| Letters of Aquila and Priscilla |
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I am bringing you good news (Lk 2:1) |
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A few more days and it is Christmas! Many members of our community are now preparing to leave Jakarta to spend Christmas with their families, relatives and friends in Manila or elsewhere. Those who are staying in Jakarta are looking forward to helping in preparing for and to serving during the traditional Christmas Masses. Some are awaiting the arrival of their loved ones – children studying in Manila or parents, brothers or sisters who are spending their holidays in Jakarta. Since last week Jean has already decorated our house. The angel figures are in place, the Christmas decors are on the walls, the Christmas tree is up and lighted, the Advent wreath is on the table, and the Christmas crib is on the family altar. As I gaze at the figures in the Christmas crib, I notice that there are three sheep, a donkey, a camel and a cow. There are also two young shepherds one of whom is carrying a sheep on his shoulder. Then there are the three magi or the three kings. And of course Mary and Joseph are there looking lovingly at the child in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. While reflecting on the scene that has become so familiar to all of us, the thought of the three magi paying homage to Jesus alongside the young shepherds crossed my mind. I wondered. Did Mathew’s wise men from the East really meet Luke’s Jewish shepherds while visiting the Holy Family? Or is it just an artist’s portrayal of an event that has profound theological significance? In fact so profound that the real meaning is often lost to most of us? Of the four Gospels, only the Gospels of Matthew and Luke contain an account of the conception, birth and childhood of Jesus. These so-called “infancy narratives” are presented in the first two chapters of the two gospels. But the infancy narrative in Matthew is considerably different from that in Luke. The Gospel of Matthew starts with the genealogy of Jesus (Mt 1:1-17) that is different from the genealogy which Luke placed in Chapter 3 of his Gospel outside the infancy narrative. Matthew then describes the appearance of the angel of the Lord to Joseph in a dream (Mt 1:18-24). In Chapter 2, Matthew relates the visit of the wise men from the East guided by a star, their encounter with Herod, and their finding Jesus and Mary in a house: On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage (Mt 2:11). The infancy narrative ends with a description of the escape to Egypt, the massacre of the infants, and the Holy Family’s return from Egypt. The Gospel of Luke, on the other hand, begins with an episode concerning Zechariah and Elizabeth and the prophecy about the birth of John the Baptist. This is followed by a description of the appearance of the angel to Mary, the prophecy about the birth of Jesus, and Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Luke then presents Mary’s song of praise, the well-known Magnificat. Chapter 1 ends with an account of the birth of John the Baptist and Zechariah’s prophecy, the Benedictus. Chapter 2 of Luke begins with the Roman census which brought Joseph and Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem where Jesus was born: And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (Lk 2:7). It then related the angelic announcement to the shepherds and the shepherds finding “Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger"”(Lk 2:16). The narrative continues with the naming of Jesus, his presentation at the temple, the family’s return to Nazareth, and the finding of the boy Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem. Fr. Raymond Brown in A Coming Christ in Advent summarizes his observations on the infancy narratives: If it comes as a shock to many Christians to find that Matthew and Luke are our only sources for knowledge about Jesus’ infancy, it may be an even greater shock to realize that the two Gospels differ so much. Matthew gives a picture wherein Mary and Joseph live at Bethlehem and have a house there. The coming of the magi, guided by the star, causes Herod to slay children at Bethlehem and the Holy Family to flee to Egypt. The fact that Herod’s son Archelaus rules in Judea after him makes Joseph afraid to return to Bethlehem, and so he takes the child and his mother to Galilee to the town of Nazareth – obviously for the first time. Luke, on the other hand, tells us that Mary and Joseph lived at Nazareth and went to Bethlehem only temporarily because they had to register there during a Roman census. The statement that Mary gave birth to her child and laid him in a manger because there was no place for them in “the inn” implies that they had no house of their own in Bethlehem. And Luke’s account of the peaceful return of the Holy Family from Bethlehem through Jerusalem to Nazareth leaves no room for the coming of the magi or a struggle with Herod. Some scholars have tried very hard to reconcile the differences between Matthew and Luke but with little convincing success. A greater fidelity to Scripture as we have received it would recognize that the Holy Spirit was content to give us two different accounts and that the way to interpret them faithfully is to treat them separately. Sometimes the drive to harmonize them arises from the false idea that, since Scripture is inspired, each infancy account must be completely historical. For some fifty years since Pope Pius XII, the Catholic Church has taught firmly and clearly that the Bible is a library handed down to us by Israel and the early church. In that collection of inspired books there are many different types of literature, including poetry, drama, history, and fiction. Indeed between history and fiction there is a whole range of possibilities covering imaginative retellings that have a core of fact. Too much worry about historicity and sources of information distracts from the inspired meaning of the biblical text, which is centered on what the two evangelists were trying to teach us – the religious message on which they both agree. There are two major points in that message: first, the identity of Jesus; second, his role as the dramatic embodiment of the whole of Israel’s history. Fr. Raymond Brown’s monumental work, The Birth of the Messiah, a 750-page commentary of the first two chapters of Matthew and Luke, meticulously explores each facet of the Infancy Narratives – from Jesus’ conception to the Annunciation, the travels of the magi, the watching shepherds, and the mysterious star. He observes that while it is not possible to historically harmonize the two accounts, there are however eleven points that are shared by the two infancy narratives
