It is impossible to harmonize Luke’s story with Matthew’s. While there are some common elements that point to some shared tradition, the stories as developed by the two authors are contradictory or inconsistent on many points.
| Gospel Story of Jesus’ Birth | Discrepancy |
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Matthew’s tells the story of Jesus’ birth during the reign of King Herod. Luke seems to have it set in the time of Quirinius. |
Difference of ten years in Jesus’ year of birth. |
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Matthew has Mary and Joseph living in Bethlehem. Luke has them living in Nazareth and have come to Bethlehem because of a census. |
Mary and Joseph live in different cities — Bethlehem or Nazareth? |
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Matthew says the angel appeared to Joseph after Mary is already pregnant. Luke says the angel appears to Mary before she gets pregnant. |
Does the angel appear to Mary or Joseph? Was the appearance before or after Mary got pregnant? |
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Matthew has Jesus born in a house. Luke has Jesus born in an animal stable. |
Was Jesus born in a house or an animal stable? |
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Matthew has magi attending his birth. Luke has shepherds attending. |
Which was it, magi or shepherds? |
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Matthew tells of the holy family fleeing to Egypt. Luke says that they travel to Jerusalem right after Jesus’ birth to be presented at the temple. |
Where did they go, did they fee from persecution to Egypt or to Jerusalem to be presented? |
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Matthew says that the inhabitants of Jerusalem is afraid of Jesus and it is not safe for him in Judea. Luke presents Jesus being recognized as the Messiah in Jerusalem. |
Was Jerusalem happy or not because their long-awaited Messiah had appeared? |
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In Mathew we see Mary and Joseph moving to Nazareth to get away from Archelaus, tetrarch of Judea. Luke shows Mary and Joseph going home to Nazareth. |
Do they flee to Nazareth or are they just going home? |