As we get closer to Christmas "Infancy Stories" about Jesus begin to take center stage. Two Bible writers, Matthew and Luke have very different stories about the birth of Jesus. Details vary, or are added, left out. What gives? Why are the stories not the same? A way to look at this is through portrait painting. Two painters will paint the portrait of the same person, but each portrait is quite different with some similarities. We can accept this. The painter is not taking a photograph. Each painter is interpreting the person, emphasizing one thing over another. The painting is an impression from the view of the painter. So it is with the Gospel infancy stories of Jesus' birth. It is the same Jesus and the same birth, but with some details more prominent in one story than another. Each writer is interpreting the historical event. It is what writers and painters do.
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