Separating human myth from Bible fact

ByHal Hammons

Jesus was almost certainly not born on December 25.  Shepherds watched over their flocks in the open fields, a la Luke 2:8, during the spring and summer, not the winter.  To keep such an arrangement during the cold of winter would be cruel to the sheep, let alone the shepherds.

       The angels did not proclaim the arrival of Jesus as the advent of a time of “peace on earth” — at least, not “peace” in the conventional sense.  (Since we have had anything but “peace on earth” in the last 2,000 years, that knowledge should not be surprising.)  Yes, the Christ would be “Prince of peace,” according to Isaiah 9:6; however, that peace was between man and God, not man and man.  And even that peace was conditional; only those “with whom He is pleased” (as Luke 2:14, properly translated, attributes to the angels) would be given peace, and even they were promised an increase of conflict, not a decrease, with unbelievers (Matthew 10:34).

The “wise men,” or magi, did not visit Jesus at the time of His birth.  That is when they left for Palestine.  Herod wanted “the exact time the star appeared” (Matthew 2:7) so he could determine how old the Christ Child likely was; consequently, after realizing he had been tricked by the magi, he ordered the death of all Bethlehem male children two years old and younger (Matthew 2:16).  And there is no indication that there were precisely three of them, nor that they were “kings from orient.”

The stable scene itself is questionable.  In the highly hospitable culture of First Century Judah, Joseph would not have returned to his ancestral home only to stay in a public waystation.  The “inn” (kataluma) in Luke 2:7 is better rendered “guest chamber.”  It is the same word used for the “upper room” where Jesus met with His disciples before His betrayal (Mark 14:14).  It is quite different from the “inn” (pandocheion) of the Good Samaritan parable (Luke 10:34). 

The manger (phatne) in which the infant Jesus lay was a common feature of the ground floor in Jewish dwellings of the day.  Livestock were housed out of the elements at night, and then untied from the “stall” (again, phatne) and led out to water (Luke 13:15).  The likely scenario is that Joseph and Mary arrived at an already-filled house (not surprising, considering the entire clan was gathering there because of the census) and were forced to stay downstairs with the animals.

Jesus was not the child of refugees.  He was not unwelcome.  He was not homeless.  He was not rejected even before He was born.  He was, simply put, poor — and perhaps not even remarkably poor by the standards of His culture.

So, “What’s the harm?”, you may ask.  Is the traditional story of Jesus’ birth so bad?  Perhaps, perhaps not.  Surely confessing the virgin birth of Jesus, even with some of the details muddied, is the important thing.  Still, myths are dangerous.  Any sacrifice of God’s truth for man’s tradition is a bad trade.  If we set a precedent for believing what makes us “feel good” rather than listening to God tell His own story, we begin down a road from which U-turns are difficult and rare.

If the so-called holiday season causes us to reflect on the incredible blessing brought to us that wondrous night long ago, well and good.  But let us give thanks for what actually happened, rather than what we have been told over the years — and then let us learn the lessons God is actually trying to teach us, rather than whatever self-serving spin is being applied by our friends and neighbors.  

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I have no particular ax to grind against either Harvey Weinstein or Roy Moore.  I’m sure they both have their positive aspects.  And I despise the degradation of anyone — young and female or otherwise — being perpetrated by people in power, regardless of where that power is wielded.  But I don’t want to write about that today.  I want to write about hypocrisy.

 

Why are you idle?

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The landowner in Jesus’ parable went into the marketplace hour after hour; finding men there at the proverbial “eleventh hour,” he asked them, “Why have you been standing here idle all day long?” Turns out, it was a lack of opportunity rather than a lack of interest; when offered an chance to work, they were glad to take it (Matthew 20:6-7).
I fear some of us do not have an excuse quite so good.

The Real “April Fool”

ByHal Hammons

I was always a “better safe than sorry” kind of kid with regard to Biblical concepts.  For instance, Jesus said, “Swear not at all” in Matthew 5:34, so I wouldn’t say the word “swear.”  I’ve come to realize that isn’t the point of that passage; still, I can’t help cringing a bit when I hear someone say, “I swear to God.” 

I say that to bring up another passage from the Sermon on the Mount.  Matthew 5:22 reads, ‘But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.”

The curated life

ByHal Hammons

The curator of a museum is responsible for the content of the museum’s displays.  They acquire permanent additions, they arrange for temporary exhibits, they generally set it up so that the museum receives the maximum possible amount of positive attention.  “That place is amazing!” would-be attendees say to one another.  “We absolutely have to go there!”

The plumbing problems, the mounting debt, the personality flaws of the artists — those are not to be put on display.  These negative traits of the museum are every bit as real, perhaps even more so, than the positive ones.  But they stay hidden from the public if the curator has anything to say about it.

Social media has been described as a way of “curating” our lives.  We put on display only those aspects that we wish to show.  Generally that means all good news, all the time — pictures of our dinner, or of the family at the amusement park.  That sort of thing.  “My life is great!  Don’t you wish you were me?” is the general idea.  Or perhaps a bit of wisdom or humor we tracked down on the internet — which, presumably, prove that we ourselves are wise or humorous.  Occasionally we may post a vague request for emotional support — “Can’t get into it now, but I need your prayers,” “Feeling especially glum today,” “New shoes, what do you think?”, etc.  But let’s be honest; those tend very strongly to be more in the “begging for compliments” category and less in the “I am weak and I need help” category; after all, if we really needed help, we would actually talk about our problems.

Actually, “talk about our problems” is another example of the same phenomenon.  Sometimes we can’t seem to talk about anything else.  But I would venture to say, in at least 90 percent of these cases the “problems” in question are not our fault; they are topics of conversation mostly to generate pity or place blame.  It’s the same principle, really — allowing people to see the part of our lives that we are willing to expose — and absolutely nothing else.

But that is not how we build relationships.  That is how we build walls.

The Bible tells Christians, “confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another” (James 5:16).  The prayers of righteous brethren “can accomplish much,” as the text goes on to read, because we have created real and lasting bonds.  They know our weaknesses, so they can minister to us in our weaknesses.  Hiding our weaknesses may make us feel secure in the short term, but what they really do is prohibit our spiritual family from doing its job — and hindering our own ability to grow and mature.

The curated life is all about appearances.  We want to act like everything is wonderful — especially when it isn’t.  The vulnerable life is all about realities.  We are in constant need of assistance, and we want to make ourselves available to the ones most willing and able to offer it.

That is not to say you should take to Facebook and begin confessing every character flaw in front of the whole world.  But perhaps privately admitting our frailties and weaknesses to a trusted brother or sister in Christ would not be the worst idea in the world.