Every
year around December a website publishes the worst nativity scenes. Probably the most awful one in recent years
has been the zombie nativity. People through
the years have made creche’ scenes depicting the birth of Jesus. (Creche’ comes from the French word for
manger.) These scenes range from very beautiful to simply ridiculous. There are hand carved wooden figurines to
ceramic bear figures in first century costumes.
There are Lego nativities and even one made from smores. Obviously, people have different tastes in
art and discretion. One thing is also
clear; people have very skewed misconceptions about the birth of Jesus.
Most
of the common misconceptions about the birth of Jesus come from the Christmas
Card marketing firms. They create very
nice pastoral scenes and present a sanitized version of what was really going
on. Hollywood does their part to create
a certain “Christmas” atmosphere and unfortunately they rarely get it right.
Soon these misconceptions become part of the myth of Christmas. This post is designed to answer some of the
myths about the birth of Jesus so that we can have a more accurate
understanding of the miracle of the incarnation- God becoming flesh and living
among us!
If
you ask a typical person about their understanding of the Christmas story they
will probably tell you something like this:
On
December 25 Mary and Joseph come into Bethlehem. She is riding a donkey and needs to find a
room to deliver her baby. All the inns
are full but a kindly innkeeper says they can spend the night in his barn. That night, angels appear to shepherds and
the skies are filled with music. The
shepherds and three wise men on camels find their way to the stable and find
the sleeping Christ child, who does not make a sound. The angels surround the stable and all the
animals bow in respect and wonder at this sight. Gifts are brought to the child and even a
small boy plays his drum for Jesus.
Sound
familiar? It has been told and retold so
many times that it is hard to discern fact from fiction. This is why we must go back to the source,
the Bible, in order to set straight the truth of what really happened. Here are some basic misconceptions:
December 25 is
the actual day of Christ’s birth
Most
people realize that this date was chosen somewhat arbitrarily by the Catholic
church. We do not know with any certainty what the actual date really was. Apparently God did not think it necessary to
tell us the date, probably so that we would not revere the day and miss the
person of Christ. What is important is
that Jesus was born, the date is not important.
Most Biblical scholars agree that Jesus was probably born sometime in
September since we are told that the shepherds were “abiding in the
fields.” The shepherds would not
normally be out in the winter with their flocks. Trying to find the actual date and time of
the birth of Jesus is a matter of conjecture and speculation.
Mary rode a
donkey to Bethlehem
The
road from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem is about seventy miles over hilly
countryside. We don’t know if Joseph and
Mary had enough money for a donkey or if Mary rode in a cart. Whether she rode or walked it must have been
very uncomfortable for a pregnant woman to make this journey.
Mary just
made it to Bethlehem in time to give birth
Again
we don’t know for certain how long Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem before
Jesus was born. Going around from inn to
inn knocking on doors and pleading with innkeepers for lodging makes good drama
but probably didn’t happen. Both Joseph
and Mary had to go to Bethlehem for the census because this was the place of
their ancestral origin. It is likely
that they had relatives in Bethlehem and had already made some
preparations. The word, “inn” can be
translated guest room or private chamber.
There was likely a huge family reunion with many people sleeping in the
same room. It may have been a practical
matter to let the young people have their own space, especially since Mary was
going to have a baby in the near future.
The
Bible says that “while they were there the days were accomplished that she
should give birth.” Luke 2:6. It does
not say that Mary and Joseph just made it to Bethlehem at the last possible
moment. While we don’t know how much
time they had before Jesus was delivered, it would have made more sense to get
to town and get settled before the actual due date.
Jesus
was born in a stable
Was
Jesus birth in a barn or a cave as some suggest? We don’t know for sure where He was born,
even though there are some places in Bethlehem that purport to be the actual
site of the birth. The Greek word used
in the Bible is kataluma. This word can mean a number of things
like inn, or guest room, etc. It is used
in Mark 14:14-15 to refer to the large upper room where Jesus celebrated the
Passover with His disciples.
Angels attended
the birth of Christ
While
angels were sent to announce the birth of the Messiah, we do not know if they
were visibly present at the manger. The
Bible suggests that there are messenger angels and there are ministering
angels. We are not always aware of the
presence of angels. Hebrews 13:2. We do
not know for sure that the messenger angels sang, only that they were praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest and on earth, peace good will
toward man.” Luke 2:13
Three kings
rode into Bethlehem on camels
The
Bible records that magi came to pay homage to the newborn king. We do not know if they were kings in their
own right or not. We do not know how
many there were, only that the word is plural in the Bible. We do not know if the “wise men” rode camels
or donkeys. We don’t know when they
arrived, only that the Scripture says they “entered the house” Matthew
2:11. The three kings idea originated in
the giving of the three gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. Again, we don’t know if there were three magi
or not. We do not know how much money
this represented, but it is likely that Mary and Joseph used part of the gift
to finance their unplanned trip to Egypt and their sojourn there.
