In a reworking of an earlier piece by US-based philosopher and author Roy Clouser, BRUCE C WEARNE looks at the enduring power of the Christmas story…
ORDINARY PEOPLE: Bruce C Wearne says the central characters in the Biblical story of Christmas are “absolutely ordinary”. PICTURE: Dan Kiefer/Unsplash.
We see that Simeon and Anna were so pleased to see the Baby Boy. They knew they were among the meek of the earth, ordinary humble believers in God’s mercy. Because of Christ they believed all of God’s earthly treasures were available. Perhaps it’s just a sign of age, but every year I find myself more like Simeon and Anna when I am confronted by the Christmas story.
Sure, the story comes one way or another. Too often it is distorted, commercialised, cheapened, over-decorated, and no doubt now a big Facebook event. Some kindergartens and schools may even try to ban Christmas carols – and city councils waste millions by lighting up artificial Christmas trees. But the celebration of the coming into the world of the world’s Saviour as a baby boy hasn’t been completely stifled. The real story shines through: a section of The Messiah is heard – “Hallelujah!” – the words of a carol are heard – “Gloria!” – a story of exceptional kindness is told of some Good Samaritan. It’s not going away because God has sent the Good News into the world.
But think about the story! There is evil. It seems the young boy Jesus could not grow up in David’s City, Bethlehem, because of the atrocity inflicted on that community soon after His birth by the psychotic Herod after the three magicians visited.
But the central characters are absolutely ordinary, men and women, boys and girls going about their everyday lives. We think of Mary and Joseph as saints, but to their friends and relatives they were no different from anyone else, than the thousands of other pious Jews awaiting the coming of the Messiah. Yes, the birth was a miracle. But at the time only Mary and Joseph, and the parents of John the Baptist knew that. My guess is it took Jesus’ resurrection for Mary to tell the whole story. Who’s going to believe the resurrection? Who’s going to believe the birth?
The baby Jesus looked and behaved like any other newborn; the whole thing – He cried, He needed His mother’s breast, He needed to be kept warm, He had to be kept clean and healthy. And then the birth took place in a stable, and they had to use a manger for a crib. These parents were no celebrities.
And what about the shepherds? They didn’t go to Rome to talk with the emperor, or to Jerusalem to discuss theology with the chief priest; they didn’t turn up to a meeting of the loyal Jewish underground seeking to overthrow oppressive Roman rule, or even turn to local historians to make sure it was all recorded properly. Instead they went as a group of blue-collar shift workers who had to do the night shift on a Judean hillside with those sheep to a stable out the back of a hotal – we don’t even have the names of these guys! But they sang the angels’ song for the rest of their days. From these guys, God continues to tell us just what He thinks of human power, fame, wealth, pomp, and wisdom. It just won’t matter which ones God picks to be those who give His birth announcement.
Perhaps it was some years later, when the coast was clear, that Mary and Joseph went up to Jerusalem to dedicate their Son and they met these two lovely elderly people, Simeon and Anna, just like us – spending their days hoping and praying that the Messiah would come – and they saw Him. And we wait for His return.
