The Birth of Jesus
Luke 2:1-7
We
all know that the focus of Christmas, the very reason for our
celebration, is that scene which we can picture in our mind’s eye. Mary
and Joseph are bending over the manger gazing at their new-born son
Jesus. But
in telling the story Luke has us look somewhere else first:
In
those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world
should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken
when Qurinius was governor of Syria.
A
first sight Luke is merely being what he claims to be, a
careful, diligent and
thorough
historian. He
has located the birth of Jesus, measured against other known
historical events. The
birth of Jesus does take place at a particular time. And
to be sure it takes place in a particular place, as Luke points out,
Bethlehem. This
is an event that happens in our world. And
it occurs within the sequence of events that make up our history. But
Luke is actually making a stronger assertion. He
is claiming that this is the moment that defines history. This
is the moment against which all other history is measured against. 525
years after the event, a monk called Dionysius Exiguus counted back
to the birth of Christ. And
he set his calendar according to that date, calling it Anno Domini. The
system was popularised for the use of historians by none other than
St Bede. Now
all of history is dated according to the event of Christ’s both. An
acknowledgement, in most cases now inadvertent, that the event of
Jesus’s birth is the event which determines history.
Neither
Augustus nor Quirinius know anything about God. Who
God is and what God wants and what God might do, does not form any
part of their thinking. They
do what they do for their own reasons. Augustus
wants to know how many people their are under his power. He
arranges for census so that he can control and tax his empire more
effectively. Qurinius
has his own role in the Empire’s administration, which at this
point is to make sure the count is made in his corner of that Empire.
His corner of the Empire happens to include Nazareth and Bethlehem. Neither
of them have any thought for the individual lives which their
decisions disrupt. They
know nothing of Mary and Joseph or anyone like them. They
are the kind of people who believe they have the power to make and
shape history.
And
yet what they determined, the history they shaped for their own
reasons, moves Mary and Joseph to exactly the right place at exactly
the right time. It
is in Bethlehem that the moment arose:
While
they were there the time came for her to deliver her child.
Luke
isn't the one to draw attention to it, but we know that this is
exactly where the Messiah should be born. In spite
of themselves Augustus and Quirinius become agents of God’s will. God
accomplishes his purpose through them. Whilst
men like Emperors and Governor may think they make and shape the
world, that it is their decisions and their actions which determine
history, the truth is, God is working his purpose out. Time
and history belong to God. And
he uses them to bring us to himself.
Luke
the historian begins
by
pointing to the place historians look, to the great and the powerful But
we know his story has another focus. In
an abrupt turn about and a sharp contrast he draws our attention to
an ordinary man, Joseph. From
a town is so little account that someone could say of it “nothing
good came from there”, Nazareth. And
he indicates another unimpressive locality, though with symbolic
meaning for some: Bethlehem. And
he shows us the man’s pregnant fiancee Mary. What
we see is that God works his purpose out, but
does so, not with the great and powerful, but among the lowest and
least. God
acts not at the centre but on the margins.
In
many ways this year has been unique. What
has happened to us and to the world is like nothing that has happen
before in living memory. Yet
some things have remained unchanged. The
assumption has remained that the powerful, particularly those leading
governments are those ones who will determine the course of events. It
has been assumed that our rulers and only they are in control and
only they can lead us out of this and the other crises we are
experiencing. And
despite all the ways this year has been different, one thing has
remained the same. The
rich have continued to get richer, even as the majority have been
forced to struggle economically. In
a broader perspective this year has just looked like that ordinary
history which Luke begins by pointing us to. If however we wanted to see God working his purpose out we would have to look in a quite different direction.
Perhaps
the most touching scene in the story is one that isn't recalled in
the Bible. We
fill a gap in the narrative with our imaginations. It
is Joseph and Mary’s arrival in Bethlehem where they go from door to door and find there is
no room for them in any inn. This
places Mary, who is already marginalised, even further to the edge. She
is compelled to have her child where the animals feed:
And
she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in strips of
cloth and
Which
draws our attention to an underlying theme of the whole gospel and of
human existence. It
forces us to recognise a feature of history as it is conventionally
told. There
is a lack of space for God. It
is a theme that will find its climax at the other end of the story,
with the crucifixion. When
there is so little room for God that some try to force God out of the
world altogether. Yet
this is also the central point of the Christmas story. God
is making a space for himself amongst us. God is present at the bottom and on the margins. God
becomes part of our world and our history. God
becomes like us, so that we might become like him.
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment