Latest / Brandon Fogal Evolution / #85 - Do Matthew and Luke Disagree About Birth of Christ?

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#85 - Do Matthew and Luke Disagree About Birth of Christ? · Brandon Fogal Evolution

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  Do Matthew and Luke disagree or contradict one another in the birth narratives of Jesus?
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  I've been hearing that a lot lately, a lot lately, a lot lately,
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  a lot lately on videos I've been watching, people that kind of disagree with
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  the Bible and think that they contradict one another.
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  And I had to talk about it because it seems like every time that I listen to
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  it, they easily glance over a significant part of both of the narratives.
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  So I wanted to talk about it. And today we are going to look at also a couple
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  verses from the Old Testament and prophecy from the Old Testament that would
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  have pointed towards the birth of Jesus and see why there would have been what we call wise men,
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  but they were technically magi from the East that came to the birth of Jesus. Why were they there?
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  My name is Brandon Fogel. This is Evolution.
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  Let's dive into it. All right. First of all, I wanted to, in the book of Numbers,
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  you don't need to skip there, but if you want to, it's Numbers 24, 17.
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  It says, I see him, but not now. I behold him, but not near.
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  A star is emerging from Jacob. A scepter is rising from Israel and it smashes
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  the brow of Moab and the foundation of all the sons of Seth.
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  A star. So there was the expectation of a star arising.
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  So this would have been a prophecy about the future Messiah that Balaam prophesied.
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  He was not the best prophet.
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  He was technically an ungodly prophet, but a prophet nonetheless.
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  He wasn't in line with God, the God of the Bible, but he still prophesied.
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  And there's people in the world that have that capability that are able to prophesy,
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  but might not be the best representatives of the God of Israel.
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  Also, now we're going to skip ahead to Daniel, the book of Daniel.
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  So when Israel was taken captive into exile, and I'm going to actually switch
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  this so you can see it on the screen.
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  This is going to be the verse from Daniel.
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  When Israel was taken captive into exile to Babylon,
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  they were there for hundreds of years, and Daniel was there with them,
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  and he gave prophecies, and there was the expectation of a future Messiah,
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  and Daniel actually laid out a time frame for when the Messiah would come.
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  So Israel went into captivity to Babylon, and then they were brought back,
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  but there was still a remnant that remained in Babylon, and they would have
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  had the prophecies of Daniel.
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  And in that prophecy, if you go to Daniel 9, 25.
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  Or actually 9, 24 through 27, he writes and given a specific,
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  he gets it down to like, like the year of when he thinks, when he,
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  when he is prophesying that the Messiah would come and he gives it in this terminology
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  of weeks and the weeks represent years. So one week is seven years.
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  And then we'll find out that there actually is one week that is missing,
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  but the weeks that talk about the coming of the Messiah.
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  He lays those out, and it goes from actually the proclamation of the rebuilding of the holy city.
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  All right, Daniel 9.24, I'm just going to read it to you.
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  Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city to finish the transgression,
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  to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness,
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  to seal both vision and prophet and to anoint a most holy place.
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  Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore
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  and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince,
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  there shall be seven weeks.
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  Then for 72 weeks, it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.
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  And after 62 weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing.
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  And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.
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  Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war.
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  Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one
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  week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering.
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  And on the wing of abomination shall come one who makes desolate until the creed
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  end is poured out on the desolator.
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  So when Israel is in captivity in Babylon, Daniel is given this prophecy.
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  So they don't know that they're going back to Jerusalem. And he says from the
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  decree about the holy city, basically this time starts.
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  This time starts to when the Messiah is going to come. And it also extends to
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  the future of when the abomination of desolation, he talks about that in further
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  chapters, but he's speaking about the Messiah when he says the prince shall come.
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  So there was this expectation of the people there and his writings would have
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  been left there, even though they come back to Jerusalem, the magi there,
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  the people there would have had it and they would have been timing it up for
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  when the Messiah would come.
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  So that is what brings them to find the Messiah, Jesus, in Jerusalem years later.
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  Skip forward to the New Testament where we see about Matthew and Luke.
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  Matthew and Luke give two different time frames, two different time frames.
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  And this is what is easily skipped over that I've noticed when Matthew is speaking.
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  We're going to actually see what he says first.
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  Matthew and Matthew 2, verse 1. this is not the night that Jesus is brought into the world.
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  And that's what people skip over. They think, well, Jesus came into the world
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  and then Matthew and Luke are given their own accounts and they don't line up exactly.
