The Infancy Narratives and the New Testament
- The Infancy Narratives are the birth stories of Jesus. They are found in Matthew's Gospel and
Luke's Gospel.
- Gospel means "Good News," and refers to the 4 accounts in the New Testament about Jesus
teachings and messages.
- The 4 Gospels are in the order Matthew, Mark, Luke, then John, although chronologically
Mark was written first, then most likely Matthew and Luke were written around similar times
with John written last.
- The Gospels are not biographies, they don't tell us the story of Jesus' entire life. They do tell us
the most important messages he lived out and taught.
The Infancy Narratives – Birth Stories of Jesus
Matthew Chapters 1-2, Luke Chapters 1-2:38
Historical Context and Background
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The Roman Empire takes over and occupies Israel in the year 63 BC. Israel had been its
own Jewish state before. Jesus is born somewhere between 7 BC and the year 0.
The Romans take a laid back approach and gave the Jews autonomy, meaning as long as
they followed Roman laws, kept the peace and paid tribute to the government they were
free to govern themselves.
Many Jews were very unhappy with Roman rule and wanted independence.
Many wanted to return to the old days of King David where Israel was very powerful,
wealthy and prosperous.
For many years in their Scriptures, the Jewish people believed that God would send them
a savior. People had many different expectations as to who the savior was supposed to be
and what he was supposed to do.
Every so many years, the Romans would institute a census where they would take count
of everyone in the Empire. In order to do this, all families had to report back to the birth
city of the father of the family.
Society in Israel was Patriarchal – male dominated. Men with high status and land had
most of the power. There were relatively few rights for women.
How do you think these different groups of people would react to the coming of the Savior?
 Romans
 Jewish leaders/Upper Class
 Lower Class Jews
Romans - They generally did not care too much about the news of this savior and did not see it as
a threat. However the Romans would look to get rid of anyone tried to use this idea to inspire
people to fight against their Empire.
Jewish leaders/Upper Class - They were very positive about the news and thought that the savior
would help to build Israel into a great kingdom by defeating the Romans.
Lower Class Jews - They were very curious and hopeful about the savior, hoping he would help
them to live better lives.