The Politics of Advent: Orienting Us to the Kingdom of God

There are two nativity stories¹. One in Matthew’s Gospel and one in Luke’s Gospel. Mark and John do not have stories about Jesus birth. If you read Luke’s nativity story, there is almost as much about the birth of John as there is about Jesus and most of the rest of the story is about the reactions of various people to Jesus’ birth. And there is a lot of singing. Matthew’s gospel starts with a lengthy genealogy. Jesus’ birth is seven verses, the rest of Matthew’s nativity story is about the Magi.

Both stories seem disconnected from the rest of their gospels. The nativity stories end with Jesus as a baby or as a 12 year old. Next both gospels jump to John the Baptizer and an adult Jesus. John and Mark also begin with John the Baptist and adult Jesus. The nativity stories play a minor role in the rest of the New Testament.

What is going on here? One would think from all the emphasis on the nativity in churches that these stories would be longer and significant in the rest of the gospel story. Certainly this is not how modern biographers write.

Ancient biographies had different goals than modern biographies. They were not as concerned with offering a factual telling of someone’s entire life. They were more interested in examining the achievements and character of the person. Because of how they understood human personalities and development, they didn’t put much emphasis on childhood. But the gospels are not strictly speaking ancient biographies. They do tell about Jesus achievements and character but they also have a theological point to make. The gospels are also proclamation. They are not as interested in what actually happened as much as they want to explain what’s going on and why it matters.

The nativity stories are not disconnected from a particular time and place. They locate Jesus geographically and temporally. More importantly they want us to understand the theological significance of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. They work to connect the story of Jesus to the historic story of Israel, and they want to expand that story into the future. They use literary techniques that the original readers would have expected in the biography of an exceptional person. However, these literary techniques may not be something we expect to read and we need to recognize and accept that².

Bible scholars and theologians sometimes call the nativity stories the “gospel in miniature”. What they mean is that the major themes and ideas of the gospel are set out for us in the nativity stories. Matthew and Luke use the nativity stories to make sure we understand what they want us to know about Jesus. The theological and spiritual realities are more important than a linear recitation of dates and places. Now, it matters tremendously that Jesus actually lived in a particular time and place. But the importance of who Jesus is, doesn’t begin or end there.

Some³ describe the nativity stories as prelude or overture, where the main themes and ideas are presented to us. The nativity stories orient our thinking. The give us some guides to interpret the rest of the gospel. They also have a parable-like function. Parables are stories located in time and places that tell a larger truth within a story. Parables do not have actually had to happen in order for them to contain Truth. Hardly anyone thinks the parable of the “Good Samaritan” or the “Prodigal Son” actually, literally happened. But most Christians would say these parables contain the Truth.

In the posts that follow, we are not going to be overly concerned with whether something happened exactly as the gospel says. We are going to be concerned with what the story means. We are going to focus on why Matthew and Luke told us this story in this way.

Let’s look briefly at each nativity story and point out some (not all) of the themes that are present.

Matthew connects Jesus to Moses in the way he tells the nativity story. Matthew also challenges the patriarchal status quo in how he presents Jesus’ genealogy. “Family values” are redefined. He also presents Joseph as a sort of anti patriarchy father. Matthew’s nativity story also sets up a contrast between who are obedient to God and who is obedient to the Emperor.

Luke tells Jesus’ story by echoing the story of Abraham. Luke’s story unfolds through the lives of women. Luke acknowledges the importance of the Temple. The fulfillment of scripture, the activity of the Spirit are highlighted. The prophetic concern for the poor and oppressed is also important.

Both nativity stories set the stage for a clash of values. Who has authority and knowledge ? The nativity stories have alternative ideas about this. Both nativity stories connect Jesus with the Old Testament history of Israel. Both center marginalized and outsiders. In both angels and the Spirit are busy communicating with all sorts of people. The unexpected listen and those who should, don’t. These are powerful stories of disruption and inversion and intervention.

These are not warm, fuzzy baby tales. They are powerful stories of God at work turning the world upside down.

1. Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2 ↩︎
2. We’ll point some of these out as we work through the nativity stories ↩︎
3. The First Christmas, Crossan and Borg p 25ff. ↩︎