I loved the Christmas story growing up.  It  was the one time of  year that church seemed to center around the children.  We sang songs without hymnals and performed pageants where the costumes were more important than the words we  memorized.  There was a sense of mystery in all of this and perhaps, besides the candle light, it felt mysterious that Jesus had actually once been a baby and a little kid just like me.    When I was a teenager I still liked the baby’s birth but the “virgin” birth was troubling.  My questions were answered by adults who quoted Gabriel who explained it to Mary, “With God all things are possible.”   I began to think that believing in the “Virgin Birth” determined whether one was a real Christian.  You can imagine my relief when I asked my New Testament professor  in college what he thought.  His response was simply, ” Certainly you don’t think you are the only Christian in history who has questioned the meaning of virgin birth?”  I felt a bit embarrassed by his short response but I left his office with a great sense of relief.

In Seminary the “virgin birth” was addressed by current scholarship:  being born of a virgin was a popular myth in the Roman Empire therefore the Caesars claimed to be born of virgins.  Since the myth was used to connect the throne of the Caesars to the throne of the gods we can’t help but ask why the writer/s of Luke wouldn’t use the myth of the Virgin Birth to usurp the power of the Roman Empire that had dehumanized the existence of their community?   I could hardly contain my excitement regarding the implications of this information.

In the spirit of  the Hebrew prophets who had gone before them, the early Jesus community risked their lives and used this story to address the greed of Emperors, wealthy patrons and political priests who claimed God as their refuge while at the same time refusing to provide refuge for the widows, orphans and the poor.  Reframing the “virgin” birth in the context of Roman Culture, the Gospel of Luke opens up the story of  the “little people” (represented by Mary, Joseph and the Shepherds) who live as the “expendables” in the Great Roman Empire.  Mary’s Magnificat becomes a political protest; the poor are lifted up rather than disposed of by earthly political power.

Jesus is born under the burden of taxes when he is born in Bethlehem.  The poor may be forced to pay taxes to Caesar  but the Good News is that they no longer need to  live under Ceasar’s power and subject their  souls to the consequences of the brutal disregard of human life perpetuated under Roman rule.   Their Kingdom of God is one of the heart and Jesus is their “King.”  This is the kingdom that holds a mysterious power that can connect human integrity to all people on earth.   Jesus was born in a Manger….the poor claim him as their King who, by the way, was  born of a virgin.

Pondering the meaning and mystery of Christmas……..Naomi   (Luke 1: 26 -56)

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