him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was
no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2.7 (NIV)
Lowliness
I am always fascinated by how the great
artists of the middle ages painted events in the Bible. Fascinated,
because on the one hand you have a great picture, great painting, a piece of
wonderful art – and on the other the Bible, the event recorded in the Scriptures.
By reading the passage from the Bible, and looking at the paintings of the
middle ages, you can see how they understood what they read.
Take Giotto’s great fresco,
entitled The nativity, in the Arena Chapel in
As you look at the fresco, The
stable is in traditional Alpine style, really just a roof supported by four
wooden posts; in the background are some very Italian looking mountains; Mary lies,
with the infant Jesus beside her, a halo of light around her head and that of
the infant Jesus, and Joseph sits, just outside on the ground – he too has a
halo; here in the foreground are an ox and and ass, and four or five sheep and
goats;
However, above the roof, there
are five angels…. one leans over the edge of the roof to gaze into the stable
while the other four look towards the horizon…….
Now, if you compare Giotto’s
fresco in
there
is a striking difference;
while Giotto has angels on the roof of the stable, and haloes round Mary, Joseph and the child Jesus - we are struck in Luke’s gospel at the beginning of chapter 2 by the sheer plain detail of the birth of Jesus.
Yes, we read of the angel who spoke to Mary to announce the birth,
Yes we read of the shepherds in
the fields who were surrounded by angels and the heavenly praise……..
but we
are struck in Luke’s gospel at the beginning of chapter 2 by the sheer plain
detail of the birth of Jesus;
Listen:
1. In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a
census should be taken of the entire Roman world.
2 (This was the first census that took place
while
Quirinius was governor of
3 And everyone went to his own town to register.
4 So Joseph also went up from the town of
Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he
belonged to the house and line of David.
5 He went there to register with Mary, who was
pledged to
be married to him and was expecting a child.
6
While they were there,
the time came for the baby to be
born,
7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She
wrapped
him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was
no room for them in the inn.
In these verses Luke gives us just
plain detail – no mention of anything special.
And yet, this plain detail is very
much to the gospel writer’s purpose
Luke, you see, is declaring to
us how the living God works;
He gives us the details of an
Imperial census, the name of the local district governor, he tells us a little
bit about how the census worked; – each
family had to return to their place of origin to register and so Joseph and his
wife Mary go up for registration, and stay in the town of Bethlehem. There,
Luke tells us, she gave birth to a son.
Here, Luke, you see, is
declaring to us how the living God works;
in the
mundane things of life
at a
certain time, , during an Imperial census, in a certain place called
in
other words, right in the midst of human life, in the things of human life……..
Jesus is born……this baby is
born……
in the
everydayness of life.
He begins his life…. as all of
us do… at a place, at a time…….
this
child Jesus, absolutely part of everyday life…..
So what Luke is inviting us to see ?
As we look at Jesus birth, as
Luke records it,
we can
see
as the
writer to the Hebrews puts it:
we can
see how Jesus shares our human life, our
humanity…..
so
that from where we are, He might, as One of us, lead us back to the living God,
Jesus shares fully in our human life, our humanity…..who we are
so
that from where we are and who we are,
as One
of us ;He might lead us back to the living God, redeem the whole human race….
from
this side………..
What Luke is inviting us to see
in the plain details of Jesus’ birth ?
the
census, the name of the governor, the time, the place, the inn ?
He is declaring to us, that as
the prophets had foreseen, and promised,
that
now the time has arrived…..
in
this child in the stable in
God has sent His own Son, born,
as Paul says,
of a
woman……..
so
that from where we are, as One of us, He might lead us back to the living God
AMEN
Greatness
Giotto’s fresco in the Arena
Chapel at
that
wonderful great work depicting the birth of Jesus……
I have tried to paint it for
you in your mind’s eye……..
the
stable, the mountains beyond,
Mary, with the infant Jesus
next to her, Joseph, sitting on the ground outside,
one
ox, one ass, four sheep, a lamb, and a goat….
I didn’t mention, however, that
there are two very strong looking men, who are obviously shepherds…… standing
at a distance, looking on………..
What Giotto has done, you see, is to depict at the same time Luke’s account of Jesus’ birth, along with the account of how the angels came to the shepherds in the fields……….
As we read
further on in Luke’s gospel, we see how Luke unfolds the significance of what
happens in
8. And there were shepherds living out in
the fields near
by, keeping watch
over their flocks at night. Luke tells us,
9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them,
and the glory of
the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
10 But the angel said
to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring
you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.
11 Today in the town
of
you; he is Christ the Lord.
12 This will be a
sign to you: You will find a baby
wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13 Suddenly a great
company of the heavenly host appeared
with the angel, praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God
in the highest, and on earth peace to men
on whom his favour rests."
15 When the angels
had left them and gone into heaven, the
shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to
see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us
about."
16 So they hurried
off and found Mary and Joseph, and the
baby, who was lying in the manger.
17 When they had seen
him, they spread the word concerning
what had been told them about this child,
18 and all who heard
it were amazed at what the shepherds
said to them.
Luke, you see, is declaring to
us more of how the living God has come to us;
only
now, the gospel writer draws our eyes away from the stable,
where
Jesus is born……this baby is born……
in the
everydayness of life
beginning
his life…. as all of us do… at a place, at a time…….
this child Jesus, absolutely part of everyday life…..
Now, Luke draws our eyes away
from the stable,
from
the quietness of the birth of Jesus,
from
the mundane everydayness of the shepherds in the fields, doing their ordinary
job.
Luke draws our eyes away from
the stable,
the
lowliness, the ordinariness of the stable, Luke draws our eyes now away from
earth, from the inn, from the stable, from
Luke draws our eyes away from
the stable,
to fix
our eyes firmly on the greater significance, the deeper significance of all
that is taking place.
Here the Gospel of John takes
up the great movement of the Gospel
The child that we look upon in
the stable, says John: is the Word who
was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made. In Him was
life…. The true light that gives light to all, was
coming into the world.
The Word, says John, became a
human being and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory
of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of
grace and truth.
In other words, the gospels
declare to us not simply that earth and heaven are brought together in that
stable in
but
that human life and the life of God
are
brought together,
are
One,
in the
child born there,
that
the everlasting significance of the birth of Jesus
there
in
is
this:
that in Him human life and the life of God
are brought together,
as One
and that is - for our sake !
So, here, our minds, our
hearts, our spirits, our gaze, are lifted to the highest things of all.
AMEN