Jesus of Nazareth: The Infancy Narratives

The third and shortest volume of Benedict XVI's study of Jesus, published in 2012 as the prologue to the other two; the English translation was published by Image Books in November 2012. A foreword, four chapters and an epilogue read the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke: the two genealogies, which place Jesus in history and mark a new beginning; the annunciations to Zechariah and to Mary, where Mary's free assent opens the history of salvation; the birth at Bethlehem; the Magi and the flight into Egypt; and, in the epilogue, the twelve-year-old Jesus in the Temple. He presents these stories as events of continuing significance, touching on the virginal conception, the limits of political power and human freedom.