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  So they're contradicting one another when actually they're talking about two
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  different events, two different, two different timeframes.
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  Matthew is speaking about not the night that Jesus brought into the world,
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  but Luke is speaking about the night that Jesus is brought into the world.
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  So we can see there would be a disagreement if we looked at it with just purely
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  that if one person says one thing happened on one night and somebody says another
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  thing happened on another night, they disagree. We get that.
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  So Matthew writes in 2.1, he says, Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of
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  Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem.
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  This is after Jesus has been born. The wise men were not there on the night
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  he was born saying, where is he who has been born King of the Jews?
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  For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.
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  It is speculated that the wise men would have saw this, whatever it is,
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  this star that they, there was the expectation from numbers,
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  but then they physically saw a star and they were brought to Jerusalem based on this star.
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  The star most likely went up on the night Jesus was born. So they're seeing
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  it and then traveling from Babylon, from the east, it takes them,
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  it's within at least two years.
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  It's under two years because we're going to find out that Herod decreed to slaughter
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  everyone who was under the age of two based on when the Magi saw the star and came to Jerusalem.
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  It says in 2.3, When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him.
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  And assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people,
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  he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
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  They told him Bethlehem. So by this time, Joseph and Mary and Jesus,
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  they're still there. They're still there.
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  They're still there. And it says they told him, go in Jerusalem,
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  go into Bethlehem, find him.
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  And then when you come back, report to me. but we find out the magi they are
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  told by god in a dream not to go back and not visit herod and they skip around
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  him and then that's when the decree goes out to slaughter the innocence of the
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  the children under two years old that's why it specifically gives that time frame because.
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  They saw it within less than two years before they come to jerusalem and now
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  they're told to go back home.
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  And Herod says he's been tricked and he sends out the order to kill all the children.
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  And then Joseph and Mary and Jesus, they are taken to Egypt.
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  They're taken to Egypt. Matthew, on the other hand, no, that was Matthew. So let's skip forward.
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  Luke, on the other hand, in Luke chapter two, this is the actual night Jesus was born.
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  So the Magi were not there. They were still in the East in Babylon or wherever they're from.
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  And it's not three wise men. It's probably a whole group of people.
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  But we think of three just because based on the gifts that they brought him.
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  But the Magi are still in the east on the birth night of Jesus.
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  It says, in those days, this is Luke 2, in those days, a decree went out from
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  Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
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  This was the first registration when Cerenus was governor of Syria and all went
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  to be registered, each to his own town.
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  And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth,
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  to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of
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  the house and lineage of David to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
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  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth and she gave
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  birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him
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  in a manger because there was no place for them in the end.
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  This is the night. This is not the same day that the Magi came.
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  And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field keeping watch
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  over their flock by night and an angel of the Lord appeared to them and the
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  glory of the Lord shone around them.
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  And they were filled with great fear.
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  And the angel said, fear not for behold, I bring you good news of great joy
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  that will be for all people.
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  For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior who is Christ the Lord.
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  And so the shepherds are out there and they're the ones to go and see Jesus
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  in the manger with Joseph and Mary.
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  So it's years later, it's like within two years later that we find out that
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  when the Magi come, They're not in a...
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  Kind of a cave where Jesus would have been born, but they're actually in a house,
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  and Jesus is a little bit more grown up under the age of two,
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  but he's a little bit more grown up. He's sitting on Mary's lap.
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  Two different time frames. So I just had to speak about this.
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  I had to talk about this because so many people are talking.
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  I hear over and over there are disagreements and saying Matthew and Luke do not line up together.
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  One says one thing, another says the other thing. when actually,
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  if you actually, when you look at the text together, there is agreement.
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  One is given one point of view and one night and another is given another event
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  that happened within two years later.
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  They, they line up, but it's, it's, I just over and over, I just hear people
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  that just assume one says they're both speaking about the same thing.
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  So they, they can't agree and they're disagreeing with one another.
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  I had to address that and just talk about that. And I know a lot of people just
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  come to it and they're already settled in their position.
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  I'm defending it because I believe in the narratives.
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  I don't believe there is any contradiction, but some people will disagree with that.
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  I know, but I'm not going to just say and look at the text and just assume that it's right.
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  Assume it's completely inerrant and completely infallible.
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  I will approach it with a skeptical vision and look at it and see, is there disagreement?
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  Could Could I understand where somebody from the other side is coming from?
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  So we'll leave it at that. I hope you took something away from that.
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  When they're talking about, they're not talking about the same event,
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  but we'll leave it at that.