The Birth of Jesus:

Panel Discussion between Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

Moderator: Welcome and thank you for coming! You have all probably heard the Christmas story many times, but recently the matter of Jesus' birth has come under fire from a number of different scholars and skeptics. This evening we have gathered a panel of experts to discuss the birth of Jesus and to help us to find out what really happened. Let's begin, then, by meeting our panelists. We'll begin with Mark.

Mark: Yes, you can call me Mark. The Gospel I wrote was the first one, but I did use traditional material which was available to me. I didn't ever meet Jesus myself, but I did know some of those who did know him and were among his first disciples.

Moderator: Thank you. As the author of the earliest Gospel, we are especially anxious to hear what you have to say. And now, Matthew: tell us a little about yourself.

Matthew: Okay. Well, I felt it was necessary to tell the story of Jesus' life because my community had concerns and needs different from Mark's. We were dealing with what it meant to be a Christian and still be Jewish, with the demands of the Law and the freedom of God's grace. I also wrote a Gospel because I was aware of more information about Jesus. You see, I did have a copy of Mark's Gospel (to Mark: Thanks again, buddy!), but I also had access to a source which recorded quite a few more of Jesus' sayings.

Moderator: Great. Luke, how about you?

Luke: Like Matthew here, my community also had its own issues with which we were dealing. Things like what it meant to be a Christian and live in the Roman Empire, or what the implications were of the increasing Gentile membership of the Church and the problems posed by the Jewish resistance to Christianity. I didn't know that Matthew had been writing a Gospel of his own, but like him, I knew Mark's work (to Mark: My thanks too.) and I also knew the collection of Jesus' sayings that Matthew had. It may be helpful for you to know that I not only knew my Bible…

Moderator: Remember, folks, when Luke says "Bible," he is just referring to what we now call the Old Testament.

Luke: …right, I knew not only the Bible but also the conventions of Greco-Roman publications. You'll see what I mean if you read not only my Gospel on Jesus, but my sequel volume on the Church which is called the Acts of the Apostles.

Moderator: We'll be looking to you then, Luke, for another important perspective on Jesus and the early Church. And now, John, what about you?

John: (John consistently speaks gazing off into the distance) We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life, so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. (1 John 1.1-3)

Moderator: (confused) Ummmm, yes. Are you saying that yours is an eyewitness account?

John: We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1.4-5)

Moderator: (still confused) Okay, then, very enlightening indeed. Let's move right into this evening's topic: the birth of Jesus. Mark, since you wrote the first Gospel, why don't you begin and tell us what we should know about Jesus' birth.

Mark: No comment.

Moderator: Excuse me? What did you say?

Mark: I said, "No comment."

Moderator: What? Can't you tell us anything about Jesus' birth or his family or, you know, Bethlehem?

Mark: I can't tell you anything about Bethlehem or his father. All I know is that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee. He was a carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon. (Mark 6.3)

Moderator: Well, Matthew, certainly you can tell us something?

Matthew: I certainly can. Joseph, a descendant of King David, was engaged to Mary, but before they were married or lived together, "she was (ahem) found to be with child from the Holy Spirit." Joseph was a decent man and didn't want to humiliate her in public, so he was going to quietly annul the engagement. But an angel of the Lord urged him to remain married to her and assured him that her pregnancy was due to the Holy Spirit.

Moderator: Okay, that's the story we are familiar with. Now tell us about more about the actual birth of Jesus.

Matthew: He was born in Bethlehem.

Luke: I agree, but you need to explain the political situation, you know, Augustus' registration and all.

Matthew: What registration is that?

Moderator: I'm sure the political background is important, but let's move on to the stuff about the manger and the shepherds and all the angels.

Matthew: What manger? Shepherds? And angels?

Luke: Excuse me for jumping in again, but I was the only one to tell about Jesus being laid in a manger because there was no room in the inn for Joseph and the young virgin Mary. And I was the one who wrote about the shepherds outside Bethlehem keeping watch in their fields by night when the host of angels announced the birth of the Savior to them. And then there was that incident a month or so later with Simeon and Anna in the Jerusalem Temple...

Matthew: Who are Simeon and Anna? Let me tell you about the wise men from the East who came to offer gifts to Jesus, the new born King. You see,...

Luke: Wise guys from the East? Where did you get that information?

Mark: Hey, are you guys both talking about the same story?

Moderator: Okay, okay. Perhaps Matthew and Luke just have different sources about Jesus' birth. John, can you help straighten us out?

John: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. (John 1:1-4)

Matthew (to Mark): What in the world does that have to do with Jesus' birth?

Luke: Indeed. That's all very eloquently spoken, John, but what about some historical details, you know, about Bethlehem and such?

John: Has not the scripture said that the Messiah is descended from David and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David lived? (John 7:42)

Moderator: Come on, John, don't answer with a question. Just tell us the truth.

John: Ahhh, "What is truth?" (John 18.38) "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come." (John 16.13)

Moderator: Well, I'm afraid we've run out of time. Perhaps it is not so much that you four disagree, but it seems that absolutely the only thing all of you do agree on is that Jesus had a mother, and, other than John, you say her name was Mary. Audience, I'm sorry we weren't able to provide you with more conclusive proofs, but maybe that's why the Christian Church has emphasized that these are not articles of fact but that they are articles of faith. If you want more information, I'm sure our panelists would appreciate it if you read their books, for they all wrote their Gospels, so that, and I quote from John here, "You may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name." Thank you all for coming, and please join me in thanking again our panelists, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Mark Vitalis Hoffman - 6/96