Surprisingly in the whole New Testament only Matthew and Luke speak to us about the conception and birth of Jesus. St. Mark begins his Gospel with the baptism of Jesus by John. He tells us nothing about Jesus’ family life, never mentioning Joseph as His legal Father. St. John begins his Gospel with the Divine Word before creation, “in the beginning was the Word” ignoring the family circumstances in which the Word became flesh. Obviously people were curious about the origins of Jesus. Matthew and Luke stress the religious importance of the conception of Jesus.
Our Christmas creche or crib scene intermix details from the Gospel. Matthew gives a picture wherein Mary and Joseph live in Bethlehem and have a house there. The coming of the Magi guided by the Star caused Herod to slay children in Bethlehem and the Holy Family to flee to Egypt. The fact that Herod’s son Archelaus rules in Judea after him makes Joseph afraid to return to Bethlehem and so he takes the child and mother to Nazareth in Galilee.
Luke tells us that Mary and Joseph lived in Nazareth and went to Bethlehem only because they had to register there during a Roman census. The statement that Mary gave birth to her child and laid Him in a manger implies they had no house of their own in Bethlehem. Luke’s account of the peaceful return of the Holy Family from Bethlehem through Jerusalem to Nazareth leaves no room for the coming of the Magi or a struggle with Herod.
Some scholars have tried very hard to reconcile the differences between Matthew and Luke but with little convincing success. A greater fidelity to Scripture, as intended by the inspired authors, would recognize that the Holy Spirit was content to give us two different accounts and that the way to interpret them faithfully, is to treat them separately. Sometimes the drive to harmonize them arises from the false idea that since Scripture is inspired, each Infancy account must be approached as if it were an exact historical event.