The Real Story

"While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.  She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn"(Luke 2:6-7 NIV).

During this time of year, many churches put on "living nativities", scenes of the birth of Jesus using real people.  Typically, those portraying Joseph and Mary look very relaxed and joyful, without a care in the world.  From the written record, I cannot imagine that is a correct portrayal of them. They were a very young couple who for the past nine months had been trying to explain how Mary had become pregnant.  They had just ended a long journey from Nazareth (imagine riding on a donkey in desert conditions when you are nine months pregnant!) to Bethlehem, upon which they found no soft beds awaiting them.  To top it off, they just became parents to "the Son of the Most High" whose kingdom would never end.  It is more likely that Joseph and Mary were exhausted and bewildered, and perhaps quite frightened about where they found themselves.

It is not surprising, however, that the events of the Nativity are often, to use a very old phrase, "gussied up."  Just as we apply make-up to ourselves to make us look better than we really look, we often try to make events in the Scriptures look a lot better than they were.  Take the Crucifixion for example.  Most portrayals of this, with the exception of Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ”, are very tame compared to the reality of it.  Jesus had been so badly beaten by the Roman soldiers that he was barely recognizable; yet most paintings present a very tidy (relatively speaking) Jesus on the cross.  The cross itself was an instrument of execution, comprised of two pieces of rough timber; yet what we wear around our necks and hang on the walls of our churches is quite different.  Our renditions of the cross indeed look lovely.

As we celebrate the coming of our Lord into the world, it is befitting of the event to remember it as it was, not as we would like it to be or as we have often been told it was.  For in doing so, we will recognize and honor the great sacrifices made on our behalf, as well as seeing the humanness of the characters.  During this season of celebration, take time to read the accounts of the birth of Jesus in Matthew (1:18-2:23) and Luke (1:5-2:39) with objective eyes.  Read them as if for the first time and allow the pictures of the events to unfold in your mind.  For our faith is not one based on myth, but on actual history, which is lived out on the pages of Scripture.

© Jim Musser 2012