 |
|
| Christmas Story Pop-Quiz |
| How much do you know about the Christmas story in the Bible? Can you answer these questions correctly? Are you sure? |
| 1. What did Mary ride on the road to Bethlehem? 2. How soon after they reached Bethlehem was Jesus born? 3. What sort of building was Jesus born in? 4. What animals were gathered about the manger? 5. How many Wise Men were there? 6. How did the star compare in brightness with other stars? 7. Who else besides the Wise Men saw the star? 8. Did Joseph meet the Wise Men? |
| The answers given in Matthew and Luke: The writers of the Gospels don't say anything about the 8 questions. Here's what they DO say The Journey to Bethlehem In popular myth, the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem has Mary seated on a donkey and is one of great tribulation, which would never have been undertaken but for the census. In fact, no donkey is mentioned although it may possibly have existed. As to the hardship of the journey, undoubetedly all travel in that time was difficult, but this trip was not to be unique for Joseph and Mary. Bethlehem is just five miles from Jerusalem and, according to Luke 2:41, Jesus' "parents went to Jerusalem every year for the feast of the passover." Thus the trip was to be an annual pilgimage for them. The phrase "great with child" conjures up in the modern mind an image of Mary being near the time of delivery. In fact, this King James translation is just a seventeenth-century euphemism for "pregnant," with no indication of how far along that pregnancy might be. There is no hint as to how long Mary and Joseph were at Bethlehem before the birth took place. People assume it was within the first night or two because there was no room at the inn, but such a crowded situation might have arisen at any time, and the Bible does not give an answer. The Stable No stable is mentioned in the texts of Matthew and Luke. The word translated as "manger" may mean either that or "stall." A stall could be either in a stable or outdoors. Moreover, an inn of the time does not fit our modern conception with individual rooms and a stable out back. An inn could often be a large, one-roomed structure where the same room on the floor. Thus a manger might be indoors, on a different level from the sleeping facilities or in the same room. We really can't say where Christ was born. Popular tradition made the stable a cave. Thus, when Constantine became "Christian" and sought the birthplace of Jesus, he decided on a series of caves near Bethlehem. In keeping the general trend of adapting the pagan to the Christian, he tore down a temple to Adonis and erected the Church of the Nativity on the same spot, over the cave where he believed Jesus was born. The Animals There is no mention of the friendly animals that popular art and fiction have clustered around the manger, giving warmth and adoration. Since a manger was for the feeding of such animals, it is probably safe to assume that animals were around somewhere. The image of the King of Heaven humbling Himself to be surrounded by the beasts of the field has proved to be enduring as well as inspiring. Countless legends tell how all animals kneel in adoration on Christmas Eve at midnight, just as their ancestors did in the original stable, and how the animals can also speak at that time. The Shepherds and the Angels' Song The Shepherds of the time were not regarded as they are now. We see shepherds as they were pictured in the Arcadian myths and pastorals of a much later time, as men who lolled in the fields playing on pipes and passing the days in rustic meditation. Such a description applies better to the sheep than to the shepherds. At the time of Jesus' birth, shepherds were rough men considered to be outside the law. coming upon them at night, alone, would probably terrify anyone. "And on Earth peace, good will toward men" is what we all learned, but "Peace toward men of good will" is just as correct a translation of the ambiguous Greek that Luke uses at this point. The examination of fine details of grammar, usage, and textual comparisons have not produced a definitive answer on who would expect God's peace and good will. The Wise Men Matthew does not tell us how many Wise Men there were, nor who they were nor where they came from. Tradition finally settled on three since three gifts are mentioned, but as late as the third century there were paintings of four Wise Men and earlier there had been as many as a dozen. The word that Matthew uses for the Wise Men is MAGOI. This word was applied to a multitude of preactitioners of the occult arts. Fortunetellers, astronomers, augurers, and general magicians were all referred to as magi. One widely held theory is that the Magi of the Bible were priests of Zoroaster from Persia. Their functions in this religion would have included the interpretation of signs and astrology. Babylonia and Arabia are also very possible sources for the magicians we call Wise Men. The idea of the Wise Men as kings does not appear in the Gospels but was added in popular tradition later. This idea probably arose from application of Psalm 72: 10-11: "The kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before him." Whatever their origin and status, the Magi caught the popular imagination with their exotic and mysterious story. Early religious groups paid far more attention to them than to the prosaic shepherds. In the Roman catacombs, the Magi appear in paintings at least two centuries earlier than the shepherds, and far more prominently. It would not be until the Protestants arose to decry the adoration of relics and the elaborate symbolism accorded the Magi that the simple shepherds who did not bear such a "taint" would be elevated to the major position in nativity scenes that they now occupy. Later some early religious groups gave names to the Magi and give them homes and even physical manifestations. In the sixth century the first appearance in a Greek manuscript, the names are Beltasar, Melchior, and Caspar (or Gaspar). Each was a king and each was assigned a kingdom and a particular royal gift. Belthasar, a black king of Ethiopia was forty-years-old, brought myrrh in a gold-mounted horn. Melchior, also forty or sometimes older, king of Arabia, brought a casket of gold in the form of a shrine. Gaspar was king of Tarsus and a beardless youth of twenty when he brought frankincense in a jar or censer. Thus the Magi represented people of all races and all ages kneeling in adoration. The gifts of the Wise Men ahve been taken symbolically to mean many different things, but the general symbolic value of each is clear. Gold was the purest material and therefore worthy of a king. Incense is used in the worship of a god, carrying prayers upward with its sweet scent. Myrrh was a balm for physical suffering. Thus, it has been suggested, Jesus was being worshipped as king, God and great physician, or sacrifice. The gifts may also suggest what each Christian must offer up to God: virtue, prayer, and suffering. The time allowed for the Wise Men's journey is not specified in the Gospels. Nothing says whether the star arose at Jesus' birth or before it, there is really no way of telling when they set out. Popular tradition varies from twelve days to two years and puts their arrival on January 6, Epiphany, although no one thinks twice about showing them arriving just after the birth of Jesus, in a stable. The Star The Star of Bethlehem appears in pictures as a great, shining light that would have created astonishment in anyone seeing it. But Matthew does not indicate that anyone besides the Magi paid it any notice. Herod asks them the time when they first saw it as though it had not been seen or particularly noticed in Jerusalem. Yet it must have been something that would have special meaning to trained observers of the skies such as the Wise Men. three major theoires have been put forward as natural explanations of the star. (a) It could be a Nova exploding. Novas can become suddenly bright and highly visible, even during the day. Astronomers in many parts of the world had been keeping records since long before this time, and none indicated a nova occuring in the last few years BC or the first few years AD. (b) A comet has the advantage over a star in that it moves and could conceivably seem to lead the Wise men. It's possible to put Halley's comet into approximately the right place. But comets were known to the people of the time as comets, not as stars. (c) The most popular theory is that of a planetary conjunction. An ordinary conjunction occurs whenever two planets are passing each other at their closest point as viwed from Earth. This happens as often as every twenty years or so. Much rarer is a conjunction of three planets. The great astronomer Kelper saw such a conjunction of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in October 1604. His calculations showed that there is such a conjunction every 805 years. This would mean that one occurred in the year 7-6 BC. But most Christians wish to believe the Biblical description, and take it at face-value without needing to know how it occured. "When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh" (KJV) |
| . |