Now that all the hoopla that builds up to Christmas is over (quite
a contrast to the anticipatory mood of Advent in which we prepare to welcome
the child Jesus), we are ready to contemplate at leisure that wondrous
simplicity of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ birth in Matthew 1:18-25 and Luke
2:1-20. As we get closer to Epiphany (January 6) we can also appreciate the
Visit of the Magi in Matthew 2 (and the attendant tragedy of the Slaughter of
the Innocents) and Jesus’ circumcision and presentation in the Temple in Luke
2:21-40.
All sorts of imaginative accretions have attached themselves
to the nativity accounts in the Gospels that can distract us from their elegant
power. I suggest that we read each of the Gospel stories each day with a view
to only, exactly what is in the words of Matthew and Luke. Leave behind the
images of songs, paintings, videos, and church pageants. I will try to point
out something to focus on each day. I am not suggesting that imagination and
tradition are wrong, but believe the stories themselves speak eloquently.
Today, as you read, pay attention to the absence of animals
in the Gospel accounts, though they are conspicuous in popular imagination. No,
we are not told that Mary rode a donkey either to Bethlehem (Luke) or Egypt
(Matthew). That doesn’t necessarily mean she didn’t, but that is not in the
Gospels and seems unlikely to me. The shepherds were keeping their sheep in the
fields, but the Gospels do not say they brought them to Jesus. Perhaps some
sheep ate from the manger where Jesus lay, but the Gospels don’t say so. (Thinking
about the manger will be for another day.) Matthew does not indicate the Magi
brought camels, though Isaiah 60:6 does mention camels in a prophecy that gets
associated with the Magi because it names gold and frankincense, two of
the Magi’s gifts. If we are not distracted by imagined animals at Jesus’ birth,
what comes into focus?
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