SYMBOLISM
The Gospel Accounts of the Nativity
Everything in your nativity scene comes from two Gospel accounts: Luke’s and Matthew’s. They’re short, they fill in each other’s gaps, and almost every passage gave the tradition a figure or a custom. Here they are, step by step.
Two Gospels, two viewpoints
Two of the four Gospels tell the story of Jesus’s birth: Luke and Matthew. Mark starts with Jesus as an adult. John doesn’t tell the story of the birth, but he sums up what it means in a line read at the Christmas Mass during the Day: “the Word became flesh” (John 1:14).
The two accounts don’t repeat each other. They fit together. Luke tells the story from Mary’s side: the Annunciation, the journey, the birth, the shepherds, the Temple. Matthew tells it from Joseph’s side: his dreams, the star, the Wise Men, the Flight into Egypt. The nativity scene puts both in one picture: Luke’s shepherds and Matthew’s Wise Men around the same Child.
Luke’s account, step by step
Luke’s account is in chapter 2 of his Gospel. It’s the reading at Christmas Midnight Mass, and nearly everything in the nativity scene comes from it.
| Passage | What happens | What it gave the nativity scene |
|---|---|---|
| Luke 2:1–5 | A census requires Joseph to go to Bethlehem, with Mary, who is expecting a child. | Mary and Joseph on the road during Advent. See when to put up the nativity. |
| Luke 2:6–7 | Mary gives birth to her son, wraps him in swaddling clothes and lays him in a manger, because there was no room for them. | The Child, the swaddling clothes, the manger, and the cave or the stable. |
| Luke 2:8–12 | Shepherds are keeping watch over their flocks by night. An angel announces great joy to them, and gives them a sign: an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. | The shepherds and the angel. |
| Luke 2:13–14 | A multitude of the heavenly host sings: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace.” | The angel’s banner, “Gloria in excelsis Deo.” |
| Luke 2:15–20 | The shepherds hurry to Bethlehem, find the Child and go back praising God. Mary keeps all these things in her heart. | The procession converging on the stable, and Mary in contemplation. |
| Luke 2:22–38 | Forty days later, Mary and Joseph present Jesus in the Temple, where Simeon and Anna recognize him. | Candlemas, February 2, when the nativity is traditionally put away. |
Matthew’s account, step by step
Matthew devotes his first two chapters to Jesus’s early life. His story of the Wise Men is read at Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany.
| Passage | What happens | What it gave the nativity scene |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew 1:18–25 | Joseph, “a righteous man,” learns in a dream that the child Mary is expecting comes from God, and he takes her into his home. | Joseph, the silent guardian. |
| Matthew 2:1–2 | Magi from the East arrive in Jerusalem: they have seen the star of the king of the Jews rising. | The Three Wise Men and the star. |
| Matthew 2:3–8 | King Herod is troubled and sends them to Bethlehem. | Herod stays out of the nativity: he isn’t shown around the stable. |
| Matthew 2:9–11 | The star stops over the place where the Child is. The Magi prostrate themselves and offer gold, frankincense and myrrh. | The arrival of the Magi at Epiphany, kneeling before the manger. See Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar. |
| Matthew 2:13–18 | Warned in a dream, Joseph, Mary and the Child flee to Egypt. Herod has the children of Bethlehem killed. | The feast of the Holy Innocents, December 28. |
What tradition added, and why
For centuries, Christians prayed over these accounts, reflected on them and painted them. Along the way they added details the Gospels don’t give, but that bring out their meaning:
- Three Wise Men, because there are three gifts; and kings, because the Epiphany Mass reads Psalm 72 (71), where the kings of the earth come to worship.
- The ox and the donkey, from a verse in Isaiah: “An ox knows its owner, and a donkey, its master’s manger.” See the ox and the donkey.
- The cave, honored in Bethlehem since the earliest centuries, beneath today’s Basilica of the Nativity.
- The names of the Wise Men, Melchior, Caspar and Balthasar, which became fixed during the Middle Ages.
None of this goes against the Bible. It’s how faith brought the story to life. See also nativity scene symbolism.
Reading these accounts as a family
The easiest way is to follow the calendar: read Luke 2:1–14 on Christmas Eve, when you lay Baby Jesus in the manger; Luke 2:15–20 on Christmas Day; and Matthew 2:1–12 on Epiphany, when the Wise Men reach the stable. For simple prayers and customs to go with them, see praying before the nativity.
Frequently asked questions
Which Gospels tell of the birth of Jesus?
Two: the Gospel of Luke (chapter 2) and the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 1 and 2). Mark starts with Jesus as an adult, and John doesn’t tell the story but sums up its meaning: the Word became flesh.
Does the Gospel mention the ox and the donkey?
No. Luke mentions a manger but no animals. The ox and the donkey come from a verse by the prophet Isaiah, which early Christians read as pointing ahead to the Nativity.
How many Magi were there?
Matthew doesn’t say. Tradition says three, because of the three gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh.
Which Gospel is read at Christmas Mass?
At Midnight Mass (the Mass during the Night), Luke 2:1–14; at the Mass at Dawn, the rest of Luke’s account, with the shepherds; and at the Mass during the Day, the opening of John’s Gospel, which says the Word became flesh.