I have a quarrel with nativity scenes. St. Francis created the first Christmas crèche to encourage our devotion to Christ. He put real straw in a real manger and brought a real ox and donkey to a rocky crevice in the hillside. They illustrated his sermon on poverty and humility. In today’s nativity scenes, the straw doesn’t scratch, and the animals don’t smell. We feel nothing of the cold and uncertainty that surrounded the Holy Family.
During Advent, we eagerly anticipate the coming of Christ, but we don’t often consider what Christ was coming to. Our Advent observances should include an awareness of the dangers Jesus faced from the beginning.
I’m not sure if government regulations required Mary to accompany Joseph to Bethlehem or if she chose to go. Her untimely pregnancy undoubtedly generated gossip. Maybe she wanted to stay near the man who loved her. It was an 80-mile journey, taking perhaps a week, even with the help of a donkey. It wouldn’t be easy for a woman nine months pregnant. The way lay through Samaria, a region hostile to Israelites, so they probably had to sleep in the open. Once they arrived, Mary may have had only Joseph to help with her delivery. We can be certain she was exhausted and looked nothing like the serene Madonna in our crèches.
My nativity set includes several extra characters headed toward the barn, but I’m not sure that’s accurate. We know Bethlehem was very crowded that week. It’s just as likely that no one gave a thought to the new baby out back. The same was true at the Crucifixion, where Jesus was just one more troublemaker executed to keep the peace. Not one history of the era, outside the Bible, mentions Christ’s birth or death. Maybe I should put my crèche in a dark dusty corner to better reflect reality.
Some shepherds did come looking for Jesus. Younger sons usually had the job of taking the sheep to pasture and watching over them. But how many adults would believe a bunch of 12-year-olds reporting angels and a newborn king? For each person who embraces a miracle, a thousand dismiss it as a hoax or wishful thinking. Jesus would encounter that reaction throughout his life.
It’s not clear how long the family remained in Bethlehem. It took time for the Wise Men to find Jesus. At some point, an angel warned Joseph to take his family to safety in Egypt. Thus they joined the millions of refugees who have fled war or oppression. There are over 15 million of them around the world right now, most living in poverty without homes or citizenship. When we pray before the infant Jesus, we might remember them. We might even help with a donation.
The Holy Family escaped, but the Holy Innocents did not. Matthew’s Gospel says all the boys under the age of two in Bethlehem were killed. The event is an example of why the Jews desperately wanted a savior. It also helps explain why they found Jesus an unsatisfactory messiah. He was supposed to end their suffering, preferably by killing the Romans and their collaborators. The Magi gave him royal gifts, but few Jews accepted Christ’s peaceable kingdom.
Advent calls us to contemplate Christ’s birth and also his return. Whenever he comes again, he’ll find the same human mixture of confusion and confidence, devotion and indifference, kindness and cruelty. When we contemplate the reality our crèches represent, we see how much today’s world resembles ancient Israel and how much we too need saving.
Kathleen welcomes comments. Send them to Kathleen Choi, 1706 Waianuenue Ave., Hilo, HI 96720, or e-mail: kathchoi@hawaii.rr.com.
