i am not going to play around the edges regarding the validity of the accounts of christs birth or why it was added much later or even if it is truth or necessary for justification jesus deity. what i want to play around with is the naivety we have covered ourselves in by never really thinking through some of the inconsistencies that DO make a difference.
point 1
where did mary and joseph stay in Bethlehem?
if joseph was returning to his home town, as we are told he had to to comply with the census conditions, surely there would have been family he could have stayed with...this being the case perhaps it was a case of too many family in town at the one time. i read recently in a book a version of the christmas story that challenged me where it was... a cousins or an aunts or a parents home where the men were sent outside so the family women could care for the imminent birth. when suitably cleaned up after the birth the men ushered back in to the crowded house where the practical and clever women had converted a manger into a temporary crib. thoughts?
point 2
wise magi/kings/men and their gifts
the significance of the three gifts is lost in a culture where the expectation is to give a gift you think the receiver may want or need. no longer do we have strict rules governing appropriateness and relevance of gifts, though there are some remains i have noticed with royalty and wedding anniversaries. remember the Magi were seeking a 'king' and the tradition would have been to offer three gifts. one of annointing (myrrh richly scented oil), one of prosperity (gold) and one for in death (francincense burnt to cover the smell of the dead body before burial). if each was required to bring the 3 gifts how many wise people were there and is it even important?
point 3
the visiting angel and the forgetful parents
when jesus is an older child he visits with all the family the temple. (side note: the one solitary life poem misses this story and other times jesus visits the temple when it says jesus never visited a major city) when he becomes lost his parents come seeking him and he says, on them finding him, did you not know i would be in my father's house and they were confused. does this mean the visit from gabriel, to mary and in joseph's dreams, was so inconsequential they could forget they were raising the son of god?
point 4
the baby story mythology
christmas, and by default it seems christianity, for a large part is seen as a baby story. this leqads to my preference i guess for the gospel of john. in the beginning was the word... the word entered the world as flesh so that in about 30 years he could spend 3 years sharing the good news of god's great love.
please do not hear me saying christmas is unimportant, because i would rather you heard me say christmas is important enough to dig into and pull apart to find the 'reason for the season' for yourself. god's gift is personal so to make anything other than a personal response seems to me falling short.
christmas is worth wrestling with, as is easter, as is any exploration of faith that leads you to 'being all you can be rather than half of what you could be'.
creator created create
i believe we were all made in god's image as creative vibrant beings. living as anything less or living someone elses faith seems to me to limit the potentiality of creation.
may your joy overflow and your sense of hope be revived in some way this christmas. even if it comes at the expense of comfortable naive christmas fairytales
god bless
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