The Nativity Story

I have to admit that I am greatly enjoying the idea of not having hundreds of pages of reading and dozens of pages of writing hanging over my head. Yeah, I know, I still have my Board questions to finish, but it’s not the last possible moment yet, and as it has been pointed out to me numerous times, that not only do I seem to work best under pressure, but the reality is, that I ONLY work under pressure. I’m, afraid that procrastination is a character flaw of mine, and I will try to work on that particular character issue, let’s say… tomorrow, or maybe next year.

As I have been thinking more about this idea of, no room at the inn, I was wondering how many people are aware, that this particular story is only found in the book of Luke. We are getting together on Saturday night out at Cana to see the movie “The Nativity Story.” That should be a great night and if you don’t already have plans for Saturday, come out and join us at 6:00 PM.

One interesting thing occurs when we think of the birth of the Christ child, we think of no room at the inn, we also think of shepherds in their field abiding, and the 3 Wisemen, (or wiseguys as my kids at church call them), But, what we don’t necessarily realize, is that when we think about the story of Christ, we are really putting together in our minds a compilation of all of the Gospels, in particular, for the birth story, the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, because Mark and John don’t mention the birth of Christ. I challenge you this Christmas season, to read both the birth story of Matthew and the birth story of Luke and compare them.

I have to say that I am a big fan of Luke for many reasons, but the number one reason is that I love how Luke focuses on the poor and marginalized in society. Since this is Advent, let me give you a couple of Christmas examples of what I am talking about, although we could spend a great deal of time discussing this one aspect of Luke alone.

In Luke, who were the first to be informed of the birth of the Christ child and who were Jesus’ first visitors?.... It was the shepherds who were first told of the birth by an angel of the Lord and then the birth was announced by a great company of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all whom he favors." These shepherds were the poorest and lowliest of society, outcast and marginalized, but they were the first to hear of the birth of Jesus. Who were Christ’s first visitors in Matthew? It was the Three Kings, or Magi, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

In Matthew, you find no mention of, “no room in the inn,” no mention of stables or animals or mangers or shepherds, or heavenly hosts of Angels. And, in Luke you find no references to Magi, gold, frankincense or myrrh.

Another interesting aspect of Luke’s telling of the story is about what happened on the eighth day after the birth:

After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, "Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord"), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, "a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons."

Mary and Joseph were following the Law of Moses which is found in Leviticus 12:6,8

When the days of her purification are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. If she cannot afford a sheep, she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement on her behalf, and she shall be clean. (Leviticus 12:6,8)

According to Leviticus, Mary and Joseph made the offering of the poor. The traditional offering would have been to sacrifice a lamb.

One last thought to leave you with regarding Luke’s affinity to the poor, although there are many more examples. In the Beatitudes of Matthew, we find the words, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Luke simply says, blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

This subtle difference once again points out that, to Luke, it is important to lift up the poor, whereas Matthew has a different focus.

Our Scriptures are so incredibly rich, we could spend one hundred lifetimes and only scratch the surface of the lessons contained within its pages. This Christmas season, I encourage you to deepen your faith, read again these wonderful scriptures, with new, fresh eyes. And, understand that we are called to reach out to those who are in need and to help those who are weary sojourners in our midst, not only just during this holiday season, but all year long..

Blessings