Rectory Ramblingsā¦ Christmas 2023
Tuesday, 19 December 2023 16:32
Rectory Ramblings…
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1-2)
It’s over! The last of the mince pies have been eaten; the house is empty of house guests and quiet again; the decorations will soon be on their way back into the loft for the next eleven months; and after the January sales the shop shelves so recently full of Christmas stuff are empty and ready to be filled with Easter eggs! In the calm after the storm it is worth taking a moment to reflect once again on what the past month has really all been about. Why do we make such a fuss about the birth of one baby boy two thousand years ago?
I think there are three versions of the Christmas story, and only two of them are in the bible. Matthew’s Christmas story is written from Joseph’s perspective and features the wise men. Luke’s longer account is written from Mary’s perspective and features the shepherds. Then there is the third “official” nativity play version that we all know best of all. This is the version in which the shepherds and the three kings all arrive in the stable at the same time to worship the new born king. According to Luke the angels appeared to the shepherds on the night Jesus was born. Matthew only tells us that an unspecified number of wise men (not kings) brought three gifts, and it could have been anytime during the first two years of Jesus’s life!
That does not mean the nativity play version we all know and love is without value. The whole point is that Jesus’ birth is good news for everyone from every nation upon earth, both rich and poor alike. The Jewish people were expecting a saviour who would rescue them from the rest of the world but Jesus’s first worshippers were social outcasts and foreigners. The religious leaders of the day missed his arrival and the political leader at the time, Herod, wanted him killed. In the annual celebration of Baby Jesus’ birth we can sometimes forget he grew up, and that Christmas is only the opening scene of his story, Easter is the big finale in which 33 year old Jesus was put to death for daring to preach and demonstrate that to a loving God healing the sick, welcoming the outcast and stranger and feeding the hungry is more important than conforming to the religious and civil laws of the time.
Two thousand years later it is now up to us to spread the good news of his birth by following his example. So if your new year’s resolutions are already in the bin why not replace them with a new one: To do more in 2024 to help the hungry, outcast, homeless and sick, both close to home and in the wider world.
Revd Eddie