Think of Christmas from Joseph and Mary’s point of view. An unmarried couple, Mary is 14 and Joseph is a lot older. He works as a carpenter; they are struggling to survive. When Joseph hears the news of his fiancée being pregnant he nearly splits up with Mary. But God intervenes.
Then Caesar Augustus, the roman emperor, tells everyone to head back to their home town. This isn’t just a road trip. Joseph has to pay taxes. Christmas has always been expensive, even the first Christmas. They travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, probably on a borrowed donkey, though no where in the Bible does it say donkey. It wouldn’t have been a smooth 60 mile journey. Over hills and on tiny trails, 60 miles would have felt much longer.
Jesus, hope of the nations, LORD, the King, was born in a pig sty (not your bedroom), or possibly a hole in the wall (not the kind you get money from), a cave.
The shepherds left their sheep on the hillside; the cutesy animals were added by a guy call Francis of Assisi, about 1200 years later.
The Wise Men, whoever they were, were a bit late in arriving. There were more than 3 and they weren’t kings. Jesus could have been two by the time they got there. Joseph, Mary and Jesus were living in a house.
The real Christmas story is a complex one. It’s God with us in a tiny baby, fighting the kings of the world from the day he was born.
If Jesus had never been born we wouldn’t understand ultimate love, hope and reconciliation. Without Jesus, Christmas would be about praising the gods of the S-U-N and calling the light to come back. But because of Jesus we celebrate family, giving and joy.
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