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The books of Matthew and Luke have
differing accounts
of Jesus' birth? Which one is correct? Q. According to Matthew, Jesus was born in a house in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:11). They immediately left in a panic to Egypt because an angel told them that Herod was going to try to kill Jesus (Matthew 2:13). Afterwards, they are going to return to Bethlehem, but decide to go to Nazareth instead to avoid danger (Matthew 2:22-23). But . . . According to Luke, Mary and Joseph were from Nazareth and went to Bethlehem only for a census (Luke 2:4). Instead of being born in a house, Jesus was born in a manger because there was no room in an Inn (Luke 2:7). After the birth, they waited only for Mary to go through ritual purification, whereupon they went to Jerusalem to sacrifice two birds (Luke 2:22-24). After that, they went immediately home to Nazareth (Luke 2:39). Which record is correct? (Submitted by: Charles) A. As concerning your question about the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and the seeming discrepancy between the accounts in Matthew and Luke, you asked which is the correct account. As always in the
Bible, both accounts are correct because they speak of two different time periods. The Luke account is the actual event of Christ's birth in the manger (Luke 2:1-39) . The shepherds came and saw Christ's birth and left rejoicing. On the eighth day, Jesus was circumcised, and after 40 days as the Law required (Leviticus 12:1-8), they left for Jerusalem to make an offering for the birth of Christ. After that, they returned to Galilee to their own city, Nazareth (Luke 2:39). This completes the actual birth of Christ. No wisemen there. |
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