The Christmas Story - Facts Like Hen's Teeth?

A Few Thoughts on Hearsay and Divine Mystery

Where were the journalists when we needed them some two thousand years ago?

I’m not talking about the highly paid word spinners or alternative-fact generators of their day; I’m talking about the trained professionals who strategically place themselves in locations and situations where they observe and record history, without bias, as it unfolds. I’m talking about those worker bees who document what they witness firsthand, so that all future generations would know the facts before money, power, and agendas distorted them.

First, the Christmas Story for the uninitiated - from Matthew

"Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 

NRSV Matthew Chapter 1: 18 - 22

So that would be the basic premise of the story —

which continues in several books of the Bible to include a decree from Emperor Augustus. He had put out word that every male under his jurisdiction had to go back to the town from which their family originated, presumably for tax purposes. Joseph therefore had to take a very pregnant Mary via donkey to “The City of David” which was Bethlehem. It was a small town just a few miles south of Jerusalem in what is now Palestine.

There were shepherds who had followed a really bright star to find the newborn Jesus. There were wise men bearing gifts befitting of a king, since prophets of old predicted that this “babe” would become “King of the Jews.” And there was a hellishly paranoid King Herod who wanted to kill this child because of that prophesy. He was so afraid of this prophesy being fulfilled through Jesus that he had all of the children under age two murdered to make certain that Jesus was no longer a risk.

But There’s a BIG Glitch Here!

Not one tiny bit of this story, foundational to the Christian faith, was documented at the time it reportedly occurred. The elements of the story above were an aggregate of three sets of writings called the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, and Luke. But biblical scholars can’t even agree on who wrote them. The earliest version of these stories didn’t show up until about thirty years after Jesus died - roughly 60 A.D.

Word of mouth and storytelling were the only means of documenting and preserving history back then, as roughly ninety percent of the populace was illiterate. To make matters worse, the gospel stories were most likely documented in Greek, even though many would have first been passed around the campfire in Hebrew, or Aramaic.

And to make matters another notch more complicated and even scary, consider that all of the different iterations of the stories and their translations would have been sifted through by successive groups of powerful and agenda-driven men.

In spite of all those obstacles, the Christmas story has survived more than 2000 years!

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Here’s a modern-day historical event for comparison:

The American experience of January 6th, 2021 was, for better or worse, imbedded in our psyche via the fine work of professional journalists and videographers on that very day. We saw what actually happened at the entrance to the Capital Building “in real time” and there was no denying it. We then witnessed, over the next 24 hours, a consensus among most Americans that this was an attack on our democracy and that the sitting president did nothing to stop it. Leaders all across the political spectrum denounced the events as deplorable and unacceptable.

But the initial truth-based narrative that was being disseminated promptly changed, and within a couple of years it was barely recognizable.

Without professional journalists documenting the events of January 6th, there would be no reliable touchstones with reality . . . History would have been relegated to hearsay, inuendo, and agenda-driven manipulation.

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Such was the situation two thousand years ago.

So, what was the real story involving the birth of the baby who would become known as Jesus?

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Maybe we could start by asking - Did Jesus even exist? There are countless books addressing the historical evidence of Jesus. I’ll admit I’ve never read any of them from cover to cover, in part because what I have read is so tangential and unconvincing to me. I’m always left with some level of doubt. But none of the obscurities of history add to that level.

We do know that his influence was so widespread, substantial and enduring that the solar calendar which Pope Gregory revised in 1582 AD, still uses Christ’s birth as its starting point.

We also know that the teachings of Jesus as presented in the four Gospels have been widely ignored by countless Christians all over the world - and throughout history. However, those same teachings have become the bedrock on which so many exemplary humans have stood. It is unlikely that any of us would have ever heard of Mother Theresa, Deitrich Bonhoeffer, or Martin Luther King, Jr. if not for Christ’s teachings as recounted in the four Gospels.

His teachings were otherworldly, but he not only lived what he taught, he was its manifestation. Jesus taught and demonstrated the sanctity of self-sacrifice. He inspired people to think beyond themselves. So much of his story didn’t make intuitive sense, and yet the degree to which his legacy has inspired other people for good doesn’t make sense either.

All of his earliest adherents were imperfect and yet their commitment to a higher purpose was unparalleled. It was unnatural in a most enduring and positive way - which is why we see wonderful works being done in his name all over the world even today.

The fact that millions of charlatans have used the church and polity as a tool to control the masses, and for their own agendas, has nothing to do with the original words and life of someone who became known as Jesus.

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As with anything of worth, there is always the potential for abuse and corruption - nothing has changed. The commitment Jesus inspired in others to do good and loving works, even to the point of death, was otherworldly.

He was a phenomenon that in many ways defied explanation. How could any of the above be introduced to this broken world without a large dose of wonder, mystery, and awe?

Happy Holidays to all! Mark