The birth of Jesus Christ is described differently among the four Gospels. Mark makes no reference to it or gives any specifics about it, simply jumping in at the first chapter with Jesus’ public ministry. His account starts with the Savior’s baptism by John in the Jordan River, and then returning from His temptations in the wilderness, preaching the same message as John: “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” It’s to Matthew and Luke that we look for our Christmas Scripture readings. Matthew gives us Jesus’ genealogy through the line of Matthew, and then the worship of the Magi. Luke is more thorough with the four nativity songs, the annunciations, shepherds, and manger scenes, followed by His genealogy through the line of Mary.
But when we come to the Gospel of John, we have something startlingly different, yet also widely appreciated in the scripture readings for Christmas services of our churches. Matthew, Mark, and Luke probably wrote 60 years after Jesus’ birth. John, on the other hand, most likely wrote more than 90 years after those events of the incarnation. His account of the birth of Jesus goes back into eternity, long before Bethlehem! “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In chapter one, and throughout his Gospel, the Holy Spirit has given us through John a more mature theological account of what all this meant.