If you would prefer to listen to this post as a podcast, CLICK HERE.
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NOTE: As has become my annual practice, beginning today and for the next three weeks, i will be posting a total of four stories about the incarnational birth of Jesus. They are fictional first-person accounts of the events that surrounded the advent of Jesus. Some of the characters and details contained in each story are fictional, but you will find the truth they convey to be very REAL!
My prayer is that through the stories you are reminded of the Good News of the Advent this Christmas season. To that end, let’s look at each part of this story through the eyes of four very different eyewitnesses:
Part 1 as told by Jacob the elder (This week – November 30th)
Part 2 as told by Clopas the uncle (December 7th)
Part 3 as told by Eliezer the cousin (December 14th)
Part 4 as told by Annas the scribe (December 21st)
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I am Jacob, the leading elder and rabbi in Nazareth. My father, Joazar, was sent from Jerusalem to this town by the Hasmonean high priest John Hyrcanus II to serve as the first leading elder of our town. Nazareth was one of the towns being established by the Hasmoneans in the uninhabited wilderness. People were relocating here from other parts of Galilee in the quest to establish a new life in a land of greater opportunity.
Those coming were primarily uneducated farmers, vineyard workers, animal herders, and tradesmen. A local synagogue was the first building established in the center of our town and it was my father’s job to oversee its formation.
I was born soon after my parents arrived in Nazareth. While I was still a boy, my father took me to Jerusalem to be educated at the feet of the Sadducean rabbis. For a short while, I was also schooled under the teaching of the sage Hillel who became well-known for his statement: “That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the whole Torah, the rest is the explanation; now go and learn.”
My father raised me to be a Sadducee. Though the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem includes both Pharisees and Sadducees, the latter have enjoyed the favor of the Hasmoneans, as well as the Romans, because we esteem power and control over the finer details of doctrine. I share my father’s belief that power and prestige are definitely preferred over piety.
My education focused on the tenets of the law of Moses in a similar way to the Pharisees but dismissed the idea of our own immortality. I was raised to believe that there is no resurrection of the dead either for punishment or reward. Our actions, like our souls, stop at the grave. That means our actions today yield their own reward, and money and power are the most desirous of those rewards.
I soon understood that the law can be leveraged in a very convenient way to gain even greater power and control. I studied diligently and modeled the behaviors I witnessed in my father and my teachers. It equipped me for my return to Nazareth to follow my father as the lead elder.
While in Jerusalem, I also experienced the disdain that people in Judea held for Galileans. The people of Galilee were considered uneducated, unsophisticated, and ordinary. When I told people I was born in Nazareth, many asked, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” I soon learned to say my family came from Jerusalem. That statement received greater respect no matter where I was in Judea or Galilee.
As a matter of fact, my father arranged my marriage to the daughter of a Sadducean leader in Jerusalem in order to further build up my social pedigree. I knew from a young age that everything was about outward appearance – and that includes our religious practices. Do not give an offering without making sure that others see you give. Do not pray if others cannot hear you. Do not help someone unless you know they can do something for you in return.
Nazareth is a small town, so it is fairly easy to stay abreast of all the news. I am in the most powerful role in our town. I am fully aware that knowledge is power, so I work to stay informed under the guise of my spiritual leadership of the people. My role as rabbi and elder gives me the ability to use that knowledge to lead our people to think and act in a way that best suits me.
Eli the carpenter lives in our town. His father, Matthat, arrived in Nazareth at the same time as my father. He was one of the main craftsmen responsible for building our synagogue. Matthat was a skilled worker, known for his kindness and humility. The same is true of Eli.
Eli’s now deceased wife bore him a daughter named Mary. She was a pleasant girl who showed great strength of character and compassion as she grew. As I watched Mary come of age, I knew she would be a much sought-after prize for our eligible young men. So, I was surprised last year when Eli announced her betrothal to Joseph the carpenter. The day of the wedding feast was set for one year later.
Joseph is about the same age as Eli and also a widower – his wife died soon after Eli’s wife. I knew that Eli and Joseph were good friends, but I never expected Eli to select Joseph to be his daughter’s husband. And I was not alone. I overheard several conversations at the synagogue about that very subject. Between Joseph’s age and his limited prospects, many of Eli’s neighbors thought he could have done much better in selecting a husband for his daughter.
A few weeks after the betrothal was announced, Mary left Nazareth. It was all arranged very quickly. We heard she was going to visit her cousin. Eli arranged for her to join a caravan of merchants traveling to Hebron. He told me Mary was going to provide a helping hand to her elderly cousin who was expecting her first child.
Three months later, Mary returned home. Two days after that, Joseph took her to be his wife. We were all surprised, but if that is what they decided to do, we would accept it.
But we soon discovered that Mary was with child – and the midwife told me she was a little more than three months along in her pregnancy. That meant she was either pregnant just before leaving for Hebron or soon after arriving there. So that left people wondering whether Joseph and Mary had consummated their marriage before they took their vows – or if Mary had engaged in an adulterous act.
As the lead elder and rabbi of our town, it was my responsibility to find out which was the case. I sent word to Eli, Joseph, and Mary to come meet with me in the synagogue. When they arrived, Eli spoke first. “Rabbi, thank you for inviting us to come speak with you. We have planned to do so, but events have unfolded quickly. We want you and all of our neighbors to rejoice with us in our good news. So, please allow us to tell you what has occurred. Mary will speak first.”
