| THE GIVING OF GIFTS TO THE MESSIAH
Matthew's description of the Magi's bearing of gifts relates directly to Old Testament prophecy and the current of Messianic expectation. Matt. 2:15 quotes Hosea 11:1 in speaking of Mary and Joseph's flight to Egypt. The Rabbinic Sages attach to this verse the discussion of the Messiah as the "second Moses": "Out of Egypt I have called my son". The Pesikhta Rabbati, considered by more recent scholarship to be a product of 6th or 7th century Palestine, says:
Psalm 68:29 says that, "Kings will bring you gifts". The same psalm is quoted by the NT in Eph. 4:8, where we read that, "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men", and alluded to by Rev. 1:18, remaining close to the theme of the psalm in that, "Our God is a God who saves; from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death". Psalm 72, considered by the Jews to be in the main Messianic and in which is found the Messianic secret-name "Yinnon", says in verses 10-11 that: "The kings of Tarshish and of distant shores will bring tribute to him; the kings of Sheba and Seba will present him gifts. All kings will bow down to him . . ." Psalm 76:11 mentions another of the Messiah's secret names: "Let all the neighbouring lands bring gifts to the One to be feared." Chapter 60 of Isaiah, one of the central Messianic proofs in the Rabbinic literature, speaks of the nations coming towards the "light" and says, from verse 5,
There is also a discussion in the Talmud of the description in Is. 60 of the nations bearing gifts of "gold and incense". This is understood to mean that "Egypt will one day bring gifts to the Messiah".34 The giving of gifts to the Messiah is generally linked to the phrase in Jacob's blessing, "until he (shilo) comes", for which the Rabbis traditionally read shi loh, 'gifts for him'. This interpretation is based on the promise in Ps 76:11 that the nations around Israel will "bring gifts to the One to be feared". Only the Jewish reader can grasp the importance of the Messianic proof which the description of the Wise Men of the Orient provides. The Murder of the Innocents in Bethlehem. The question is often asked whether it is possible that Herod could have carried out the "mass-murder" of children described by Matthew. Would the Emperor Augustus have permitted it without saying a word? Ethelbert Stauffer, an authority on the literature of Rome and also on the Rabbinic literature, relates in great detail some parallel cruelties in the history of Rome and Palestine.35 But what do we actually know about this atrocity ascribed to Herod? This incident has been imagined on a far larger scale than it actually was. Alfred Edersheim suggests that, judging by the size of the village of Bethlehem, the number of deaths "could only have been small -- probably twenty at most. But the deed was none the less atrocious; and these infants may justly be regarded as the 'protomartyrs,' the first witnesses of Christ." The murder of a few children in an insignificant village must have, from a historical point of view, appeared scarcely worth notice, and Josephus, the contemporary historian, perhaps saw no need to record it. The political career of King Herod was strewn with bloody deeds. On assuming power he put to death two thirds of the members of the 'Great Council' and swept out of his way some of his own wives and sons. Sometimes he had his opponents tortured to death and their wives and children murdered, bringing to mind the Egyptian Pharaoh who hunted the children of the Hebrews. In the Assumption of Moses, an apocalyptic work written around the years 6 or 15 BC in circles near the Qumran community, we read of Herod:
Gradually, however, a change began to take place in Herod's life, a change which made him, not to put too fine a point on it, into a paranoic. Josephus tells us of a certain Essene called Menahem whose piety had made him well-known. As a school-friend of Herod, he prophesied that he would one day be king. When Herod was at the height of his power he called this learned man to himself and requested that he now prophesy how long he would function as ruler. In their youth Menahem had said to him that if he did not maintain "the fear of God and righteousness" he would be punished for it at the end of his life. Josephus describes Herod's character accurately when he writes that:
The Emperor Augustus was also prone to cruelty. On the basis of his "black list" 300 senators and 2000 Roman citizens of noble birth were murdered. Notwithstanding, he was appalled at Herod's deeds. The Roman eclectic Macrobius writes around the year 500:
The emperor knew that a Jew would not eat pork and so would leave the pigs in peace. The Murder of the Innocents described by Matthew is perfectly in accord with the events of that time. It is said of even Augustus' own childhood that he had a narrow escape from an early death in the intrigues of the imperial chambers. It is, then, hardly surprising that the Messiah, the "second Moses", right at the beginning of his life, should become the object of a murderous command of the Pharaoh of his time. The story of Jesus' suffering begins in his childhood. THE EVENTS AROUND JESUS' BIRTH, THROUGH THE EYES OF THE VIRGIN MARY. The opening chapters of Luke describe at length many details connected with the birth of Jesus. It is obvious that Luke is here recording precious memories entrusted to him by Mary. Only Luke tells us about the childlessness of Mary's relative Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah, and of the promise which the latter received in the Temple. Thus, the 'child of prayer and promise', John the Baptist, was born (Luke 1:5-25). Only Luke tells us of the angelic annunciation received by the "Virgin Mary" (1:26-38). Matthew, who, in his genealogy, follows up Joseph, records for us the angelic visitation received by him (Matt. 1:18-25). Only Luke's gospel contains Mary's Magnificat (1:39-56), Zechariah's song of thanks (1:57-80), the blessings of Simeon and Anna in the Temple (2:21-38), the experience of the shepherds of Bethlehem in the fields and their visit to the manger (2:1-20). Only Luke tells us about the 12-year- old Jesus in the Temple (2:41-52). Touching details such as these could never be effaced from a mother's mind. Luke records with especial care the words of Jesus to people in the shadowy side of life. It is surely no mere coincidence that only he has preserved the parable of the Prodigal Son in chapter 15 of his gospel. Similarly, he looks more carefully at women's share in events than do the other evangelists. Judaism and Islam are primarily the domain of the male. To this day, for example, the Jew remembers to give thanks to God every morning in his shaharît prayer that he was not created "a Gentile, a slave or a woman". The women's response to this from the gallery in the synagogue is merely that God has made them "according to his will". Luke tells us that it was women who were the first to form a support group which provided materially for the disciples in their ministry out of its own resources. This group included Mary Magdalene; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, manager of Herod's household; Susanna, and many others (8:1-3). He mentions the group of women who followed Jesus to the cross (23:49) and to the tomb (23:55). He tells us how they brought perfumes and spices (23:56) and were quicker than the men to recognise the resurrection (24:1, 10). We also read that the Apostles "joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers" (Acts 1:14). The part played by women is equally apparent throughout the Acts. Small wonder that the Roman author Libanius could exclaim, "What women those Christians have!" We might well ask ourselves where Luke received his compassionate attitude as advocate for the poor, sinful and weak. He himself uses the term "sinner" more than all the other gospels together. He it is who has recorded for us the most powerful of Jesus' reproaches to those who trusted in riches (12:13-21, 16:19-31 etc.), and he points out in Acts the church's common ownership and charitable works. These special characteristics were no doubt the result of factors in his own life. What do we know of Luke's own personal history? Eusebius mentions in his Church History that:
It has been conjectured that Luke was born the slave of the wealthy nobleman Theophilus, who subsequently had him educated in the medical profession and freed him when he became a Christian. Nevertheless, the theory goes, Theophilus remained his patron and funded his literary research (Luke 1:1 and Acts 1:1). Paul's home town of Tarsus at that time boasted a university which was considered the best in the East, held in esteem particularly on account of its achievments in the medical field. Tradition tells us that the emperor Nero's teacher and advisor, the younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca, who was forced to commit suicide, was a friend of Paul. They both received instruction from the Stoic philosopher Athenodorus, who was regarded as the most distinguished learned man in Tarsus. Irenaeus says that Luke was inseparabilis a Paulo, 'Paul's inseparable companion'. Such faithfulness was perhaps the result of Luke's earlier servile status, perhaps of the request of his former master, request, or possibly even the outcome of a friendship which was forged when they were at university. The expressions used in the account of Jesus' birth that God has "been mindful of the humble state of his maidservant" and "has lifted up the humble" surely reflect Luke's own sentiments. Luke strives to harmonise the gospel events with the general historical picture. He is in fact the only one of the evangelists who mentions emperors by name. Since there were at that time two kinds of provinces, those subject to the Senate