The birth and early years of Jesus.
The exact date and time of the birth of Jesus is not known. The chronology
of his ministry cannot be traced too.
As per the gospel stories,he was born as the son of Mary and Joseph probably on their way to Bethlehem to register their names as a decree of emperor Augustus Caesar demanded it. But Luke also says that such a census was first made when Cyrinus was the governor of Syria. (Luke 2:1,2) Historians tell us that Cyrinus did not become emperor of Syria until A.D. 6 and soon after he became the governor he ordered the census.
Further, radical critics show that there was no census in Herod’s realm where Jesus is supposed to have had been born. These tend to show that Luke’s account is inaccurate or the narrator did not know the date or time of Jesus’ birth
Luke might have perhaps invented this to suit the messianic prophesy according to which the ‘redeemer’ of the Jewish
people was to be born in Bethlehem. Otherwise, there is no reason to suppose that Joseph, still less Mary, would need to travel to Bethlehem to be enrolled. Both Mathew and Luke stress that Jesus was associated with Nazareth until his ministry began. They try to picture his birth as might have taken place in Bethlehem. In order to show that he was of the royal line of David the king. (The general expectation of the Jews was that the ‘mighty one will Descend from David whose town was Bethlehem)
The stories of the shepherds and the wise men are who
recognized the child as the son of god and who came to adore it are preserved in Mathew and Luke. It has significance that David himself was a shepherd in the fields of Bethlehem. The gospel narrators seem to be enthusiastic to show that the prophesy regarding the messianic shepherd of David’s line (Ezekiel 34:23,24) is fulfilled.
The apparent attempt of Herod is only found in Matthew and hence the flight to Egypt and the journey back to Nazareth where they settled down. If Jesus was recognized as the promised king by the shepherds and the wise men and if Herod accepted this fact and took measures to kill the babe, why did he emerge from Nazareth as a stranger and why was he not recognized by anyone during his ministry?
An attempt is made in the fourth gospel to show that Jesus is accepted by John the Baptist and the first disciples who declare him to be the Christ. But the other three make him the Christ only by making Peter confess at Caesarea Philippi.
The nativity stories and legends are invented to pay tribute to the importance of Jesus from the time of his birth. Mary and Joseph were poor people. The family grew up to be a moderately large one (four brothers are mentioned by name and some sisters in MK. 6:3)Joseph was a carpenter and Jesus evidently apprenticed to this trade. He grew up a Jew among the Jewish people. He made deep studies in the scriptures first at home and then at the school attached to the synagogue. Thus he was later able to quote extensively from them and to apply them whenever a situation warranted.