Christmas Revisited

By Ross Kingwell Ph.D.

Christmas, for many people, can be summed up as the traditional nativity scene; Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus, the shepherds, the magi and a few farm animals. Yet is that scene an accurate and adequate depiction of the Christmas story. Drawing on the biblical records, views of commentators and other historical information, Professor Kingwell takes the reader on a deeper examination of the people and events most of us know as the Christmas narrative. His exploration reveals much that will be new and interesting for many readers; and their appreciation for what we know to be the Christmas story will be enriched.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664247352

Ross Kingwell Ph.D.

Ross Kingwell is a professor of agricultural economics at the University of Western Australia. He is a distinguished fellow of the Australasian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society and chief economist in the Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre. However, as he readily admits, when it comes to theology or scripture, he heralds no formal qualification or academic prowess. Yet in spite of his amateur status, his study of the scripture, as revealed in this book, is nonetheless thorough, serious and insightful.

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Copyright © 2021 Ross Kingwell, Ph.D..

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

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NIV: Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

ISV: Scripture taken from the Holy Bible: International Standard Version®. Copyright © 1996-forever by The ISV Foundation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. Used by permission.

KJV: Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

ESV: "Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved

ISBN: 978-1-6642-4734-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-4735-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021921018

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/16/2021

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CONTENTS

Preamble

Introduction

The Biblical Christmas Story

Luke and Matthew

Christmas Narrative Characters

Zechariah

Elizabeth

Mary

Gabriel’s Interaction with Mary

Elizabeth and Mary’s Interaction

Mary at the temple

The Shepherds

Joseph

Simeon

Anna

The Magi

King Herod

A Timeline for Herod the Great

The Other Herods

Postscript

References

Author Biography

TABLE OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Nativity scene from Croatia

Figure 2: The Western wall in the current era

Figure 3: A model of Herod’s temple (known as the Second Temple) in Jerusalem

Figure 4: Another visualization of the Second Temple. Credit: Courtesy of The Western Wall Heritage Foundation

Figure 5: Floor plan of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies

Figure 6: Illustration of a first century house in Israel and Judah

Figure 7: Map of the key regions and towns in the time of Jesus

Figure 8: The journey to Egypta

Figure 9: Traditional depiction of the Magi

Figure 10: Small chests of gold, frankincense and myrrh

Figure 11: Frankincense (Boswellia) tree

Figure 12: Myrrh essential oil and resin fragments

Figure 13: A myrrh (Commiphora) tree

Figure 14: Territorial rule (blue shade) of Herod the Great

Figure 15: Herod the Great’s family tree

Figure 16: Map of the Herodian Tetrachy

Figure 17: The modern ruins of Herodium

Figure 18: The region of Judea showing the location of Jerusalem, Bethlehem and Herodium

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PREAMBLE

Embedded in the word Christmas is the name of Christ, and many know that the word Christmas is a contraction of Christ’s mass. However, often the reality for many at Christmas time, dare I say including many who celebrate Christmas, is that Christ and His remembrance are rarely fully the centre of attention.

Christmas might be Christ’s mass but Christmas and Christ are no longer synonymous. The Christmas period increasingly is viewed and celebrated in diverse ways. Cultural mores, family traditions and personal situations and preferences combine to form each person’s responses and behaviour at Christmas. For some, Christmas is a time of exacerbated loneliness or a poignant reminder of those now missing from a family. It can be an opportunity for family tensions and frictions to re-ignite, a time of constant busyness in preparing for family gatherings and jostling the competing emotional claims of different branches of the family who demand attendance at their Christmas gathering. It can be a time to connect or re-connect with friends, acquaintances, and more distant family members. It is often a time to rest from work and the daily squeeze of routine, deliverables, and deadlines. Christmas is more rarely a time of reflection; an opportunity to draw near to God and learn more about Him.

The purpose of these notes is to give succour to those able to pause and spend some time dwelling on the Christmas narrative as described in the scriptures. I want to re-visit the kernel of Christmas as outlined mostly in the New Testament and to dig a little deeper than commonly occurs in the time and context confines of a Christmas homily or sermon. My intention is to enrich our knowledge and appreciation of the core of Christmas, the Lord Jesus Christ; and learn more of those privileged participants and recorders of His birth.

Taste and see that the LORD is good!

How blessed is the person who trusts in him! (Psalm 34:8, ISV)

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Introduction

The Biblical Christmas Story

Many people’s perception of the Christmas story is most influenced, not by their reading and reflection on the Christian scriptures, but rather by what they have viewed around them over their lifetime of experiences during the Christmas period. It’s what they have seen on TV and film, what they have read or seen in the print and electronic media and what they have heard various people say that has more often fashioned their perception of the Christmas story. Childhood memories of the Christmas narrative can last mostly unchanged into adulthood for many people.

The Christmas story is about a baby in a crib, surrounded by loving parents, a few farm animals, some shepherds, three wise men and a bright star. It’s the stereo-typical nativity scene. Yet even that scene, I suspect, in some countries and cultures is seen less frequently than in generations past, diluted by the commerciality of Christmas, and the heterogeneity and worldliness of the modern age.

Nonetheless, often so entrenched, so pervasive, so powerful and enduring is the nativity image (e.g., see Figure 1) burned into many minds that it is very hard to break through or reach beyond that image to the expansiveness of the Christmas message. Many people seemingly are trapped into being solely repetitious observers and relaters of that Bethlehem image, commendable though that is to keep alive the narrative and remembrance of the Lord Jesus. Nonetheless, there is an opportunity to move beyond that stable scene and launch into the deeper waters of its meaning and implications. For some that can be inordinately difficult; so simple, so captivating, so appealing, and visually complete is the birth narrative; and in other perhaps more common cases, our appetites to know more are weakened by our unstated preference to be fashioned by the clamour of domesticity, career, family, duty and reputation.

