What is the passage for when Jesus is born?

Answer 1

There are two accounts, both in The Bible. The first is in the book of Matthew, starting at Chapter 1 verse 18, and ending at Chapter 2 verse 23. In this account we hear of the Wise Men, the escape to Egypt and the return of Mary, Joseph and jesus to Nazareth, their home town. The second account is in the book of Luke beginning with Chapter 1, verse 1 where we hear of the birth of Jesus' cousin John the Baptist, and then his own birth and presentation at the temple, through to the time when Jesus was at the Temple aged 12. These childhood stories end at the end of Chapter 2 verse 51, where, again, we are told Jesus returns to Nazareth. The reason why there are two stories is that Matthew tels his account from the Jewish point of view. In his account he mentions the foreigners (the Wise Men) as Jesus came for non-Jews as well as Jews. In Matthew's gospel we also hear of how prophets long before had foretold Jesus' birth, and so Matthew, being a good Jew, included these quotes from the prophets to corroborate his belief that Jesus was, indeed, the Messiah. Luke, however, was not a Jew and so he did not include prophesies like Matthew as they simply did not interest him. Instead, he was commissioned by a man called Theophilus to write a more detailed history of the events surrounding Jesus. As Luke was a doctor and learned man, he states in the first few verses of his book that he systematically went through the facts and presented them in as complete a form as possible. Scholars believe that Luke had met and interviewed Peter and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and from her he obtained the birth stories, including a song she sang at the announcement of the birth. Luke went on to write a second book - the Acts of the Apostles - which tells of the early Christian Church, which can also be found in the Bible after John's gospel.