Given
the fact that Herod had every male child in the district killed who was under
two years of age, Mary and Joseph may have stayed in Bethlehem for awhile,
before they were warned to flee to Egypt.
They probably used some of the money from the magi to rent a house or
rooms in Bethlehem and to finance their presenting Jesus at the Temple in
Jerusalem. While Bethlehem is only a
few miles from Jerusalem, it would have taken funds for the circumcision,
lodging, food and the required sacrifices.
Jesus was a
perfect baby that did not cry
The
Bible tells us that Jesus was sinless and therefore perfect before God. The miracle of the incarnation is that Jesus
was 100% God and 100% man. As an infant,
it is unlikely he did not cry, after all, crying is not a sin. Jesus had to grow in “wisdom and stature.” Luke
2:52. He had to learn things and He physically had
to grow up into manhood. He maintained
His sinless perfection as He grew, “in favor with God and man.”
Myths that
Contradict the Birth of Christ
Well
meaning believers and Christ-followers might be guilty of spreading some of
the stereotypes or myths that have
already been mentioned. However, another
type of myth denies the reliability of the Scriptures and tries to cast doubt
on the miracle of Christ’s birth. Here
are a few such myths:
Jesus was
not born of a virgin
People
who hold to this view do not believe that a virgin birth is possible. By denying the Lordship of Christ they
somehow think they will not be held accountable for their lives by God, when
they die. Of course the Bible says, “It
is appointed unto man once to die, and after that, the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27
Those
who don’t believe in the virgin birth are denying that God is able. To this God replies: “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?” Jeremiah 32:27 After all, God
did create all life and He holds the universe in space. Is there really anything too difficult for
God?
Jesus was a
good moral teacher but not God
It
was C.S. Lewis, the author of the Narnia Series, who first laid out the idea
that of all the things you can say about Jesus, the one thing you cannot say is
that He was a good moral teacher. Lewis
said that Jesus was who He claimed to be, the son of God, or He was either a
lunatic or liar. He either knew He was
lying and misleading people or He lied and didn’t know it because He was a
mental case. There are not a lot of
options available. Jesus was who He
claimed to be or He wasn’t, and if He wasn’t who He claimed to be, there are
only two possibilities. He was a lunatic
and delusional with a messianic complex or He was a charlatan intentionally
leading people astray. So Jesus is
either the Lord, who He claims to be or crazy or evil. Of those three possibilities, none of them
give us the opportunity to say He was a good moral teacher.
Quirinius
was not the Governor of Syria when Jesus was supposed to be born
This
argument from silence comes up every year by people looking for a way to deny
the birth of Jesus. It is true that Dr.
Luke records in his gospel, Luke 2:2 that Quirinius was governor of Syria at
the time of Christ’s birth, but in reality, he did not actually become governor
until after Herod died. Obviously Herod
was alive at the time of the birth of Christ.
Luke says that the census was the “First” census and later in the book
of Acts, chapter 5 verse 37, Dr. Luke
talks about “the Census.” There is
documentation in antiquity that there was a census and it was under Quirinius
but it never records the “first” census that Luke states in his account.
Luke
has never been proven to be inaccurate.
He was an excellent historian not only by first century standards, but
also today we can trust his accounts.
Scholars have shown that Quirinius had an illustrious career under Caesar
and moved up the ladder into more and more important roles as he proved
himself. The scholars maintain that
Quirinius was in fact, a governor of Syria when Christ was born and that he was
involved with a regular (repeating) census and reporting of taxes back to
Rome.
What
all these myths that attempt to discredit the birth of Christ really do is try to discredit the reliability
and veracity of the Bible. It is very
important that we individually study the Scriptures and enter into a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ. Dr Luke
also recorded the Apostle Peter as saying, “There is salvation is no other, for
there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
The question today is whether or not you have put your faith and trust
in Jesus Christ. He is not a myth, He
said He was, “The Way the Truth and the Life” and the only way to be saved was
through Him. John 14:1
If
you have not received Christ as your savior and realize that you need to take
this step of faith, please contact me or one of the believers in our church so
that we may pray for you and support your decision. If you need a Bible, or would like more
information, please contact our church office.
