After my tell-all post yesterday regarding my lack of affection for the Christmas season, I decided I would spend some time reading the Christmas story in an effort to center myself, not on the secular part of Christmas, but on the real meaning of the season. I read Luke 2: 1-20 in a few different translations and something kept piquing my interest. Oh, there are lots of things that are intriguing about the passage, but on this day, what intrigued me was what is not there.
What do I mean? Well, there are so many un-revealed details and untold stories in these 20 verses. There are so many things I want to know about the events of these verses. Allow me to give you a few examples.
Verse 1 – The Roman emperor, Augustus, thought it would be a good time for a census. He had no idea he was simply a pawn in the Hand of God. I would love to know the reason(s) why ole’ Gus thought that was an opportune time to take a census.
Verse 5 – Joseph took Mary with him for the census….a very pregnant Mary. I wonder if Joseph took a crash course in ‘birthin’ babies’ before he left Nazareth.
Verse 7- This verse tells us about the day of Jesus’ birth. The details are sparse. Obviously Dr. Luke was a man of few words. Did Mary bring the cloths she wrapped Jesus in from Nazareth or did Joseph have to go out knocking on doors to find hot water and something to wrap his child in. Surely, they had given some forethought to the fact the child would need a blanket. Surely?
Verse 9 – The angel of the Lord appeared to the shepherds and they were terrified. Well, duh! Of course they were. What about their sheep? Did the sheep scatter out of fright or did the poor dumb animals just sleep through the entire concert?
Verse 12 – The angel was a bit stingy on details about how the shepherds would recognize the baby. Baby. Wrapped snugly in cloths. Lying in a manger. The manger bit would likely have narrowed their choices of places to search down quite a bit, but still, there had to be dozens, if not hundreds of mangers in Bethlehem. How did they find the right one? Holy GPS? “You have arrived at your destination!”
Verse 15 – The shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem!” Someone had to stay and watch the sheep. Did they draw straws to see who stayed or was it a parade of men and sheep into Bethlehem? Baaaa, baaa, we are looking for the Christ child. Baaa, baaa. Oops, sorry for the sheep poop in your courtyard, Mr. Bethlehem Mayor.
Verse 16 – They found Mary and Joseph and Jesus. If I had been Mary I would have been all kinds of STRESSED having strange, smelly men showing up at my stable door. What in the world did the shepherds say to Mary and Joseph? Had the angel somehow let Mary and Joseph know the shepherds would be visiting?
Verses 17 and 18 – After the shepherds visited with Joseph, Mary and Jesus, they went out and told everyone what had happened. ‘We saw angels in the sky who told us the Messiah had been born in a stable in Bethlehem. We looked for him, visited with him and his parents, and now we are on our way back to the fields.’ “Everyone who heard their story was astonished.” Well, I just bet they were. Probably some of those Bethlehemites were looking for the little men in white jumpsuits with straight-jackets for those strange, smelly shepherds. I wonder what some of those folks thought and said.
The untold stories of the Christmas story. One day, when I get to heaven, I plan to ask for THE REST OF THE STORY.
How about you? What untold story from Luke 2 piques your interest?
