“Do not be afraid; for see — I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born today in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord” (Lk. 2:10-11).

Luke’s Infancy Narrative (1:5–2:52) constitutes a sort of overture, introducing themes and motifs that will be taken up repeatedly in the Gospel that follows. It exudes a spirit of peaceful calm and joy. The principal characters, Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon and Anna are all depicted as devout and pious, faithful to the Covenant, giving praise and thanks to God. The guiding presence of the Holy Spirit runs through the narrative. Even the shepherds, who by the nature of their work might be thought to be less observant, respond promptly to the news that the Christ has been born. They return “glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.”

The stories about Jesus’s conception and birth represent the latest stage in the formation of the gospel tradition. At the first oral stage, the focus was on Jesus’s death and resurrection. Later, memories of Jesus’s deeds and sayings from his public ministry were gradually gathered together and written down.

Later still, in response to the desire to know more of Jesus’s origins, traditions about his birth were preserved. If the resurrection showed Jesus to be the "Son of God" (see Romans 1:4), intuitively later disciples asked whether this had been apparent during his public ministry (eg, at his Baptism, as in Mark 1:11). Both Luke and Matthew look further back, seeing Jesus to be "Son of God" from the very moment of his conception (Lk 1:30; Mt 1:20). So it is that Luke’s narrative of Jesus’s infancy and the various titles given him ("Messiah", "Son of David", "Lord", "King", "Saviour"…) reflect the post-resurrection faith of the early Church.

Sources of Gospel Infancy Stories

Little can be said for sure regarding the sources of Luke’s Infancy Narrative. The fact that it contains several important elements found also in Matthew indicates that these belong to a tradition that existed prior to the composition of both Gospels: in this early tradition, Mary, a virgin, is betrothed to Joseph; Jesus’s birth and name are announced by an angel; he is conceived before Mary and Joseph come to live together; Joseph is not involved with his conception, which is through the Holy Spirit; Jesus is of the House of David and is born in Bethlehem; the family made their home in Nazareth.

Different Details in Stories

However, there are many other details which differ significantly. In Luke we hear nothing of Joseph being troubled by his betrothed’s pregnancy. There is no mention of Herod’s murderous attempt to destroy the newborn child, or of a fleeing to Egypt.

According to Matthew, Joseph and Mary lived in Bethlehem (Mt 2:11) and went to Nazareth only after leaving Egypt.

The fact that these differences cannot be harmonised would indicate that they were derived from different sources. The extent to which Luke and Matthew contributed themselves as authors in the elaboration of this material is uncertain.

Composition of Luke's Narrative

Clearly, Luke’s narrative has been constructed with care and artifice. For example, the birth announcements of John the Baptist and of Jesus parallel each other closely, both following the pattern of birth announcements in the Old Testament (to Abraham regarding Isaac, Gen 17:1ff; to the mother of Samson, Judges 13:3ff). There are dozens of other scriptural echoes, most evident in the prayer-like oracles pronounced by Mary, by Zechariah and by Simeon.

Mary’s Magnificat is virtually a mosaic of Old Testament phrases (cf Hannah’s prayer in 1 Sam 2:2-10). It may be that here Luke included prayers already in use in Jewish-Christian circles.

All this would indicate that Luke’s narrative was not intended to be "biographical history" in the modern sense of the term nor was it meant to provide psychological information about the protagonists. Rather, he tells of the significance of this birth at Bethlehem.

Significance of Jesus's Birth

The primary focus is on Jesus and his identity. As the fulfilment of the promises to Israel, his birth represents God’s decisive breaking into human history. The narrative begins and ends in the Temple in Jerusalem. By his circumcision Jesus is incorporated into Israel, the people of the Covenant. showing the continuity between Israel and the Church. The latter brings to fulfilment rather than replaces the former. But this fulfilment of God’s promise is now extended to all peoples: Jesus’s birth means salvation also for the nations, “a light of revelation for the Gentiles” (Lk 2:31ff).

But the salvation that Jesus brings has to be accepted. In the words of Simeon, this child is “destined to be a sign that will be opposed” (Lk 2:34).

In this regard Mary plays an exemplary role. Through her humble and obedient response to Gabriel’s message Mary is depicted as the first and truest of disciples. According to the criteria mentioned later in the Gospel she is truly blessed as one of those who “hear the word of God and do it” (Lk 8:21; cf Lk 11:28). Her faith does not mean that she would not be tested (Lk 2:34), nor that she necessarily understood fully her son’s relationship to his Father and its demands (Lk 2:50). But, as Luke emphasises, Mary “treasured these things and pondered them in her heart” (Lk 2:19, 52).

Significance in Our World

As adults we enjoy watching children perform in Christmas pageants at the end of the school year. (Typically these blend Luke and Matthew’s different narratives together, bringing the Magi to the “stable” along with the shepherds — rather than to the “house” where according to Matthew Joseph and Mary lived!)

There is a risk that unconsciously we can end up regarding the Christmas story as something just for children, rather like fairy tales in which things just happen and people magically appear and disappear.

But for Luke the birth of Jesus was not merely something that happened “once upon a time, a long time ago". It is an event that addresses us today! In the person of Jesus God has broken into our world, our history. This is something that can be appreciated only in terms of faith and demands our response.

To the shepherds at Bethlehem the angel proclaimed: “Today … a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

This “today”” will recur prominently in the rest of the Gospel: most notably when Jesus speaks in the synagogue in Nazareth (“Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" Lk 4:21), to Zachaeus in Jericho (“Today salvation has come to this house because he, too, is a son of Abraham” Lk 19:9) and again to the dying thief at Calvary (“Today you will be with me in Paradise” Lk 23:43).

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas this year, at a time when our human family is so stressed and divided by the threats of climate change, disease and the enormous disparities between rich and poor, may we take to heart the words of the Psalmist: “O that today you would listen to God's voice” (Ps 95:7).

Tui Motu Magazine. Issue 266 December 2021: 22-23