In this week before Christmas the sights and sounds of the holiday season surround us. Bright lights, delicious aromas and beautiful music are everywhere.  It is easy to see why some people refer to this as “the most wonderful time of the year.” 
 
As Christians we know that the real reason for the season is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.  Our churches display nativity scenes and many stage lavish dramatic presentations. We enjoy singing carols like “O, Holy Night” and “Hark, the Herald Angels Sing” and picturing the images that they evoke.
 
The story of Jesus’ birth is told in the second chapter of the book of Luke.  Verses 1-16 describe what happened to Joseph, Mary, and the shepherds. If you are like me, you’ve read the story many times and have a mental picture of what you think it was like.  Allow me to suggest that our picture is based upon our perspective of the events (and probably pictures that we’ve seen on Christmas cards). However, that perspective is subjective since we tend to see events through our own eyes.  I recently found a few interesting quotes about perspective:
 
“As far as the Moon is concerned, he is always full.”  ~Terri Guillemets
 
“My play was a complete success.  The audience was a failure.”  ~Ashleigh Brilliant
 
“Every exit is an entrance somewhere else.”  ~Tom Stoppard
 
So perspective is very subjective and is shaped by personal opinion and experience. I like to imagine what it would be like to sit down with Joseph, Mary or the shepherds and hear their perspective of that memorable night.  Since I don’t really know what they would say, allow me to suggest some possibilities:
 
Joseph – He was probably still in shock. After all, it had been quite a whirlwind 9 months for him. He had gone from being engaged to a young lady to being a husband and father of a child that he did not sire. Even though he had accepted the responsibility, it couldn’t have been easy for him.  How did he explain the situation to his family and his peers?
 
Mary – It is probable that she was still pretty traumatized too. She had gone from being a carefree young girl, planning her wedding to being pregnant, hastily married and trying to explain that she was still a virgin.  Even though the angel Gabriel had come down and explained things to her, it still couldn’t have been easy.  How did she explain it to Joseph, her parents and even her girlfriends?  Imagine how the neighbors gossiped. Any way you slice it, it wasn’t an easy story to believe.  And 9 months later she is riding on a donkey – in labor.  Now I’ve never ridden on a donkey, but I have been in labor. That couldn’t have been comfortable. Then to add insult to injury she had to deliver the baby among a bunch of smelly animals.
 
Shepherds – Now these guys had spent many nights out in the field taking care of their sheep. Suddenly a bright shining angel appeared. Luke 2:9 says, “They were very afraid”. Ya think? Then just about the time they got used to listening to seeing the angel, an angelic choir appeared and started singing. It definitely was not a “silent night” for those guys.
 
Animals – Even the animals in the manger had to be pretty surprised. This was not an ordinary night for them.  Although we picture them in a stable, in Jesus’ day, animal sheds were typically attached to houses. In Palestine a manger was not normally found in a separate stable; rather, it was “in the main living room of a peasant house, where animals are brought in at night” (R.T. France, The Evidence for Jesus, p. 159). Wherever they were, they must have been pretty surprised by the noises of childbirth and the cry of a newborn baby. It was not a “silent night” for them either.
 
So you see, it’s all about perspective.  As the old adage says, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” I suggest that it applies to memory as well.  So when you read the Christmas story – or any Bible story, remember that there is always more than one perspective.
 
Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

Tags: Adrienne Lee, chirstmas blog, Good News Rev, Luke 2:9, Silent Night