DECEMBER: JESUS' ORIGIN STORY
Look Closer
As Christians, this story is a foundational one. It’s an intimate look at the character of God. Throughout the story of the people of God, God acted in many different ways. But here, in this most clear act of God revealing God’s self, God didn’t appear in a burning bush or send a flood or set a mountain on fire. Instead, God came down as a baby. We all start as babies, helpless and needing others for our basic survival. God incarnate as an infant is God doing a deep dive into what it is to be human. But this baby wasn’t born into privilege or power. This baby was born to parents who were part of a minority, persecuted community in a land occupied by the superpower of their time, the Roman Empire. He was born to parents who were travelers, far from home at the time of his birth. When he was a young child, his family would become refugees as they fled to Egypt to save his life. He was born to people who loved him desperately, and he turned their world upside down.
Tell this story to children. Tell them about the baby born in a makeshift space, yes! But also (in age appropriate ways) tell them about the toddler whose parents saved his life by becoming refugees. Tell them about this God who loved us enough to become as vulnerable as a baby.
Spiral Deeper
The four Gospels tell us different pieces of Jesus’s origin story. At Christmas, we tend to cobble these together into a cohesive narrative. There’s nothing wrong with doing that! And it’s also good for us to read them separately, to understand the different points of view of the storytellers.
As Christians, this story is a foundational one. It’s an intimate look at the character of God. Throughout the story of the people of God, God acted in many different ways. But here, in this most clear act of God revealing God’s self, God didn’t appear in a burning bush or send a flood or set a mountain on fire. Instead, God came down as a baby. We all start as babies, helpless and needing others for our basic survival. God incarnate as an infant is God doing a deep dive into what it is to be human. But this baby wasn’t born into privilege or power. This baby was born to parents who were part of a minority, persecuted community in a land occupied by the superpower of their time, the Roman Empire. He was born to parents who were travelers, far from home at the time of his birth. When he was a young child, his family would become refugees as they fled to Egypt to save his life. He was born to people who loved him desperately, and he turned their world upside down.
Tell this story to children. Tell them about the baby born in a makeshift space, yes! But also (in age appropriate ways) tell them about the toddler whose parents saved his life by becoming refugees. Tell them about this God who loved us enough to become as vulnerable as a baby.
Spiral Deeper
The four Gospels tell us different pieces of Jesus’s origin story. At Christmas, we tend to cobble these together into a cohesive narrative. There’s nothing wrong with doing that! And it’s also good for us to read them separately, to understand the different points of view of the storytellers.
- Matthew: Begins with Jesus’s genealogy, which links Jesus to David - but also makes the surprising move of naming various women in the genealogy. And it turns out that it’s Joseph’s genealogy - and as soon as it is completed, we find out that this baby is not Joseph’s. Then we enter Joseph’s story. Like his namesake, Joseph is a dreamer, and his dreams lead him to adopt this unborn child. Jesus is born with no fanfare, and then the story shifts to the magi, outsider Zoroastrian priests who come to visit the child the cosmos announced. More dreams come, to the magi and to Joseph, and Mary and Joseph flee with their tiny son to Egypt, where they remain until Herod is dead.
- Mark: Has zero birth narrative, and instead begins with John the Baptist.
- Luke: This is the story we know the best! Luke begins with the miraculous conception of John the Baptist. Luke focuses a lot on the stories of women (Elizabeth and Mary). He includes what we call the “Annunciation” - the angel telling Mary she, a virgin, will bear the Son of God. Mary responds with what we call the “Magnificat” - a song in the tradition of women like Hannah, Miriam and Deborah. The story intertwines the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, so John is born, then we head to chapter 2, probably the most familiar of the Christmas story texts. There’s a census on, and Joseph and Mary travel to Bethlehem. There, Mary gives birth in an unexpected place (thought to be anything from a cave to a stable to family living quarters). In another cosmic act, angels appear to shepherds and proclaim the good news, and baby Jesus has visitors. Luke continues on with Jesus’s presentation at the temple and the only boyhood narrative we have of Jesus.
- John: Doesn’t begin with a birth narrative, but one could call the first five verses an origin story. It’s poetry that connects Jesus with creation, with Wisdom, with life and light.
Read It: These options cobble together the story in much the same way that we tend to tell the story at Christmas. You also may want to just pick one gospel to read this year!
- John 1:1-5 Shine On: Pages 161-173
- Luke 2:26-38 The Peace Table: 164-178
- Matthew 1:18-25
- Luke 2:1-20
- Matthew 2:1-15
Pray It
Jesus, you came as a baby and showed us your way of love. Help us love others as you love us. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Jesus, you came as a baby and showed us your way of love. Help us love others as you love us. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Do It
- Read it, tell it, show it, play it. Play with this story in your household! Tell it using nativity sets - or stuffed animals, or dolls, or Legos, yourselves, or whatever you have around! You can’t overtell this story with young children. Read the story and play with the story. As you tell it, you’ll get to a point when you’re sick of it. But if you persevere, you’ll come past that point to a brand-new love of the story and make some fresh discoveries!
- Family Service Project - Help Refugees. Jesus was a refugee, as are many, many people in our world today. Check your local community for ways that you can help refugees who live nearby. Mennonite Central Committee also has ways that you can help. These infant care kits are a great way to connect baby Jesus with helping others today. And add the song “Refugee King” to your family’s holiday playlist. Here’s a good rendition by Girl Named Tom.
Explore It: Notes from Tami
I’m not going to add other resources this month. Talashia provided a couple of excellent suggestions here. But, beyond this Building Faith post, she provided SO much more information and suggestions in the
Advent at Home: How Will We Know resource. This resource is linked on the sidebar as well as here.
I’m not going to add other resources this month. Talashia provided a couple of excellent suggestions here. But, beyond this Building Faith post, she provided SO much more information and suggestions in the
Advent at Home: How Will We Know resource. This resource is linked on the sidebar as well as here.
