Advent IV – George Yandell
As you heard the gospel reading, it sounded and felt most familiar, didn’t it? Nothing new here- Luke’s story has been adapted into millions of Christmas pageants over the centuries. Many of us have been in those pageants. Boys wearing bathrobes, girls with scarves draped over their heads. Baby Jesus in a straw-filled imitation manger.
Reading Luke’s birth narrative beside Matthew’s, a number of differences and features become clear:
Luke barely mentions Joseph- he is almost invisible. Mary is the central character. Women play much more prominent roles.
Elizabeth and her husband Zechariah are childless. She conceives a child late in life, John the Baptizer. As wonderful as her conception is, her role when she sees her relative Mary is that of a prophetess. She understands and celebrates Mary’s secret. She praises Mary, blessing her because of her child to come and because Mary responded with faith to the angel’s message. [Adapted from the New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, volume 2.]
Divine conceptions in the ancient world were fairly common- great figures were often spoken of this way- Caesar Augustus was called the son of the Divine Julius Caesar, thus Son of a God.
Gabriel was sent by God the Creator to Nazareth- a small Jewish settlement of @ 200-400 residents. It was atop an upward climb on winding footpaths. The slopes approaching Nazareth were ideal for growing grapes and olives. The dwellings were made of stacked fieldstones with thatched roofs. [This description from Excavating Jesus, Crossan and Reed, 2001, HarperCollins, pp. 32-34.] All of the other divine births were of people with wealth, stature. The birth of Jesus was not. His family was living under Roman occupation, way off the grid, in poverty.
Conception by human-divine interaction was accepted by most everyone in the 1st century- it was a cultural given. It was a mysterious affair. And it was the destiny of those born from those mysterious interactions to be world-shakers. So the songs and prophecies that developed after Jesus birth, death and resurrection told the truth.
As we now move into Christmastide, this is my prayer for us and all those across the globe who are now witnesses of Jesus’ birth: Let us be Elizabeths to our world- praise Mary, who said ‘yes’ to God’s angel- and let it be to us according to the Word of God.