and those subject to the Emperor, Luke presents six provinces from each group. He speaks of the riots caused by a certain Theudas, events which were known to Josephus.38 He mentions the famine in Judea39, the sudden death, in AD 44, of King Herod Agrippa in Caesarea40, the governor Porcius Festus41, and even King Agrippa the Second (50-100 AD), often referred to in Jewish writings as merely "King Agrippa"42 . Luke's working method -- the anchoring of salvation history to the general course of history -- prevents all false spiritualisation. The beginning of the traditional Christmas story: "And it came to pass in those days," reads in the Latin translation: "Factum est," "It is a fact". The whole of the gospel of Luke aims at being an account "of the things that have been fulfilled" (1:1). Luke placed himself as its guarantor. Luke's testimony to the Virgin Birth. When Luke introduces Mary he twice refers to her as a "virgin" (1:27). Mary is herself astonished at her own pregnancy and says to the angel who appeared to her, "How can this be, since I know no man" (1:34 acc. to Greek). The word used in the Greek for "know" suggests the Hebrew verb yada behind it, which means both 'knowing' and 'sexual intercourse' (eg. as in Gen. 4:1). The phrase is clearly related to Rebecca, who, according to Gen. 24:16, was "a virgin whom no man had touched", and here again we find the same word yada. Matthew, in his equivalent passage, quotes Isaiah 7:14 in which for 'virgin' the word alma is used. The Lord himself will give a "sign", or "miracle": "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son". 200 years before Christ this word was translated in the Greek LXX (Septuagint) translation by the word parthenos, 'virgin'. In Gen 24:16 and 43 Rebecca is at the same time na'ara, betula and alma, all of which were used of marriageable young women, from whom chastity was demanded as a condition of marriage. Luke acknowledges the significance of virginity in Jewish society, when he stresses that the prophetess Anna had been a virgin when she married (2:36 acc. to Greek). Luke, the doctor, does not attempt any explanation of the virgin birth itself. Mary was informed with the words,
The idea of conception by the Holy Spirit is not something totally foreign to the Jew. In first volume of our roots study we quoted Jonathan's Targum, where we read that God will one day raise up a second Moses "through the Holy Spirit".43 Luke's expression "the power of the Most High" is also not unknown in the Jewish literature. Rabbi David Qimhi, active at the beginning of the 13th century, says of the Messiah that his contemporaries will call him by the name El, meaning 'God', "because his origins are from of old, from ancient times". RaMBaN (Moses Ben Nahman), says a generation later in connection with Perez in Gen. 38:29 that this is the Messiah:
Luke, the hymn-collector. At the beginning of his gospel Luke records special hymns of thanks which endorse according to modern scholars to the authenticity of the issues. Mary's hymn of praise (Luke 1:46-55), reminiscent of that of Samuel's mother Hannah (1 Sam. 2:1-10), was often used in the services of the early church. Zechariah's hymn (1:68-79) contains material found in the Jewish prayerbook's so-called '18th prayer', well suited to what we know of his character. Simeon's prayer of thanks (2:29-35) is based upon Messianic prophecies which are generally acknowledged among the Sages and which Simeon believed found their fulfilment in the baby Jesus. The Old Testament is no stranger to such hymns of thanks, lamentations and songs of victory. The best known of these is the Song of Moses in Deut. 32, which is frequently alluded to by the Wise in their reflections on the Messiah. In particular, the idea of the "rock of salvation", repeated throughout, is connected with the "Messiah, the Son of David".46 In the New Testament the "new song" to the Lamb of God in Revelation may be the equivalent of Moses' song (Rev. 5:9-13, 14:3 and 15:3-4). In the history of the Church, the birth of a new hymn often goes hand in hand with a time of revival or the work of the Holy Spirit. Luke could practically be considered Christianity's first collector of hymns. There are terms in the hymns of Mary and Zechariah with which the devout Jew would feel very much at home. He would know them in part from Hannah's song of praise:
The Hebrew uses the phrase "the horn of his anointed" in which the word "horn" expresses 'glory' (1 Sam. 2:1-2, 6, 10). Mary says:
The historicity of Luke's Christmas Story. There is a habit suggesting that Luke would be hard pressed to defend his narrative of the nativity events. He speaks, for example, of a census decreed by Augustus Caesar (BC 30-AD 14), the "first that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria" (Luke 2:1-2). Was such a census in fact carried out at that time, and what is meant by "the first census"? Josephus does indeed speak of Quirinius, in his Antiquities of the Jews, when discussing the banishment of Archelaus.48 This son of King Herod, also mentioned in Matthew 2:22, was exiled, after a reign of 10 years, to Gaul, on account of the high-handed way in which he wielded power. This had been predicted by an Essene monk named Simon, on the basis of a dream. Thus,
