IT IS ABOUT LOVE
Christmas time is a time of joy and profound frustration for most Christians. Joy because of the glorious event that we celebrate. Frustration because of the misrepresentation of the truth and the materialism that marks so much that takes place around this time.
Illustrative of the misrepresentation that so upsets Christians is the review in the Times of ‘The Nativity’ – a four part retelling of the Christmas story that will be shown on BBC One TV this coming week. How accurate that account will be we must wait to see, but the review does not raise hopes. Here is the gist of what it says (all that has been left out is comments on the actors involved) – “The Nativity was adapted by Tony Jordan from an original story in the Bible… The challenge for me,” says Jordan, “was to retell a story that has been told countless times before … in a way that will still surprise and move you.” … so the Nativity becomes a timeless love story between Mary and Joseph. “It isn’t so much about the belief in God,” says Tatiana Maslany (the actress who plays Mary), “but the belief in enduring love.”
Of course, over the years many people have written fictional stories around the Nativity story and the idea of the love between Mary and Joseph has been developed in all sorts of ways. We may wish people would stick to the facts but, unless we sink to the fanaticism that we see in Islam and the public protests that spread around the world at the least misrepresentation of Mohammed, we must accept a degree of misrepresentation and inaccuracy. What is totally unacceptable is the idea that you can exclude God.
We live in a society that enjoys the magnificent stories that the Bible tells but wants dishonestly to disconnect them from the sense of the divine. So local authorities constantly seek to change the name of the season. Winter festival is among the more popular and possible more accurate of the alternatives used. But then, instead of saying they want to do that because they reject the idea of God and the possibility that He could come into the world and become a man, they claim they don’t want to offend other religions. Invariably spokesmen for those religions state they are not offended by the idea of Christmas. So the dishonesty of political leaders is shown up. How sad that is.
What I find offensive about the review I have quoted above is not the idea of a love story about Mary and Joseph. It’s another piece of fiction dressed up to be the retelling of a great story. No, what offends is the statement of Tony Jordan. He wants to tell a story that will “surprise and move” and he thinks he can do that by focussing on Mary and Joseph rather than on the amazing fact that ‘the Word (who is God) became flesh’. That is the great truth in the story. It is about God. To contemplate how He came into this world is to face up to a story so full of surprises that it exceeds all other stories. To consider the greatness of the condescension of the Lord of Glory, our Lord Jesus Christ, is more moving than the most emotive story men can conjure up. The fact is that when we look at the real Nativity story nothing can be a greater surprise and nothing is more moving.
But Mr. Jordan does not have the eyes of faith and so he cannot see the wonder and the mystery, the marvel and the glory. Writing in the second century Melito of Sardis described the wonder and mystery in this way, “He was carried about in the womb of Mary, yet was clothed in the nature of the Father. He walked on earth, yet filled heaven. He appeared as an infant, yet did not discard his eternal nature. He was invested with a body, but it did not limit His divinity. He esteemed the poor, yet he was not divested of His riches. He was nailed to a tree, yet he was the Lord of all things.”
They wanted a love story and that is what the Incarnation is. There is no greater love story – “For you know the grace (undeserved favour or love) of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” (2 Corinthians 8:9). In love for you and me God gave His Son not just to be a man but to die the accursed death on the Cross. In love for you and me the Eternal Son laid aside all the honours and delights of His eternal Deity and became a humble man who was despised and rejected, and willingly He went to the Cross for us. That is love! He died to forgive those who had sinned so much against Him. He loved those who hated Him and bore their eternal punishment to set them free and make them sons of God. That is love! Joseph undoubtedly loved Mary, and that is beautiful to think about. Jesus loved me, and that is utterly surprising and deeply moving.
“For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16) May you know the reality of that love this Christmas and may its glory surprise and move you.
Roger Hitchings 18/12/2010