But before Mary could speak, I said, “It is my duty to know what has transpired so the reputation of this synagogue and our citizens is in no way sullied. I have been told that Mary is more than three months pregnant, so events have not unfolded all that quickly. I need to determine if anything has occurred that dishonors God or this community. If anything untoward has happened, we will then discuss appropriate action. Mary, I caution you to be certain that you speak the truth.”
“The day before I departed for Hebron,” Mary began, “I was out walking alone in the vineyard when I was approached by one whom I now know to be an angel of the Lord named Gabriel. He told me, ‘You have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His ancestor David. The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. The baby will be holy and He will be the Son of God.’”(1)
She then went on to tell me how the angel told her about her cousin becoming pregnant and relayed the story of how this same angel had spoken to the priest Zechariah. The angel said the priest’s son would be a messenger preparing the way for the baby in Mary’s womb.
Joseph confirmed that he and Mary have not consummated their marriage. She is – and will remain – a virgin until after the baby is born. Then he told me how this same angel had come to him in a dream. The angel told him the child in Mary’s womb had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. Joseph was not to be fearful about proceeding with his marriage to Mary. All of this was to fulfill the prophecy of the prophet Isaiah, “The virgin will conceive a Child.”(2)
Then Eli spoke up and told me how God had given him a peace that his daughter was to be the mother of the Messiah! “This is joyous news!” he said. “The Messiah for whom we have all waited for centuries will soon arrive! Yes, He is even here with us right now – in the womb of my daughter!”
They all looked at me with an exuberant joy on their faces. They were obviously expecting me to join in their celebration! And what’s more, I think they expected me to assemble the entire town to rejoice in their news!
But nothing could have been further from my mind! “I directed you to tell me the truth,” I said, “and all you have told me are these wild stories! You tell me of an angel coming to you, Mary, in a vineyard, and you, Joseph, in a dream. Who are you that an angel of God would come to you? Angels have not walked on this earth for hundreds of years, but you expect me to believe that one has come no less than three times, including to the old priest in the temple! If he had entered the temple, he would have appeared to the High Priest. If he had come to Nazareth, he would have appeared to me. He would not have come to uneducated people such as yourselves!
“Your story is preposterous! How could a virgin conceive a child? Either you all are naïve or have been bewitched by this girl! Or perhaps, Joseph, you decided not to wait for the year as announced but decided to consummate the marriage sooner. And if so, that is your prerogative if you and Eli have come to that agreement. But don’t make up this wild story to cover up your impatience!
“And do not attempt to justify your story by tying it to a questionable prophecy from Isaiah. You know our Hasmonean leaders dispute the veracity of his prophecies, and they deny the belief that the Messiah will be a descendant of David. You have used statements that no one believes to try and justify your lie! How dare you dishonor God and dishonor me by saying these things! This is blasphemy!”
“We have told you the truth!” Eli countered. “The Spirit of God will confirm that truth to you if you seek Him in prayer – just as we have done!”
I could no longer control my anger. “How dare you speak to God’s anointed in that way!” I shouted. “Joseph has said he and Mary have not consummated this marriage. Either he is lying, or Mary has committed adultery with another man. The idea that the Spirit of God has come upon her is preposterous! There are no witnesses to indicate that she has committed adultery. I can only conclude that the two of you have had relations – as is your right – and the baby is a product of that act.
“I will not allow you to tell your outrageous story to the people of this town! If you do, I will denounce it as heresy and call into question whether Mary is an adulteress who deserves to be stoned to death. Otherwise, we will let the people believe that you have terminated your one-year betrothal period and consummated your marriage. There will be no wedding feast!”
I then got up and walked out of the room. As I did, I shook my robes to reflect my disdain for their actions and their words. As they watched me leave, I saw their hurt and disbelief.
In the days that followed, whenever I encountered anyone speaking in hushed tones about Mary, Joseph, or the child in her womb, I would simply look down piously and shake my head. My displeasure and disapproval were obvious from my response – and I would never breathe a word of any of the heresy they had uttered to me. Most people kept them at a distance for the weeks and months that followed.
Several months later, Caesar Augustus announced that a census was to be taken. Everyone was to return to their ancestral hometown to be counted. Nazareth was not anyone’s ancestral hometown, so everyone would be leaving for the census. When it came time, there were a few people who were either too weak or too ill to travel. They remained in town, together with our midwives who would care for them. Eli was one of those who was sick. I couldn’t help but wonder if God was punishing him for his part in the deception.
As I watched Joseph and Mary leaving to make their way to Bethlehem, I again thought about what they had told me. Surely it was all lies. God wouldn’t choose to send His Messiah through a nobody from Nazareth of all places! Would He?
Little did I know the truth. And little was I wanting to know the truth. I would go to my grave with my heart closed off to the truth ….
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You can listen to the audiobook version of this story as narrated by Kyle Bullock by tuning into this week’s episode of my podcast by CLICKING HERE
This story is taken from Little Did We Know, a collection of twenty-five short stories for the Advent season. The book is available through Amazon in standard print, large print, and for your Kindle or Kindle app. It is also available as an audiobook. Click HERE for more information on how you can obtain your copy.
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(1) Luke 1:30-32, 35 (NLT)
(2) Matthew 1:23 (NLT)
Copyright © 2022 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.
Photo by LUMO-The Gospels for the visual age on Lightstock