Fig1NativitySceneCroatia.jpg

Figure 1: Nativity scene from Croatia

Thus, the nativity image, like a scene from a school nativity play, is the starting point for many people’s picture of Christmas. But just as that nativity play has characters, so I propose to use those same characters, along with the others less well known in the Christmas narrative, to create a deeper and richer appreciation of the entire Christmas story. By digging deeper into the Christmas narrative and its characters, I will endeavour to build a more fulsome knowledge. By the gracious work of God’s spirit, He may use that knowledge or other means to lead readers to a worshipful acknowledgement of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is my prayer that nearness to Him is generated.

To dig into the Christmas narrative requires that I go to the primary source of the Christmas story; the gospel writers.

Luke and Matthew

Although a central feature of Christendom, the story of Jesus’ birth does not feature in each of the four gospels. In John’s gospel is the simple summary remark regarding Christ’s birth: "The Word [Jesus] became flesh and lived for a while among us. (John 1:14). Mark’s gospel, the first to be written, contains no description whatsoever about Christ’s birth. The writer of that gospel simply begins the narrative of Jesus’s sojourn in Israel with the statement: At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptised by John in the Jordan." (Mark 1:9). That John being John the Baptist.

The only two gospels that cover the birth of Jesus in some detail are Matthew and Luke; yet even these gospels do not each describe the same full set of events associated with Jesus’s birth. For example, Matthew does not describe the birth of John the Baptist and the strong familial link between Mary, Jesus’s mother and John the Baptist’s mother, Elizabeth. Matthew describes the visit of the Magi and the need for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus to later flee to Egypt; whereas Luke does not. Matthew mentions nothing about the shepherds and the angels in the field, and the shepherds hurrying off to see the newborn Jesus; whereas Luke does. All that Matthew says of Christ’s birth in Bethlehem is "After Jesus was born in Bethlehem, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem…" (Matthew 2:1).

Moreover, a main difference between Matthew and Luke’s account of the birth of Christ and events surrounding the birth is their respective focus on Joseph and Mary. Regarding the events surrounding the birth of Jesus, Matthew and Luke mention the names of Mary and Joseph 13 and 15 times respectively (drawing on the NIV translation). So, on first glance, it appears that Mary and Joseph are given somewhat similar numerical weight or emphasis with respect to word count by both gospel writers. However, it is very apparent from reading the respective gospel accounts that Matthew more strongly emphasises the actions of Joseph while Luke even more definitely gives emphasis to Mary. In recording the events surrounding Christ’s birth, Matthew mentions the names of Joseph and Mary, 8 and 5 times respectively; whereas Luke mentions the names of Joseph and Mary 3 and 12 times, respectively. It could easily be argued that much of the honour and attention Mary has received over the centuries is very much due to Luke’s account, because of how much he emphasises her activity and role in what we now call the Christmas narrative.

Matthew’s account of Christ’s birth is outlined in only 31 verses whereas Luke’s account is more expansive, unfolding in 116 verses. These two gospels are the principal sources of what most people know to be the Christmas narrative. To form that narrative requires parts of the gospel of Matthew and Luke to be meshed together to form a timeline, a sequence of events that transpired before, during and shortly after the birth of Jesus.

So, in the following notes and reflections I will draw on the gospels of Matthew and Luke to outline what in combination they reveal to be the Christmas story. My intention is not simply to re-state the narrative but rather to offer some deeper understanding, reflections, and insights about the key persons in that narrative so that they do not remain in readers’ thinking as tame cardboard cut-outs of a nativity scene. I would hope to mature readers’ thinking and appreciation for these people and, solely by God’s grace and the power of His Spirit, enliven readers’ understanding of God, His purpose and care for us all. That is also my prayer.

Having considered what I’ve already said, a reader will anticipate that I will start the Christmas story somewhere in either the gospel of Matthew or Luke. But it may surprise that I will begin the story in other parts of the bible; for firstly, as the narrative of the birth of Jesus in Matthew and Luke reveals, much of what unfolded was foretold centuries earlier as recorded in some parts of what we call the Old Testament. By illustration, even the chief priests and teachers of the law in the time of Christ knew, for example, the name of the town in which their saviour and king was to be born. When King Herod called together the chief priests and teachers of the Law and asked them where was the Christ (i.e., the Messiah) to be born, they could readily quote Micah’s prophecy that stipulated the Messiah’s birthplace to be Bethlehem in Judea (Micah 5:2).

Secondly, I start away from the birth accounts in Matthew and Luke to provide other evidence as to the uniqueness of Christ. The more that is known about the person and purpose of Christ, it seems to me, the easier it is to understand why the events surrounding His birth were so special and extraordinary. Knowing more of the events that occurred later in the life of Christ also helps to make sense of the narrative of His birth. Mind you, the reverse is also true, that the nature of events surrounding His birth add to our understanding and appreciation of the later events in His life.

So before launching into description of the events of Christ’s birth and the characters imbedded in that narrative, I will spend a little time outlining what may feel like an enormous digression that may only make you, the reader, impatient or annoyed. I do so, not just to place the birth of Christ in the context of a longer history, but rather to honour and make more evident the true nature of the person most call Jesus Christ. In my experience, knowing the true person of Jesus Christ makes the events surrounding His birth more understandable, more reasonable, and more accessible.

I take you, the reader, first to an event in the life of Christ that I’ve written about previously. It’s called the transfiguration. It’s an event described in three of the gospels (Matthew 17:1-9, Mark 9:2-10 and Luke