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55. Where did Joseph and Mary live before the birth of Jesus? Luke 2:1-7 vs. Matthew 2:1-2, 11, 22-23
I’m not sure if I’m dumb, or if this is another example that the makers of this poster didn’t actually think you’d read it.
Luke 2:1-7
And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
Matthew 2:1-2
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
:11
And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
:22-23
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. 23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”
Am I missing something? If someone can explain what the contradiction is supposed to be, please leave a comment and let me know.
The selection from Luke tells us that Joseph and Mary were in Nazareth, of Galilee, before Jesus was born, which answers the question.
The selection from Matthew doesn’t even address where they were before Jesus was born – just where they were when He was born (Bethlehem), and where they went afterwards (back to Nazareth).
I don’t understand the issue. If it helps, we pulled together all the gospel accounts of the nomadic life of Jesus’ first few years as a child in our Christmas Special, here.
I think I see why they are saying there is a contradiction. I am not an atheist. I believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God. But I know there are desperate atheists who search for errors. They want to find a mistake and believe they have found one. They are saying that in Luke:
and in Matthew it implies that they were afraid to go back to their home so they turned aside and went to Nazareth. The error they think they have found is that the Bible says in Luke he is from Nazareth and in Matthew it sounds as if Nazareth was not his home.If he was from Nazareth, how could he not go back home and turn aside and to to Nazareth? One could be that this wasn’t his birthplace but he had been staying there with someone prior to the census. Here is the thing. They went to Nazareth two years later. They had to go into Egypt. The Bible doesn’t tell us where Joseph was living at the time. Joseph’s home wasn’t the subject of this story. It tells us that he was of the house and linage of David. That is what we know and can verify.
I do genealogy, and I know that there are so many explanations for things like this. My great, great grandmother is listed on two census records in 1850 in two different counties. Does this mean the census takers were liars or that they made up the story of my grandmother? Of course not! For some reason she had left my gggrandfather and was staying with her oldest married daughter. Why, I may never know. Perhaps the daughter had a sick child. Perhaps the grandmother had left her husband because she was angry with him. My third great grandmother was in the household where my second great grandmother ‘should’ have lived. Maybe they did not get along. The census recorder was given her name in each county and recorded it.
Census recorders to not tell the ‘whys’. If records taken even 100-200 years ago leave mysteries imagine how many the Bible, that was written 2,000 -4,000 year ago should have!
Thanks for the explanation. I wondered if that could be it, but it just seems so ridiculous.
I was born in a town called Normal, but we moved several times when I was fairly young and I did most of my growing up in McHenry. If you ask me what my hometown is, I’ll tell you McHenry. I was born in Normal. I’m from McHenry. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He was from Nazareth.
Sometimes I wonder how anyone can believe in atheism when it so often makes no sense. 😉