The Nativity Deception

So much deception that people believe as “truth”. This is posted with permission.

Christ’s Birth
(The following is taken from “Freedom From Sin: Do You Have It?” It is copyrighted, 2016.)

Bible Sketch

Let’s look at probably the most famous story in the Bible: the nativity. We’ve heard it since infancy, with pictures and life-size models exhibited all over the world during the Christmas season. Everyone knows the picture, especially us Christians. Our Sunday School kids act it out for us every Christmas, often giving us a good laugh when a little person does something unexpected.

Picture it in your mind:

1. There’s a manger of some sort
2. Baby Jesus is wrapped in cloth and lying in the manger
3. Joseph is standing nearby, looking at the infant
4. Mary kneels or sits close by, and is also looking at the infant
5. There’s livestock
6. Mary’s donkey is somewhere to be seen
7. There’s three wise men
8. They have three gifts for the infant
9. Their camels are often in the scene
10. At least one angel is up in the night sky
11. The angels blow on trumpets, or are singing
12. A few shepherds are there
13. At least one shepherd has a lamb in his arms or over his shoulders, and three’s some sheep around
14. There’s a really cool star over it all

Did I miss anything? I didn’t add any extras, but most of it’s wrong. Let’s look at the Scriptural data on it, which is in Matthew 1:18─2:23, and Luke 2:1─24. Matthew gives the wise men scene, and Luke gives the nativity scene. We will keep score as we compare our nativity scene to the Scriptures:

A. There’s a manger of some sort. That matches #1, giving us 1/1.
B. Baby Jesus is wrapped in cloth and lying in the manger. That matches #2, so 2/2.
C. It’s likely that Joseph was there. That fits #3, so 3/3.
D. Mary was there. That fits #4. That’s 4/4 so far, which is good. (Kind of hard to be wrong on those points, isn’t it?)
E. The Bible doesn’t say there was livestock there. Oops. Myth #1, so we’re down to four out of five, but that’s not bad, is it?
F. The account doesn’t say anything about Mary riding anything, let alone a donkey. Myth #2. (4/6 so for.)
G. The wise men met the young child in a house, not at a manger: myth # 3. (4/7)
H. Jesus was a young child when the wise men saw him: he wasn’t an infant. Myth #4. (4/8)
I. The Bible doesn’t say how many wise men there were. Myth #5. (4/9 so for.)
J. They had three materials or substances that the gifts consisted of. We don’t know how many gifts they gave or how many wise men there were. Myth #6. (4/10)
K. The wise men’s camels. We assume they had camels. (That’s 4/11.)
L. There wasn’t an angel at the nativity scene. They went back to heaven after telling the shepherds out in the fields. Myth #8. (That’s 4/12.)
M. Angel(s) with trumpet. The Bible says nothing about angels having trumpets. The Bible says they were praising God, not blowing trumpets. Myth #9. (4/13)
N. The shepherds saw the infant in the manger. Whew. It’s good to get another one right. (5/14)
O. The shepherds left their flocks. They didn’t bring sheep along, but we always have part of the flock in the scene, such as a shepherd holding a lamb. Myth #10. (5/15)
P. The star stopped over a house, not a manger. Myth #11. (That’s only 5/16.)

The nativity scene ends there. We mix the wise men scene with the nativity scene, and we need to quit doing that. Let’s look at the Scriptural data for the wise men scene:

1. Wise men in the East saw a new star
2. They traveled to Israel by following the star
3. When they got to Jerusalem, they inquired of Herod where the new king was
4. Herod was disturbed (and all Jerusalem with him)
5. The wise men left Herod to go find the child
6. They rejoiced when they saw the star again
7. They followed the star again
8. The star stopped over a house, not a manger
9. The house was in Bethlehem
10. The wise men worshipped the young child in a house
11. They gave gifts that consisted of three different things or substances

Bible Lesson

We don’t even get a third of the story right.

In probably the most famous Bible story in the whole world, we are woefully inept. We have attached many myths to it and aren’t anywhere close to right about it—yet insist we are spiritually wise. We deny the words of Christ about being free indeed from sin; we say Paul was bi-polar and denied the whole of Romans with just a few verses in chapter seven; and we use an event in Peter’s life for determining doctrinal truth that defies what Christ said must be true.
When the wise men arrived and worshiped the young Christ child, Jesus could very well have been toddling around on cute, pudgy little feet. Do the math: count to two.

When the wise men came knocking, it’s very possible that Mary was pregnant by Joseph. We know Joseph and Mary had sex after Jesus was born, because the Bible says so. (See Matthew 1:25; cf Matthew 1:18.) Jesus had younger siblings, and the Bible says so. (See Matthew 12:46; 13:55; Mark 3:31; Luke 8:19; John 2:12; John 7:3,5,10; Acts 1:14.) They had to start coming along sooner or later, didn’t they?

Let’s rattle the hawk cage a bit more with God’s Word: Mary could have been nursing her and Joseph’s first child when the wise men came and worshipped Jesus. We have an imaginary, pie-in-the-sky Christianity that in many of its beliefs, doesn’t fit the parameters of God’s Word… let alone see the actual possibilities it’s parameters constrain us with.

Conclusion
We read, but read not. We see, but see not. We hear, but hear not. Why? We listen to others, and we don’t spend many hours every week in the Bible itself. That’s why we don’t believe Christ when he said that if we know the truth, we will be free indeed from sin.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:34─36).

Christ did not lie: if you know the truth, you shall be free indeed from sin!