If you hadn’t noticed it’s that time of year again. The trees are up, decorations are everywhere and all over the world people are buying presents for their loved ones. In amongst the parties, food and festivities, there’s a story that we like to tell. Whether we are religious or not, whether the story is the centre of everything we believe or just a fairytale, we tell the story of the birth of a child some two thousand years ago. The child who would grow up to become one of the most famous figures in history, a rabbi named Jesus, who came to bring hope to the world.
Two thousand years ago, Bethlehem had a problem with immigration. The Romans had decided to take a census, which meant that everybody had to go back to their home town to register. Thousands of people came to the city from all over Israel and the surrounding areas. Amongst those travelling to Bethlehem was a man named Joseph and his wife. Although Joseph’s family line originated in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary now lived in a town called Nazareth about 65 miles north. The journey would have been tough, Mary was heavily pregnant and all they had to aid them on the journey was a single donkey, but despite the problems, they made it. In some ways it was probably a relief for Joseph, his wife, Mary, had mysteriously got pregnant sometime before the wedding. At the time this was unheard of, and a woman’s virginity was directly linked to her worth. If a woman fell pregnant outside of marriage there was little hope for her that anyone would marry her, let alone a man who wasn’t the father. It was safe to say that the circumstances of their marriage were the talk of the town. Mary was probably extremely stressed as well, travelling while pregnant was stressful enough in itself, but add to that the echoes of the gossip against her still ringing in her ears and you can imagine just how hopeless she was feeling.
Once the couple made it to Bethlehem, they encountered yet another issue in their already problematic journey. Given Nazareth’s less than honourable reputation and the huge influx of people migrating for the census, they struggled to find anywhere to stay. Innkeeper after innkeeper turned them away and even Joseph’s family claimed they had no room for them. Whether it was because of their nationality, their less than ideal situation or simply the fact that Bethlehem was rammed, they had no idea. They had almost lost all hope when eventually they found a place to sleep, a small barn amongst the animals, they may have been homeless, but at least they were warm in time for Mary’s imminent labour.
Around the same time there was a group of shepherds in the fields. They didn’t need to worry about the census, the Roman authorities saw them as hopeless, worth little more than the sheep that they cared for. Shepherds were the bottom of the social pile, foul mouthed, criminal and dirty, if you knew what was good for you then you kept well away. These shepherds were going about their business, tending the fields when they were interrupted by a stranger. This stranger, looked nothing like anyone they’d ever seen before and understandably so, it was an angel. The shepherds were terrified, worried for their lives that this angelic being had come to condemn them. The Angel however, reassured them telling them “fear not!” and went on to tell them that they were invited to witness the birth of the messiah. Despite their lack of education and having never stepped foot in the temple, the shepherds had heard about the messiah that was coming. They had heard that a saviour was coming to save the Jewish people from the Roman authorities, they knew that when the messiah came it would be a big deal, but why would they be invited? They were nobodies, criminals, the bottom of the pile. Still, they weren’t going to pass up an opportunity like this, if they could get close to this saviour, this child that could go on to save their nation, at least it would be a story they could tell their grandkids.
Settling into their first night in the barn, Mary is woken suddenly as her waters break, she was having the baby. This wasn’t the circumstances she expected to be in when giving birth to her firstborn. Miles away from her family, stuck in a barn on the outskirts of a strange town and totally shamed by the circumstances of her conception; nine months ago she would never have expected any of this. A young girl preparing to marry the man to which she was pledged, she was awoken in the middle of the night by an Angel. Afraid at first thinking that this was an incredibly strange dream, the Angel told her that she was pregnant with a son. She argued with the Angel telling him that this was impossible, she was unmarried and a virgin at that, the Angel must have the wrong house. But the Angel insisted, she was pregnant not by a man, but by God and she had been chosen to bear the messiah. Slightly shocked and confused by the whole thing, she told her soon to be husband, Joseph and he did not take it well. Worried about what might happen and whether there was any hope for her marriage, Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth for a few months to get away from the gossip. Once she returned, thankfully Joseph had received his own visit from the Angel and they both agreed to try to make it work. This roller coaster of a journey had lead her here, to a barn on the edge of a strange city, giving birth to a baby that would go on to change the world.
I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the authors of the gospels portrayed the birth of Jesus in this way. The Jewish people had been waiting for the messiah for hundreds of years. Throughout the Old Testament there were prophecies of someone who would come to save them from oppression, a King who was the descendant of King David himself who would lead them as a nation. Yet the birth of Jesus is far from glamorous. The child was not born in a palace, but a barn amongst the animals. The witnesses to the birth were not kings and priests and the upper class, but a group of shepherds, literally the lowest of the low. This child would go on to have a ministry which focused on the last, the least and the lost. Rather than spending his time with the religious officials, the leaders, the rulers; he spent his time with the criminal, with the widow, the orphan and with the broken. The theme not just of his birth, but his whole life, was hope, geared towards the people the society pushed out, the forgotten, the minority, the broken.
The message of Christmas is sometimes lost in all the festivities. With all the presents, parties and prosecco, we sometimes miss that the real meaning of this season is hope. Hope for the shepherd, forgotten in the fields, the very bottom of the pile. Hope for the refugee, forced out of their home town, travelling for weeks to find themselves with no place to sleep. Hope for the girl, judged and shunned from society, with her whole world changed in an instant.
The child that was born 2000 years ago, continues to bring hope to the lives of so many people. Whether you identify as a Christian who’s life centres around Jesus’ life. Or you think the whole story is just a fairy tale, a myth that has no historical significance whatsoever. Think about where you can bring hope this Christmas. Whether it’s the homeless man you pass every morning on your way to work, whether it’s your neighbour, your friend or your relative who has had a particularly difficult year. Where can you bring hope this Christmas?
Please feel free to comment or share the post using the links below, and don’t forget to sign up to receive my posts via email here!
