Day forty nine

I'm going to write about family again, but this it's Jesus' family I'm writing about. It's Christmas (apologies to those liturgical people who think it's not, but take a look around and notice all the Carol Services this weekend). At Christmas we like to put Jesus into an imaginary family and have him born in a fairy tale.

When it comes to Easter we will be declaring that Jesus really died: the Romans knew how to kill people; the water and the blood are evidence that He was dead; there are historical records!!! This is what we will argue.

We will argue for the resurrection: where did the Church come from? What made the disciples willing to die for something that wasn't true? Why did no one produce the body?

But we make Christmas seem like a fairy tale, with imaginary characters added and real people removed.

There were no inns in Bethlehem, so why have an innkeeper? In Oz there was a full-time coroner. Dorothy wasn't the first murderer. But Christmas is real.

The Roman Catholics invented a mother for Mary - that's where the immaculate conception came from. No dad was needed, even for Mary!

But the Bible! I wish it would mention Mary's parents. She was around 14 years old. In that society they would have looked after her, once Joseph explained how she got pregnant. And Joseph wasn't much older. Again it was the RCs who spread the lie that Joseph was an old man who had been married before. They had to find some way to explain Jesus' brothers and sisters who are mentioned in the gospels.

Joseph would have had parents, and they would have been required to register in Bethlehem as well. So they would have travelled with them. And I can't imagine Mary's mum was going to leave her while she made that journey. I have just checked Google Maps and today to walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem (91 miles) it would take one day and 10 hours. Google Maps never allow for toilet breaks, or stubborn little donkeys, so maybe 2-3 days. The journey takes you through Jerusalem, a mere 5 miles from Bethlehem. If, as the myths would have us believe, Mary was about to pop as they arrive in Bethlehem, I have 2 questions: 1. Why did they leave Jerusalem so late in the day, so that they arrived at night? 2. Why did they leave Jerusalem?

Arriving in Bethlehem, we have what the Bible tells us, and we have the myth. Luke 2: 6 (The Message), While they were there, the time came for her to give birth.

While they were there, not the moment they arrived. Maybe a few days later, maybe a week or two. Why do we change what the Bible says to make it necessary for a stable to be involved? There is no mention of a stable. There is mention of a manger, but that's because, (Luke 2: 7), there was no guest room available for them.

One of the major things we discover about society in the Ancient Near East is that hospitality was very important. There are several Bible stories that emphasise the importance of hospitality, from Sodom to Gilead. More important than family obligations.

So I think these many many people who accompanied Mary on her journey to Bethlehem would have been scandalised if Joseph had gone from one imaginary inn to another to be told that his pregnant wife had to spend the night with her newborn baby in a stable. Look at the reaction in Judges 20.

And the shepherds! Well what are thy told? You will find the baby in a stable? No! Luke 2: 12, "You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Of all the babies in Bethlehem this night, Jesus is the only one who's dad couldn't knock up a carry-cot. So much for Joseph's carpentry skills!

Let's treat Christmas like we treat Easter, and have Jesus born, as John tells us in his gospel: He came to that which was his own (John 1: 11).

He was born in Israel, in real time in a real place!