What the Bible does not tell you about Christmas

My oldest child had his school Nativity play last week. I sat beaming with pride as he took to the stage wearing his innkeeper costume. Mary had just ridden her donkey to Bethlehem and three kings stood off stage, waiting to make their entrance.

Let me say right now - I love Christmas Nativities. I love the plays and I love the scenes that you find at church or on Christmas cards. Mary and Joseph nestled in a cosy barn, shepherds and wise men looking on in wonder. The baby Jesus, fast asleep in his warm blanket. For believers and unbelievers alike, there are few stories more familiar than the one we delight to hear at Christmas - the birth of Jesus.

And yet, what if this Nativity story isn’t actually the one that the Bible tells? How much of what we think happened actually did happen? Let us take five established Nativity ‘facts’:

1. Mary rode into Bethlehem on a donkey
2. Jesus was born in a stable
3. Mary and Joseph went from inn to inn looking for somewhere to stay
4. There were three kings who came to see Jesus
5. Jesus was born on 25 December

These are parts of the story that we know so well and take for granted. There is just one problem - none of them are found in the Bible. Consider the idea that Mary rode a donkey. The 90 mile walk from Nazareth to Bethlehem must have been exhausting, especially if Mary was heavily pregnant (although the Bible does not say explicitly that she was) but there is no mention of a donkey. We simply do not know how they made the journey or how long they took getting there.

Here is another example: that Jesus was visited by three kings. Matthew speaks about Magi, or wise men, but not kings. They brought three gifts, but we have no clue how many Magi there were. Furthermore Matthew 2:11 tells us that they came to Jesus’ house. Judging by Herod’s massacre of the infants, we can work out that Jesus was anything up to two years old when the Magi arrived at Jesus’ home.

A tale as old as time

That the familiar aspects of the Christmas story, which are listed above, are not found in Scripture often surprises others as it did me. And that makes me wonder: how much of what we think we know about the birth of Christ is actually informed by the Bible, and how much by popular culture?

There is very little by way of cosy sentiment in this story. But isn’t that the point? 

This is an important question if we believe the Bible to be God’s revelation to us. Let me reiterate: I am not against Nativity scenes per se. Among the many kinds of festive decoration, from larger-than-life Santas and jolly-looking snowmen, to glowing lights and the Christmas tree itself, the Nativity scene draws our gaze back to Jesus and reminds us what Christmas is really all about.

And yet, perhaps there is a danger here too, that the birth of Christ can be reduced to a sentimental scene rather than the incomprehensible yet life-changing event that it was: God himself entering our world to buy us back.

The heart of Christmas

In reality, Jesus’ birth would have been very different to the story we often hear. We sing about the newborn baby who shed not a tear, and an atmosphere that was calm and bright. Beautiful though these sentiments are, Christ’s birth was anything by serene.

And this tells us some very important truths about God’s heart and why Christ came at all. What about the sense of scandal that surrounded Mary’s pregnancy? It looked like Mary had been unfaithful to Joseph - an act which carried the death penalty under Jewish law. But for a visit from an angel, Joseph was about to bring a quiet end to their relationship.

There are few stories more familiar than the one we delight to hear at Christmas

When Jesus was born, he was effectively homeless. Stable or no stable, an animal feeding trough must surely have been a dirty place to lay a newborn. The only people to visit Jesus were a bunch of shepherds, considered to be untrustworthy rogues, and some Magi who engaged in occult practices condemned by God. And let us not forget the psychopathic king who wanted to kill Jesus, forcing him and his family to flee for their very lives to a foreign land.

A king who gave it all

There is very little by way of cosy sentiment in this story. But isn’t that the point? Jesus came to a world that was a dark and fallen place because it was dark and fallen. Throughout his life he identified with the poor and humble, the despised and the sinful. He welcomed those who understood their deep need and who came to him with humility, while warning those who thought they were ‘good enough’.

He was the king who served as a slave, the righteous one who died as a criminal, the perfect man who bore the sin and shame of the whole world. Jesus’ life and death turned everyone’s expectations of what God’s Messiah would be like upside down. When we recognise this, we realise that there was no more fitting way for him to come into this world. He was born as he died, displaying the very heart of God; a message to everyone, no matter who we are and no matter what we have done, that he offers new life to everyone who comes to him.

Here is a message far more meaningful than the cosy Christmas stories we love to hear. To polish over some of the hard realities of Christ’s birth is to risk robbing it of its power and distorting the heart of God. Rather than popular culture changing how we view the birth of Christ, the birth of Christ must speak truth to, and bring change within, our culture. This is the transformative hope of Christmas.