“From Nazareth to Bethlehem”, Summaries of Religion

Download “From Nazareth to Bethlehem” and more Summaries Religion in PDF only on Docsity! Rev. Ouk-Yean Kim Jueng December 23, 2018 Page 1 of 4 The Journey to Bethlehem sermon series “From Nazareth to Bethlehem” Luke 2:1-7 This Advent, we have been reading stories of Jesus’ birth by using Adam Hamilton’s book Journey as a reference. After reflecting on the two stories of the angel’s visit, one to Mary and the other to Joseph, last Sunday, we looked at Mary’s visit to Elizabeth. Soon after the angel visited her with the news of her up- coming pregnancy, Mary went to see her relative who was in the 6th month of her own pregnancy. Eliza- beth’s home was in Ein Karem, about 80 miles south of her hometown, Nazareth. And Mary would stay there until Elizabeth delivered her child. Highly likely, it was during Mary’s three month-stay with Elizabeth that Joseph found out what was really going on with his fiancé. According to the Gospel of Matthew, being a righteous man, Joseph initially had planned to dismiss her quietly. He did not want to subject her to public disgrace and even potential death (because back then a woman accused of adultery could be stoned to death). But, Joseph changed his mind when an angel appeared in his dream and told him how Mary had become pregnant. She had conceived through the Holy Spirit, and the child in her womb was going to be Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. And perhaps to emphasize that it is not Joseph's biological child, Matthew writes that he took her home, but did not lay with her until she had delivered the baby. Where was Joseph’s home? Was it in Bethlehem or in Nazareth? Did Joseph and Mary get married before Jesus was born? Based on Jesus’ birth story recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, one might assume that Joseph and Mary got married and were living in Bethlehem because that's where Jesus was born. But, if you read the story carefully, you realize that Matthew does not give you clear answers to these questions. In the first century, it was typical for a married couple to live with the husband’s parents until they could afford their own home. And, according to the birth story of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Luke, Joseph and Mary lived in Nazareth. Since they lived there, we might assume that Joseph married Mary in Naza- reth as soon as she came back home from Elizabeth’s house and continued to live there because it was where he and his parents lived. However, Luke says Joseph and Mary were still not married when they went down to Bethlehem to be registered for a census. Late into Mary’s pregnancy, the Roman Emperor had ordered a census, requiring all the residents in his empire to register in their hometowns. The purpose of the census was to collect more taxes from people. And so, Joseph and Mary had to travel to Bethlehem, the city of King David, because he belonged to the family of David. Because she was engaged to him and carrying his child in her womb, Mary also had to go to be registered as she was now considered part of Joseph’s family. Scholars believe there would have been two possible routes for their trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem: The road less traveled involved going through Samaria. Many Jews despised the Samaritans because they con- sidered the residents of Samaria unclean. Some Jews believed it was dangerous to travel through the region Rev. Ouk-Yean Kim Jueng December 23, 2018 Page 2 of 4 of Samaria. So, for reasons of purity and/or safety, many Jews avoided Samaria when they traveled south from the Galilee region, even though it meant adding two more days or 20-30 miles to their itinerary. However, it is possible that Mary and Joseph took this less favored route through Samaria on their jour- ney to Bethlehem. It was not uncommon for the Jews to take this route during the Passover, when large numbers of people traveled to the Jerusalem temple. And it's likely that there were many people traveling south for the census. So, Joseph and Mary were probably in a caravan going through Samaria because this would have cut down on a couple of days of travel. Of course, Mary and Joseph’s traveling through Samaria on their way to Bethlehem is pure speculation, and there is no way to prove which road they chose. But, I believe it is highly possible that they traveled through Samaria, especially when we consider Jesus’ attitude towards the Samaritans. Unlike many other Jews of his time, Jesus did not seem to have any prejudice towards Samaria and its residents. The Gospel of John says Jesus intentionally went into the region of Samaria and ministered to its residents, starting with a woman he encountered at a well. In one of his parables recorded in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus made a Samaritan man a great example of loving your neighbor as you love yourself. And where do you think Jesus learned that kind of openness towards Samaritans? Perhaps, he learned it from his own earthly parents, as our children would do. A couple of months ago, I caught my 6-year old grandson, Gabriel looking down at his baby sister with a gaze of great affection and saying these words, “Olivia, you do not know how much I love you.” I couldn’t believe it because they were the words his dad used to tell him when he was a little baby! Truly, our children inherit so much more than just our genes. They learn from what we say and do… Here is a question worth pondering as we imagine Mary and Joseph’s travel down to Bethlehem through Samaria. Where is our Samaria and who are our Samaritans? Who in our own community, in our nation, in the world make us feel uncomfortable, unsafe, and threatened? Are they the homeless, sleeping on our streets? Are they the undocumented in our communities, living in fear? Are they the migrants, unwel- comed and denied at the borders? Like any other Jew of his time, Jesus could have ignored and avoided the Samaritans. It would have been the legal thing to do for a Jewish Rabbi. Yet, he overcame his society's prejudice towards Samaria and its people, reaching out to them and embracing them as God’s children. As his followers, we ought to learn from his example and do as he did. Coming back to Joseph and Mary’s travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem, while we do not know exactly which route they took, we do know this: going from Nazareth to Bethlehem, a 7-10 days journey by walk, was not an easy trip to make for anyone, let alone a pregnant woman in her third trimester! The beginning of Mary and Joseph’s journey would have been relatively easy going as they descended from the hills of Nazareth. But, after that, it would have gotten more and more challenging as they as- cended and descended through the hills and mountains. Then, the last part of their trip would have been