NOTE: For this Advent season, my blog posts have taken a different turn. For the five weeks beginning December 4, i am posting five short stories surrounding the incarnational birth of Jesus. These stories are my gift to you — as faithful readers of this blog. If you missed last week’s post, i invite you to go back and read it. Though i will endeavor to keep each story factual as to the details conveyed through the Gospels – by their nature these stories will be fictional first person accounts involving both historical and fictional characters, as well as fictional details that have been incorporated into each narrative. My prayer is that, through the telling, we witness anew the glory of our Heavenly Father expressed through the incarnational birth of His One and Only Son. To that end, let’s look at the account through the eyes of these five very different individuals:
Joseph – A humble carpenter (December 4)
Achim – Joseph’s cousin (This week - December 11)
Moshe – A Bethlehem shepherd (December 18)
Simeon – An expectant prophet (December 25)
Balthazar – A Babylonian scholar (January 1)
My name is Achim. My family and I live here in Bethlehem – the town of our ancestor David – the shepherd king. Our town is situated in the midst of rolling green hills. Our hills produce some of the best almonds and olives throughout the province. The soil is fertile because we sit on top of an enormous aquifer. As a matter of fact, our water is known to be the best tasting from far and wide. The story is told that some of King David’s mighty men risked their lives by crossing through Philistine lines to get him a cup of this very water from a well situated here in Bethlehem.
Bethlehem was once one of the fortress towns established by King David’s grandson Rehoboam. It was a defensive military installation designed to safeguard the water source that also supplied Jerusalem and other surrounding villages. But now under Roman rule, it is less of a fortress and more of a sleepy village secluded from the noise and activity of Jerusalem.
The hills in and around Bethlehem are ideal for the raising of sheep. Our rich soil and water source provide an abundant food and water supply. The demand for lambs in Jerusalem continues to grow. They are the principal animal sacrifice offered in the Temple throughout the year. And during the feasting days, Jerusalem is filled with pilgrims from all over the land who aren’t able to bring their own animals to sacrifice. The pilgrims rely on the lambs and birds that are available at the Temple. That creates great demand, which creates great opportunity for shepherds in and around Bethlehem to meet that demand.
I am not a shepherd. Like many others in my family, I am a carpenter. There’s not a lot of work for carpenters in Bethlehem, but there is in Jerusalem. It is a bustling city with new structures and dwellings being added every day. With our close proximity to Jerusalem, I am able to benefit from the work there but still able to spend most nights sleeping in my own bed and enjoying my wife’s good cooking.
My wife Miriam and I have three grown sons. My sons all work with me. They are all good sons who never gave Miriam and I cause for concern. They each married self-respecting young women who also grew up right here in Bethlehem. And now Jehovah God has blessed them all with children – which means Miriam and I have been blessed with many grandchildren. My ancestor King Solomon once wrote that “children are a gift from the Lord” and “happy is the man whose quiver is full of them.”(1) And God continues to give me a bigger quiver!
But not only is our quiver getting bigger – so is our home! Each time one of our sons married or they had more children, we added another room. Like most of the homes in our town and throughout the province, our home is made of stone with wood timber beams to support the upper floors. Our home abuts a hill, so the stable for our animals is actually a cave that I enlarged within the hill. With our growing family, a few years ago we began to add a third level to our dwelling. The center courtyard is open to allow for cooking, eating and gathering. That is where we spend most of our time when we are together. The other rooms surround, and on the upper floors overlook, the courtyard. Those rooms provide adequate space for sleeping and privacy. I intentionally added rooms to our home to allow space for our guests that visit from time to time. And as our family grows, we will continue to add more rooms!
Caesar Augustus recently decreed that a census is to be taken and everyone must return to their ancestral home for that purpose. Our extended family has scattered across the provinces, so we have been anticipating the arrival of a large influx of distant and not-so-distant relatives. We will be expected to host them and provide them with lodging. I am grateful that we – as well as our other extended family members who also live here in Bethlehem – are able to accommodate all of them. Some of our family will need to double-up for the few days everyone is here – but that won’t be a problem. Miriam and our daughters-in-law have been busily making preparations. And as the patriarch of our extended family here in town, I have made sure that the other families are doing the same.
One of the relatives I was looking forward to seeing the most is my cousin Joseph. Though we live some distance apart, over the years we have seen one another from time to time. He is just a few years younger than I am and we have much in common, so I have always enjoyed his company. When I last saw him in Jerusalem for the observance of Passover, he told me that he was betrothed to a young girl from his village. Miriam and I were so glad to hear it. There had been too much sadness in his life from the death of his wife Rebekah. The marriage ceremony for he and his bride was still a few months away based upon what he had told me, so I did not expect her to be traveling with him. Even though they were betrothed, she would be traveling with her family for the census since the marriage ceremony had not yet taken place.
