DID YOU KNOW?

Before Jesus is born, an angel says the child is to be named Jesus. Who hears it in Matthew, and who in Luke?

The answer

Joseph in Matthew, Mary in Luke. In Matthew an angel tells Joseph in a dream, "you are to name him Jesus" (Matthew 1:21). In Luke the angel tells Mary, "you will name him Jesus" (Luke 1:31).

Why it’s interesting

It is one of the very few places where Matthew's and Luke's birth stories line up in wording. Only Matthew gives a reason for the name: "for he will save his people from their sins."

Scholarly consensus

Learn the Bible.

Not just the stories, but the history, authorship, and scholarship behind it.