The Two Nativities of Jesus Christ

The infancy narrative of Matthew is like a concert overture of the Gospel, unfolding the theme that the birth of Jesus the Messiah in Bethlehem under the shadow of the court of a deranged king in Jerusalem is the fulfillment of all the scriptures. The infancy narrative of Luke opens the Gospel with an opera in which the mother of the Forerunner and the mother of the Messiah sing arias and a pastorale about shepherds in a field seeing the light of heaven that reveals the birth of the Savior. By his prologue, John composes a grand symphony of the theological meaning of the Gospel.