When people think about the narratives that describe the birth of Jesus, they usually think of the Bible. That’s quite natural; but what is surprising is that not all of the gospels make reference to the birth of Jesus.  Odder still is the fact that the oldest Christian writings, those of Paul, the evangelist to the Gentiles (non-Jews), doesn’t mention the birth of Jesus at all.

What is not commonly known is that Paul’s letters were written roughly between the years 50 c.e. and 65 c.e. (C.E. means “common era” and in scholarly circles has replaced A.D. – anno domini – Latin meaning “year of our Lord).  And even though in Galatians chapter 1 he mentions that he spent 15 days with James, the brother of the Lord, there’s no mention of Jesus’ birth. That raises some interesting questions.

The first of the gospels to be written was Mark in roughly the year 70 c.e.  It opens with the baptism of Jesus by John.  Again, nothing about Jesus’ birth.

The second gospel to be written was Matthew in roughly the year 80 c.e., about 50 years after the crucifixion and 80 years after Jesus’ birth.  The birth narrative of Jesus is found in Matthew chapters 1 and 2. In this account, the Holy Family has to flee into Egypt to escape the wrath of King Herod.

The third gospel, Luke, was written in roughly 90 c.e. and it too has a birth narrative.  This is the account that most people are familiar with, maybe because part of it is spoken by Linus in the classic “Charlie Brown Christmas” from the 1960’s.  This is the account where the shepherds are startled by angels singing “glory to God in the highest!”

The two accounts, it should be noted, were not written by eyewitnesses, nor do they tell the same story.  More questions.

John, the fourth gospel was written around 100 c.e. and does not contain a birth narrative.  Rather, it opens with Jesus being identified as the Word of God, with God from the beginning.  This word “became flesh and dwelt among us.”

Why bring this up?  Not to discount the beautiful story, but to encourage critical study of the Bible.  It’s an amazing text about people’s encounter with the divine.  The encounter with the divine in the Nativity is not only about the birth of Jesus, it is about your birth and the birth and re-birth of the Christ in you.