Thursday, December 24, 2020

"The Events of Christmas: Scripture vs. Handed Down Stories"


Textual points from Scripture found in Matthew 2 and Luke 2 about the events of Christmas are not always what we are told as handed down stories of the events of Christmas.  Here are a few to consider:


1.  When the magi see Jesus as a young child He is at least two years old and living in a house (Matt 2:10-11, 16).  


2. When the shepherds see Jesus in Luke 2 He is a newly born baby wrapped in swaddling clothes laying in a manger in a animal stable which was actually a cave not a modern animal barn as we are familiar with (Luke 2:7-20).  


3. There is also in Matthew 2 not three magi as is often told (Matt 2:1, 7).  The number of magi is more than one because the word 'magi' is given in the plural form; but what that number is, is not known.  The text says that there are three gifts or kinds of gifts which the unknown number of magi brought:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matt 2:11).