The argument that Quirinius's census is unhistorical was first put forward by David Strauss in 1835 in his book Leben Jesu, the 'Life of Jesus'. Since then many inscriptions and papyrus finds which shed light on the taxation practices of antiquity have been unearthed. The issue has been dealt with at great length by, to cite one example, Erlangen University's Professor Ethelbert Stauffer.50 Roman taxation documents reveal that a census was taken every 14 years. Augustus conquered Egypt in 30 BC and began his taxation procedures at the beginning of 27 BC. At the same time he was embarking on a similar project in Gaul, of which the "first census" lasted over 40 years. Luke employs the expression apographe prote, the 'first enrolment', in his nativity account. This always involved reporting to the authorities, enrolling, and declaring real estate. Only after this came the apotimesis, in which the category and level of taxation were determined and collected. Both Mary and Joseph were of the house of David, which meant that their family property, in Jewish law untransferrable to another tribe, would lie in the vicinity of Bethlehem -- and so to Bethlehem they travelled. Professor Stauffer provides a remarkable piece of information regarding Quirinius. In 1674 the headstone from the tomb of an officer of Augustus came to light in Venice, a tablet which spoke of Quirinius's tax-gathering activities in Apamea and elsewhere in Syria. The inscription was copied and published in 1719 but the original disappeared and the text was for long considered a forgery, until 1880, that is, when the lower part of the tomb was again unearthed. Since then it has been generally acknowledged as genuine. The plaque says:
It must be remembered that Sulpicius Quirinius ruled the eastern Roman provinces as military legate and governor from approximately 12 BC to 16 AD, discounting a short interruption. Luke recorded his observations 30 years before Josephus's literary work and it was natural that in discussing the taxation he would refer to the most significant man in the East besides the Emperor. The phrase "the first census" corresponds exactly to the course of the events in which the whole "world" as it was known at that time went through the same kind of lengthy tax enrolment procedure. The early childhood of Jesus. The events of the early part of Jesus's life followed a course normal for that of any Jewish boy. We have, however, seen elsewhere that the Messiah's "origins are from of old, from ancient times". At eight days old the male children were circumcised, at which time they received their name and, as the "children of the covenant" and were bound to observe the law given to the people of Israel. In accordance with Leviticus 12 Mary would receive a month-long "maternity leave". The woman had to stay at home for 33 days "to be purified from her bleeding", after which she was required to go to the Temple to make an offering for the "days of her purification". The Rabbis detail a mass of additional regulations concerning the exact time the offering was to be made. Where a female child was concerned, the law of Moses decreed that the "maternity leave" would be 66 days, whereas in the case of a male child, the time of purification was added to the 8 days of waiting for circumcision, which would mean that Mary would go to the Temple on the 40th day of the child's life. The Christian church commemorates this at "Candlemas", the first Sunday in February. The term pidyon ha-Ben, 'redemption of a boy', is used of this purification offering. Thus the Redeemer himself was redeemed and presented to God. The law of Moses allows for the celebrant to choose between "two doves or two young pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering", if he cannot afford a lamb. Jesus' parents made an offering of pigeons, and in this way, right at the start of his life, Jesus identified himself with the poor. Luke alone records for us these precious memories of Mary's. Awaiting Jesus in the Temple was a surprise welcoming party. Luke tells the story in a way which reflects the Messianic expectation of that time:
