Christmas | Harriet Connor

It’s been a difficult few weeks in our part of the world, so I’m guessing that for many families, Christmas wasn’t that ‘jolly’ this year. We all still did the normal things—going to church; singing Christmas carols; tipping out Christmas ‘stockings’; distributing presents from under the tree; visiting family; eating lots of food.

But this year, Christmas was probably a little subdued. Our home state—indeed the whole of Australia—is still living in the shadow of the horrific antisemitic terrorist attack that killed 16 people and injured 40 at a Hannukah celebration at Bondi beach less than two weeks ago. I think we all feel heartbroken for our Jewish neighbours—and so sad that our country has let them down.

It’s not just a national tragedy that can take the shine off Christmas. I know many families who had to celebrate with an empty chair at the table this year. Mothers and fathers, wives and husbands who have passed away; spouses who have moved out because of relationship breakdown.

It’s the smaller things too—the kids being disappointed with or ungrateful for their presents, family members snapping and grumbling, extended family conflicts bubbling up to the surface.

All of these things can rob us of the peace and joy that we want to feel at this special time of year.

We spend so long looking forward to Christmas—the shops get us going early with their music announcing: ‘It’s the most wonderful time of the year!’; the kids count down the days on the Advent calendar, the excitement builds, they stay up late on Christmas Eve with pure anticipation of the day to come.

And then this: perhaps we had a day that wasn’t particularly wonderful or joyful. It can leave us wondering, ‘Is that it?! Was Christmas really worth the wait?’.

The day after the terrorist attack, many people lit a candle in their window to represent the candles of Hannukah, the ‘festival of lights’. One little flame flickering in a world that felt so very dark. It was a meaningful symbol of solidarity and hope, and yet it seemed so small and feeble.

The first Christmas: Is that it!?

I can imagine that many people were underwhelmed by the first Christmas too. When they looked at the small, feeble baby lying in a feeding trough, those who were there might have been wondering, ‘Is that it?!’.

God’s people had been waiting not just for a month or a year, but for over 50 generations for God’s promised Saviour to arrive. Ever since God had promised that a descendant of Eve would crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15). With each new generation, God’s people wondered, ‘Is this the one who will crush sin and death and make things right?’.

Then finally, he came. Not in a palace with trumpets and fanfare, but in a small-town stable surrounded by his poor, unmarried parents and a bunch of local shepherds. His birth was announced to some people by glorious angels, to others by signs in the stars. But not even King Herod knew about Jesus’ birth until the wise men came knocking some time later.

Baby Jesus was one little flame flickering in a world that was so very dark. How can the birth of one small baby possibly give hope to humanity?

Nativity Notes: Did Mary give birth in a home?

By Harriet Connor

On 23/12/2023

In Articles, Uncategorized

As I think about the Christmas story as a mother, my heart always goes out to Mary—exhausted from a long, uncomfortable journey; having to give birth for the first time in a strange town, with no-one beside her except her tired and probably bewildered young husband … and some animals. According to the traditional Nativity play, the couple had knocked on the door of every inn in town, until finally, one inn-keeper took pity on them and let them stay in his stable out the back.

Mary (probably) felt nervous

I’m sure Mary would have been feeling nervous about the birth. She knew what the angel Gabriel had promised:

‘You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.’ (Luke 1:31–33)

And yet she also knew that giving birth had always been a dangerous affair, ever since God had told Eve:

‘I will make your pains in childbearing very severe;
with painful labour you will give birth to children.’ (Genesis 3:16)

In fact, on the way to Bethlehem, Mary may well have passed by the tomb of Rachel, Jacob’s beloved wife, who had died after giving birth to their second son, Benjamin (Genesis 35:16–20).

Mary (probably) gave birth in a home

Although Mary was doubtless daunted at the prospect of giving birth, the birth may not have been as isolated and lonely as our Nativity plays and Christmas cards would have us believe.

You see, it all hangs on one Greek word in the phrase: ‘there was no place for them in the kataluma’ (Luke 2:7, ESV). This word can mean inn, a ‘guest house’. However, elsewhere in the Gospel of Luke (22:11), this word is translated as ‘guest room’.

Since Joseph and Mary were both from the line of David and all the members of that clan were travelling to Bethlehem for the Census, it is quite likely that they had relatives there to stay with.

Houses of that time typically had a ground floor living area, an upper room for guests and a lower floor or cave below ground for the family’s animals to sleep in. So, when Mary and Joseph arrived, there was no room in the guest room—it already had visitors in it—so they were given a place to stay downstairs with the family’s animals. In all likelihood, Mary gave birth in a house, albeit in the area where the animals slept (hence the ‘manger’ for baby Jesus to sleep in).

There’s a lovely children’s story by Andrew McDonough called Bethlehem Town, which tries to explain this all to children. This illustration shows what houses in that region looked like …

Keep reading over at Growing Faith, a Christian online magazine for parents. Find out more about Growing Faith and subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter here.

Nativity Notes: Bethlehem

By Harriet Connor

On 26/12/2022

In Articles

At Christmas time, the little town of Bethlehem (literally ‘the house of bread’) gets a moment in the spotlight. But what’s so special about this rural town just outside Jerusalem? Why did Jesus have to be born there?

When King Herod asked the Jewish leaders where the Messiah was to be born, they answered him with a quote from Micah 5:

‘But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah
who are too little to be among the clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
one who is to be ruler in Israel,
whose coming forth is from of old,
from ancient days.
Therefore he shall give them up until the time
when she who is in labour has given birth;
then the rest of his brothers shall return
to the people of Israel.
And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.’ (Micah 5:2–4)

If we look back through the history of this unassuming town, we begin to see more clearly why the Messiah had to be born there.

Judah’s blessing

Bethlehem was located in the region of Judea, which is Greek for Judah. This area had become part of the inheritance that God gave to the Israelite tribe descended from Jacob’s son of that name.

When Jacob blessed his sons before he died, this is what he said to Judah:

‘Judah, your brothers shall praise you;
your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies;
your father’s sons shall bow down before you.
Judah is a lion’s cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
The sceptre shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.’ (Genesis 49:8–10)

Judah’s descendants were destined to be the rulers of Israel, as symbolised by a lion. They would always hold the ruler’s sceptre until the day when all nations would acknowledge their King.

A baby in Bethlehem

The book of Ruth, set in the time of the judges, introduces us to one family from the tribe of Judah. A famine had forced them to flee to Moab where tragedy struck: the husband and two adult sons died, leaving behind the widow, Naomi, and her daughter-in-law, Ruth. In their destitution, Naomi and Ruth returned to their hometown—Bethlehem! There, God redeemed their family through a godly relative, Boaz, who agreed to marry Ruth.

The final verses of the book tell us that Boaz and Ruth had a son, Obed. Eventually, he would become the grandfather of King David.

The greatest ruler of Israel would come from the town of Bethlehem of the tribe of Judah. That’s why it came to be known as the ‘city of David’ (Luke 2:4).

Keep reading over at Growing Faith, a Christian online magazine for parents. Find out more about Growing Faith and subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter here.

Harriet Connor

Author of Big Picture Parents

Tag: Christmas

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