THE UNTOLD STORY – PART ONE

For the next few Sundays I would like to take us on a journey of exploration looking at the background of the story we know so well as The First Christmas.

We are told that Jesus was to be born in Bethlehem.  This was the place from which the Messiah would come. The prophets had foretold it.  But Joseph and Mary were living in Nazareth and had no intention of journeying to Bethlehem just to have a baby.  Yet it came into the mind of Caesar Augustus to conduct a census in the land.  In those days you didn’t simply fill in a form in the town where you lived, you would travel back to your hometown and register there with your family.  It seems like a strange practice but because of this custom, we find Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem – even though it was probably not advisable for Mary to travel.  Bethlehem lies in the Judean hills six miles southwest of Jerusalem.  It was known as the city of David the ancient king of Judah but other than that, it was a sleepy little town not considered worthy of visiting.

But visit it they did.  Joseph duly registered himself and Mary as well as the newborn baby before departing for home.  In the record, they would appear as:  Joseph Ben-Jacob, carpenter; Mary Bath-Joachim, his wife; Yeshua or Jesus, first-born son.

Caesar Augustus died while Jesus was still an apprentice in his father’s carpentry shop.   At the time of his death, the world would still be counting years according to the Roman calendar and so, he died in the year 767 A.U.C. (ab urbe condita, “from the beginning of the city”) which would come to be known as AD 14.   Caesar would no doubt be astounded that the world would come to mark time from the birth of this carpenter’s son and would probably be even more amazed that the time he knew as the great festival of Saturnalia would become the celebration of this new King – one whose kingdom was not of this world and yet encompassed the whole of creation.

Now let us step back from the story in Bethlehem and look at that place where Joseph and Mary had chosen to live and work.  Nazareth is usually the forgotten town in the Christmas story, but this is where it all began.  The Galilean village was indeed a very forgettable place in the ancient times.  There is no mention of Nazareth in the Old Testament and later on one of Jesus’ future disciples would sneer,”Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  (Jn 1:46)

Nestled in one of the hills of the lower Galilee overlooking the triangular Plain of Esdraelon, Nazareth was an insignificant village far smaller than the present bustling city.  Its secluded inhabitants had to travel northward over four miles of back roads to get to Sepphoris in order to purchase the many items not available in Nazareth.

The Gospels tell us very little about Joseph, but if he resembled the pious, hardworking class of his Jewish colleagues in Galilee, he would not have thought of marriage until he was at least 25 years old.  On the other hand, it was customary for girls to marry shortly after puberty. Mary was probably about 14 or 15 when she caught the eye of Joseph.   We do not know whether they fell in love at first sight but one day Joseph asked his parents if he could marry that village girl who was his distant relative.  Both families shared a distant relation in King David.  And while not born in the line that would become kings by blood, they did carry the genes of David in their family tree.  And so, they were – distant though it might have been – descendants of David.

Unlike so many marriages today, the whole process of engagement and marriage was surrounded with much importance.  Once the decision was made that a marriage would take place, a covenant would exist between not only the couple but the families as well.  No doubt this may be the origin of that well known belief that when you marry, you marry the family as well. The parents would pronounce a formal benediction over the couple as they tasted a cup of wine together.  This marked their legal betrothal and it was far more binding than any modern engagement.  From this point on, Mary was considered to be Joseph’s wife.  And while couples who were formally engaged could have sexual relations while remaining in their parents’ homes, it is clear that Joseph and Mary chose to abstain and wait until the time of their wedding.

It is during this time between her betrothal and the wedding that Mary was visited by the angel Gabriel who announced that she would conceive and bear a son and she would call him Jesus.  Many modern scholars would have us throw out this story as pure fiction believing that a visit from angels would have scared Mary out of her wits.  But it is often forgotten that angelic visits were not uncommon and that people like Mary would perhaps find the message alarming but not the messenger.

The fact that Mary accepts the message of the angel and agrees to this request is testimony to the great respect that she had for God.  If God himself had chosen her for this special event, then it was for her to accept his decision and allow herself to be the servant of the Lord.

It is not clear when Joseph found out about the coming event, but it is recorded that he was quite conflicted.  No doubt any man would be filled with questions, concerns, and possibly even anger!  After all, they had promised to keep themselves until marriage. Could he really believe that she had become pregnant by the Spirit of God?   Nazareth was a small village.  People would begin to talk.  So Joseph had to decide to marry her, have her stoned as an adulteress or break the marriage contract in a quiet way and send her off to have the baby elsewhere.

Joseph had settled on the latter option but his mind was changed when he received his own angel visitation.  The angel helped him to understand that Mary had done nothing wrong; that she was pregnant by the hand of God and that the child she was carrying was to be the Saviour of the people.  Joseph now understood that Mary was not lying to him and that she indeed had been visited by an angel and that the Spirit of God had brought this about.  And so they were married.

But the expected birth of the child would not take place in Nazareth. It would mean a journey of some 80-90 miles by donkey to Bethlehem.  And so they began the journey - a journey of faith and love!

Next Week: Part Two of the Untold Story