthew refers to him as a young child (Matthew 2:9; etc.). Matthew speaks of Jesus being in a house and makes no mention of a manger (Matthew 2:11). He tells us that Jesus, as a young child (perhaps around two years old; Matthew 2:16), was visited by wise men who presented Him with gold, frankincense and myrrh (Matthew 2:11).

By carefully examining both accounts we see that Matthew and Luke are describing two distinct events in Jesus’ early life. Jesus was born in Bethlehem (which both accounts agree on), laid in a manger, heralded by angels and visited by the shepherds; all on the night He was born. Matthew shares events that happened later in Jesus’ life: the visit of the Magi and the flight to Egypt.

As we read the gospels, it is helpful to remember what kind of literature they are. The gospel narratives have far more in common with modern witness statements than modern biographies. Like witness statements, they are fragmentary and affected by the perspective of the writer. This leads to the same distinctions and conflicts that investigators find in witness statements today. A little investigation helps reveal the underlying harmony of accurate accounts.

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