Why are Matthew’s and Luke’s Nativity accounts so strikingly different?

They agree Jesus was born to a virgin in Bethlehem, and little else

A nativity scene conflating the accounts of Matthew and Luke. Photo by Al Elmes; licensed by Unsplash.

When we see crèches or other portrayals of the birth of Jesus, we often think of a solitary story beginning with Mary and Joseph being visited by angels and culminating in a stable where the newborn baby is visited by shepherds and magi. But it doesn’t…