By Eric D. Huntsman Associate Professor of Ancient Scripture, Brigham Young University
Eric D. Huntsman, “Glad Tidings of Great Joy,” Ensign, Dec 2010, 52–57
There are still things we can learn about this most familiar of all scriptural stories.
As we approach the Christmas season, the familiar picture of the stable scene returns to our hearts like an old friend. However, the scene we often depict in our Christmas crèches is a composite of two different biblical accounts, those of Matthew and Luke, which are often blended with as many elements arising from tradition and imagination as from scripture.
The narratives of Matthew 1–2 and Luke 1–2 provide two different, but complementary, views of the Christmas story. Both accounts testify of the same basic truths: the coming of Jesus Christ into the world was long-prophesied, His mother was a pure and chosen vessel, His conception was divine, and His birth was miraculous.
However, the great significance of the Lord’s coming lies in what he would accomplish at the end of His mortal life. Book of Mormon prophecies confirm these vital truths, strengthening our testimony of who Jesus was and helping us realize that glad tidings of great joy had as much to do with what He came to do.