Birth

Now to make a comparison. Some Christians may know that the content of the books of Matthew and Luke are more similar between them than any other two books in the bible, which leads us to believe that they come from much of the same source material, though their differences are notable and the style and themes in each set them apart as masterpieces.

One marked difference between the two is the birth narrative of both books, taking place in the first two chapters of each book.

First an analysis of Matthew:

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

(A genealogy is given from Abraham to Joseph, Jesus' step-father, to whom the angel Gabriel appeared in a vision, saying of Mary...)

Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

...

Matthew 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem

These passages start an illustration of a few common themes in Matthew as it talks about the birth of Jesus and the attention he received:

1. Showing through genealogy that Jesus is the heir of the throne of the King of the Jews, that he is inheritor of the high priesthood.

2. Showing through prophecies and fulfillment of prophecies that Jesus is the Promised Messiah.

Luke's narrative has a particular singularity: It chronicles not only the time before his birth in more detail, but as well as the time directly after his birth, AS WELL AS the parallel and slightly previous story of the prophecies of, conception of, and the birth of John the Baptist! Luke fit a lot into the 132 verses that comprise his first two chapters.

In the end, both stories provide vivid detail into highlights of the Savior's infancy, and his family connection to John the Baptist, and prophecies that frame the whole experience.

We're expecting a baby, and we'll find out the gender soon. Joseph and Mary, Zacharias and Elizabeth were some the extremely lucky few in ancient times to find out their babies' gender before birth. What a miracle!