Bible Text: Isaiah 7:10-16, Matthew 1:18-25 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
Gervase Phinn was a school inspector in North Yorkshire. As a result he attended many nativity plays back in the day and it inspired him to produce a book that calls to mind some of the innocence, hilarity and out right strange things that children say or do when acting out this holy story. For example he writes, “At the conclusion of one Nativity play, Mary and Joseph sat at the centre of a colourful tableau of kings, shepherds and animals. A group of little angels in white crepe paper and cardboard headbands with silver stars on the front stood on a raised platform at the back. As the teacher at the piano struck up with the introduction to “Away in a Manger” Mary rocked Baby Jesus [who was] a large pink doll with frizzy hair and eyes which opened and closed and the doll [was] of the talking variety. It started to cry and asked for its nappy to be changed. Mary shook it forcefully to quiet it which only resulted in the doll repeatedly crying and demanding to be changed. Mary in desperation pushed the doll roughly into Joseph’s hands. “You have him,” she said. “He won’t shut up!” The small boy playing Joseph looked at a loss at what to do as the doll continued to cry and demand to be changed. He shook the doll so forcefully that the head became detached from the body and bounced down the stage just as the angels got to the line in the carol, “The Little Lord Jesus lay down his sweet head.””
The story of Jesus’ birth is often played out in such an innocent way that we sometimes forget the true challenges that faced this young couple. We also tend to forget that this story really is about children. While we don’t know exactly the ages of Mary and Joseph we can presume based on the predominant culture that Mary at least was not very old. We also have to understand that within the Jewish traditions of marriage at the time there were three important steps- and this is what I alluded to in the introduction to Scripture. There was the engagement which would normally take place when the couple were still young children. In fact, the minute that Mary was born it was quite possible that an agreement was made between her parents and Joseph’s. Or it might have happened as they grew up together in Nazareth. Then as they grew into young adults there would come the time for the betrothal which was usually about a year. Throughout this one year the couple is known as husband and wife but they do not yet have marital rights or duties. Meaning that they would state their intent on getting married but would not have any marital relations. It is at this time, after the engagement and before the betrothal, that if either one of them were unwilling to get married they could back out- however, for a betrothal to end it requires the couple to either get married or go through divorce proceedings. This is why it says that Joseph planned to divorce Mary- despite the fact that they were not officially married yet. The final step, the marriage, is the time when the couple would see their engagement and betrothal vows being completed. It is important and relevant that Joseph heard the news that Mary was pregnant while they were betrothed and about to be married.
The pregnancy, of course, catches Joseph off guard- it would also have been an offence punishable by death. According to Deut. 22, “If there is a young woman, a virgin already engaged to be married, and a man meets her in the town and lies with her, you shall bring both of them to the gate of the town and stone them to death.” Mary could very well have be tried publicly and executed. But Joseph does not want that kind of scandal or blood on his hands and he resolves to end it quietly with a divorce.
This past weekend we had a church filled with beautiful, diverse, and peaceful displays of the birth story of Jesus and I am in awe of all those who worked together to provide this gift to the community. There were elaborate ones with intricate detail, simple ones with just a hint of flare, colourful ones, monotone ones, all kinds and most displayed a serenity for both Mary and Joseph and a sleeping baby. There was one, the one that was featured in the Record, that really spoke to me. It came from Peru and Mary, Joseph and Jesus are sitting on top of a crowded bus, you probably saw it. Of course they are sitting on the bus because there is no room inside it. While it is not a typical scene it might be closer to the truth. It is a sweet little display but what one can only imagine is the smell of all those bodies, noise from all the chaos, the sight of all the people and remember that this is not a cute little story but a story of surprise, pain, fear, and challenge.
It is at this moment when Joseph plans on divorcing Mary that an angel appears and states that Mary’s pregnancy is not the work of infidelities but the Holy Spirit. We didn’t read it but in the verses before our passage it is simply a loooong list of names. These names are arranged into sets of 14, which being a multiple of seven, means they are demonstrating something important. The entire genealogy is shared to demonstrate Joseph comes from David’s line and that Jesus is a pretty important person. In fact, this isn’t a new concept there were many royal lines within the ancient world that would use this tactic of listing all the relatives when wanting to claim that their king was an important person. By the way, there are 32 other stories within various religious traditions that talk about a virgin giving birth, including the Egyptian god Horus, the Hindu god Krishna, even one of the Aztec gods has a virgin birth story. So, there’s a part of me that thinks the virginity of Mary is not what is in question but rather the response from Joseph and the vision of the angel.
We don’t really spend much time on Joseph throughout the Gospels. He’s not at the wedding when Jesus first performs a miracle and he’s not even mentioned during Jesus’ trial and crucifixion. However, Joseph is a model for all of us- all of us who encounter this story of Jesus being born to save us. Theologian Ron Allen says, “ Joseph was face to face with an unlikely manifestation of the Realm of God. Matthew wants those who encounter this message and this movement to do as Joseph did: To believe the message is of God and to become part of its movement.” Jesus’ birth is remarkable because in the midst of this fear, surprise, pain and challenge he is also GOD WITH US.
When Isaiah shared his oracle with King Ahaz he did so to reassure him that despite this major threat that God intended on being with them. While there was much fear and anxiety about the Assyrian power and coming oppression, the name Emmanuel- God with us- signalled that the community could survive this, that they would live through this massive change and challenge and would be able to believe that God was with them.
Joseph’s story is this same story only on an individual’s level. The holy family is part of the crowd- in fact they are pushed to the fringes ending up in a stable or on top of a bus. What if, Jesus never stopped crying? This is about two young adults facing the challenges of raising children. As with any baby it can seem like the challenges will never stop, that chaos reigns, but the story of Jesus’ birth- of this one miracle in amongst the chaos- reminds us to remain faithful even in the face of challenge because God reigns and God is with us. Amen