Fr. Brown observes that “since it is generally agreed among scholars that Matthew and Luke wrote independently of each other, without knowing the other’s work, agreement between the two infancy narratives would suggest the existence of a common infancy tradition earlier than either evangelist’s work – a tradition that would have a claim to greater antiquity and thus weigh on the plus side of the historical scale. In Birth of the Messiah, Fr. Brown examines the purpose of the Infancy Narratives and the possible reasons why Matthew and Luke included them in their gospels. He concludes that “the Infancy Narratives are used to introduce the career and significance of Jesus and to serve as vehicles of their theology: They were written to make Jesus’ origins intelligible against the background of the fulfillment of Old Testament expectations. The style of the use of the Old Testament is very different in the two infancy narratives (and so the same term derived from a method of interpreting Scripture can scarcely be used to describe both); but the common instinct to draw so heavily upon the Scriptures suggests that for each evangelist the infancy narrative was to supply a transition from the Old Testament to the Gospel – the christological preaching of the Church presented in the imagery of Israel.” Matthew and Luke use the infancy narratives to reveal the identity of Jesus. While they use different images in their narratives, they however agree that Jesus is of the house of David through Joseph. Therefore, Jesus is truly the Son of David. Both evangelists also agree that Mary conceived Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Jesus is truly the Son of God. In both Gospels, an angel proclaims the identity of Jesus. And both Gospels stress the same message: the urgent need to share with others the identity of Jesus as Son of David and Son of God. In Matthew, this “good news” is made known to the Gentile magi: Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising and have come to pay homage (Mt 2:2). In Luke, this is shared with the Jewish shepherds: I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord (Lk 2:10). While the characters differ in the two narratives, the message is exactly the same: the “good news” must not be kept to oneself; it must be eagerly shared with others. The two infancy narratives also tell us that the good news will not be accepted by all. In Matthew, it was rejected by Herod and the chief priests and the scribes. In Luke, Simeon warned that the “child is destined for the falling and rising of many in Israel (Lk 2:34). By revealing Jesus’ identity and foretelling His rejection, the infancy narratives become the whole gospel: Bethlehem’s manger lies under the shadow of Calvary’s cross. The second message of the infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke is a portrayal of the whole of the Old Testament. Fr. Brown in Birth of the Messiah asserts that similarities between Old Testament stories and the infancy narratives are deliberate and symbolic aimed at conveying a profound theological message. The genealogy of Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew encapsulates the story of the patriarchs and the rise and fall of the Jewish kings from David to the Babylonian exile. Matthew’s infancy narrative reenacts the story of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. The New Testament’s Joseph, who receives revelation in dreams and goes to Egypt, is deliberately reminiscent of the Old Testament’s Joseph. King Herod who ordered the killing of children is the wicked Pharaoh of the Old Testament. Just as God spared the life of Moses, the one who will save his people, God also spared the life of Jesus, the Savior. And as magi from the East came to pay homage to Jesus, in the story of Moses, the Magus Balaam came from the East and saw the star of the Davidic king rise from Israel (Nm 22-24). Fr. Brown observes that in Luke the same story of Israel is presented but in a more subtle way. Zechariah and Elizabeth mirror Abraham and Sarah in Genesis, the first Book of the Law. The messenger of revelation is Gabriel, the angel of the endtime who appears in Daniel, the last book of the Hebrew Scriptures to be composed. The annunciations and conceptions of John the Baptist and Jesus echo Old Testament birth annunciations. The four canticles (Magnificat, Benedictus, Gloria in Excelsis, and Nunc Dimittis) have parallels in the book of the Prophets and the Psalms. Jesus’ presentation in the temple echoes Hannah’s presentation of Samuel. The infancy narratives tell us the good news that Jesus, the Son of God, has come to save us. The narratives further tell us that we who hear God’s word must accept it – and upon accepting it, share it with others. But in sharing it with others, we must not be content with just repeating it. Rather we must interpret the gospel by living it out so that others may really see it as good news. My brothers and sisters, as we prepare for Christmas, let us ask ourselves how we are going to interpret for others what we believe happens at Christmas. Let us proclaim to others not only with our lips, but more importantly, with the way we live, with the way we relate to others, these words: I am bringing you good news … Jesus is born today …He will save His people from their sins. |