Saint Stefanos (Stephen), the blessed First-Martyr and Archdeacon, was a Hebrew and disciple of Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law. He was first among the Seven Deacons established in Jerusalem by the Holy Apostles.

After the Wise Men left Bethlehem, the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and instructed him to flee to Egypt with the newborn Babe, Jesus Christ, and His Mother, the Most Pure Virgin Mary. The Angel told Joseph to remain in that country until he received the command to return, for Herod intended to "seek the young Child, to destroy Him (St. Matthew Chapter 2). Joseph arose, and "took the young Child and His Mother by night, and departed into Egypt," but before leaving the country, he fulfilled in the Temple of Solomon everything commanded by the Law of the Lord; for the days of the purification of the immaculate and blameless Mother of God were drawing to an end.

The Gospels of Saints Matthew and Luke give the genealogies of Joseph: Saint Matthew, in the opening passage of the Gospel, and Saint Luke, after the story of the Baptism. The two lists differ, and various explanations have been given for the discrepancies. Originally written in Aramaic (Hebrew dialect) to the Synagogue community, the Evangelist Matthew's list descends from Abraham, "father of believers," at the origin of the Old Covenant (Testament), to Jesus, Author of the New Covenant (Testament).

In Latin tradition dating from the 11th century, (from a Greek manuscript) their names are given as Gaspar (or Caspar/Jasper), Melchior and Balthasar. According to one tradition, the Magi were baptized by the holy Apostle Thomas and became bishops. The Church commemorates the Magi as Saints; the Orthodox feast day of the Magi is December 25.

There are numerous variations of the names of the Magi in Greek, but the most common variations are for the name Gaspar which in Greek is Γιάσπερος (Iasperos) which is Anglicized as Jasper.

Saint Andrew of Crete comments, "Of Thee, O Mary, all interpreters of the Spirit sang." Nowhere in the divinely inspired Scripture can one look without seeing some allusion to her. "Rejoice, Mediatress of the Law and of grace, seal of the Old and New Testaments, clear fulfillment of the whole of prophecy, of the Truth of Holy Scripture inspired by God, the Living and Most Pure Book of God and the Logos/Word in which, without voice or writing, the Writer Himself, God and Logos/Word, is everyday read" (Saint Andrew of Crete, Homily IV). Saint Gregory Palamas thought that "all divinely inspired Scripture was written because of the Virgin who brought forth God Incarnate (Saint Gregory Palamas (+ 1296-1359), Archbishop of Thessaloniki (1347).

At the Savior's Nativity, the celestial herald declared to the shepherds, "Unto you is born this day a Savior, and this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the Babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger" (St. Luke, Ch. 2). Perhaps someone may think that this is no great sign, for every new-born child is bound in swaddling. If the Angel, it could be said, had wished to prove to the shepherds that it was indeed Christ that had been born, he might have revealed some unusual portent, like the star that appeared to the Magi in the East, or the maiden in the sun, holding a child, which the sybil showed Augustus.