Luke's narrative accords well with the picture we have received from the Dead Sea Scrolls of the Messianic expectation of that age. The pious Anna and Simeon were "looking forward to" the CONSOLATION of Israel and the REDEMPTION of Jerusalem. Liberal scholars are wont to say that Luke's gospel contains "nothing of the redemption idea", or that nowhere in Acts is the "death of Jesus interpreted as a sacrificial death. Death is only a dark gate through which the Messiah must pass in order to enter into his glory".51 Nowhere in the Rabbinic literature, as far as I know, do we find a "dark gate" of this kind in connection with the Messianic idea. The same critic, it is true, says that Luke mentions "for you" in the words used when instituting the Holy Communion, and that Paul, in Acts, speaks of the Church which Jesus "bought with his own blood". But in his opinion
The childhood of Jesus, after the brief period as a refugee in Egypt, was spent in the home in Nazareth, in the alleys and hillocks of the town. In the vicinity of Nazareth ran a bifurcation of the Via Maris, the 'Maritime Way'. The boy Jesus may have observed from day to day the merchant caravans which maintained contact with the nearby harbour of Ptolemais or Akko. The musical director of the Synagogue, the hazan, probably gave the boy the elements of a biblical knowledge. Reading the Old Testament in Hebrew may have come quite easily to him, since Hebrew was still spoken in his parents' native district of Bethlehem. Children were in the habit of sitting at their teacher's feet and repeating out loud the verses which had been read to them. The boy naturally acquired his father's trade as a carpenter -- the Greek word tekton means both 'builder' and 'carpenter'. The renowned Jewish sages Hillel and Shammai were both carpenters. The Wise were in the custom of saying: "If you teach your child the ways of a merchant, you teach him to steal". Nazareth was at that time, because of the nearby caravan trail, a wretch of a village, dependent for its living on the trade of all kinds of trinkets. Not without reason was it said: "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Coming to the age of twelve meant for the Jewish boy a new responsibility. He became a bar mitsva, a 'son of the law'. After going through a kind of "confirmation camp" with oral examinations the boy would be officially accepted as a full member of the Synagogue. Of that specific stage Luke tells us a touching detail, which had perhaps remained in Mary's heart. The family had made its annual Passover journey to Jerusalem with the other villagers. On the way back they had gone almost a day's journey when they became aware that Jesus was not with the company, and so they turned back to Jerusalem, where they found Jesus in the Temple. He was "sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions". Normally children surrounded a teacher; now the teachers gathered around a child. This indicates that they considered Jesus to be a "prodigy". This kind of gaon is not a rare phenomenon even today. Luke points out twice that the boy Jesus was "filled with wisdom" and "grew in wisdom". When his mother rebuked him, the boy said enigmatically, "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?", or in the Authorised Version, "Wist ye not that I must be about my father's business?" Of Jesus' later, so-called "silent", years we have no information whatsoever. Some, with no evidence whatsoever, have placed him as studying with the Essenes. Some have sent him to Egypt, some to India and some to Tibet. The gospels, however, state baldly that he grew up in Nazareth and did not travel outside the borders of his own country. A very old tradition claims that he was 19 years old when his foster-father Joseph died. This would accord well with the description of his public ministry. Matthew 13:55 tells us of his mother Mary, his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas, and of his sisters. Mark 6:3 confirms this piece of information, but uses of Joseph the familiar form Joses. These brothers, who initially wanted to put a stop to Jesus' ministry, eventually believed in him as Lord and Christ, and even laid down their lives for their risen Saviour. The letters of James and Jude have been preserved in the New Testament, and the faith of these brothers is one of the most powerful proofs of Jesus' Messiahship. Jesus' brother Jacob had for long a special position as the leader of the Jerusalem church.52 According to tradition, he took part in the Last Supper and Jesus, after his resurrection, appeared to him individually.53 He was also one of those who gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem to await the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.54 On account of his deep piety he was referred to, among both Christians and Jews, as "James the Just". Josephus tells us how the high priest Ananus condemned to death by stoning "James, the brother of Jesus who was called Christ", and some of his companions.55 Eusebius describes in the same way the death of "James the Lord's brother" in AD 62, adding that he prayed for his executioners. The historical data provided by Luke the Physician are an essential
complement to the picture we have received of the birth and childhood of
Jesus.
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