But this afternoon, when Joseph arrived at my door, I was surprised to find that a young woman was with him! And not only was she with him, but she was great with child! Miriam immediately came scurrying to the doorway to greet the young girl. “You are radiant, my dear,” Miriam exclaimed, “and you must be weary from your journey.” Then she made a move to embrace the young woman – until I reached out to stop her. She and I looked at each other disapprovingly.
“Achim and Miriam,” Joseph spoke up, “this is Mary, my wife.” Miriam and I looked at Joseph, then at Mary – followed by a not very subtle stare at her obvious “baby-bump.” The silence became awkward. I didn’t know what to say and Miriam knew based upon my actions that she should not say anything.
Joseph again broke the silence and said, “I know you must have questions. But may we come in so that Mary can be seated, and we will explain what all has occurred?” Miriam shook her head affirmatively and reached out a hand to help the young woman step across our threshold. But I continued to block the doorway and removed Miriam’s hand from the girl’s shoulder.
“Yes, I do have questions, Joseph” I said. “And they must be answered before you can enter my home. When is the child she is carrying expected to be born?”
“Any day now,” Joseph replied. He obviously knew what I was about to ask.
“When I last saw you,” I continued, “you told me that you were betrothed to this young woman and the marriage ceremony was still nine months in the future. That was only a little more than six months ago. How can she now be expecting a baby to be born any day, and how is it that she has now come to be your wife well in advance of the date set for your wedding ceremony?”
Joseph responded by telling us the most preposterous story I have ever heard. He said Mary had been visited by an angel who had told her that the Spirit of God would come upon her and she would give birth to His Son. Then the angel had subsequently appeared to Joseph and told him the same thing. So he had gone ahead and married her right then and brought her into his home. He assured me that she was still a virgin.
Either she was a liar and he was so lovestruck that he was blinded to her deception – or they were both liars and had made up this unbelievable story in an attempt to cover their adultery. Who ever heard of Jehovah God coming upon any woman to give birth to a baby? Babies are only conceived one way – and it takes a woman and a man! And whoever heard of angels appearing to anyone? Of course, there were stories in Scripture about how angels appeared to the patriarchs – but that was a long time ago. That doesn’t happen anymore!
Rage began to seethe within me. This was a violation of God’s commandments and I could not accept this. I could not welcome them into my home because I would be lending credence to this outrageous story and violating everything I believe to be righteous and holy. Joseph was my relative – and in many respects had become my dear friend. And yet, here they stood as an abomination before God – expecting to enter into my home as if everything was alright.
In my anger, I told them there was no room for them in my home or in any of the homes of the other members of our family. I even went on to say that I would see to it that they would not be welcome in any home in Bethlehem – there was no room for them! They had sinned against God and they had stained our family name. Then I turned my back to them and said, “Go away from my home!”
Before I turned my back, I saw the hurt in their eyes that my words had caused. I could also see a resignation that confirmed that this was not the first time they had been treated in such a way. I saw sadness, but I did not see anger. Perhaps they had expected a different reaction from family. Perhaps they had expected more compassion or acceptance. After all, darkness was drawing near and I was turning a pregnant woman – expecting a baby at any moment – back out onto the street. And they were family. But my beliefs would not permit me to compromise in any way.
Just then Miriam spoke up. “You can spend the night in our stable. It will provide shelter, and the animals will provide warmth from the cool night air. There is straw to provide you with a comfortable resting place, and I will bring you food and water for the night.” Mid-sentence I had turned toward Miriam to silence her, but she had looked back at me with a look that left no doubt that it was my turn to be silent.
Even with my back turned to them, I heard the young girl say, “Thank you for your kindness.” Then the two of them silently walked away to the stable. At that moment, I regretted what I had said and what I had done. But I couldn’t compromise my convictions – and I just could not believe their story. But nonetheless, I was grateful that Miriam had spoken up. She didn’t speak to me for the rest of the night. She just looked at me with cold eyes. And I knew there was nothing to be said that night that would make things any better between us.
Other distant family members also arrived that night and we welcomed them into our home with open arms. We didn’t tell them – or even our sons and daughters-in-law – about Joseph and Mary, nor did we tell them that they were staying in the stable. Other than the silence that remained between Miriam and me, we went on about the evening with our guests as if nothing unusual had taken place. But there wasn’t a moment that passed that I didn’t think about them.
Little did I know what would occur that very night….
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(1)Psalm 127:3, 5 NLT
Copyright © 2019 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.
First published on kenwinter.org