FOUR PERSPECTIVES ON CHRISTMAS

  

                                             Four-Fold (2011, collage and acrylic)

The four Gospel accounts of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus provide a good example of why we need such apparent duplication in the Bible. Each of the evangelists approaches the subject from an entirely different viewpoint, and we need all of these views to get a wholly rounded picture of the event.

Matthew writes from a very Jewish perspective to show how Jesus, from an earthly background is fully rooted in the history of the people of Israel with a genealogy reaching back to Abraham and including such prominent people as Judah, David, Solomon, and Josiah in his lineage. As the story proceeds, events are carefully led along to their desired conclusion by a series of angelic appearances to both Joseph and the wise men to guide their movements and protect the Christ child from the machinations of Herod.

Mark gives the most stripped-down account of the four, really devoting only the first verse of his Gospel to the birth itself: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God.” As short as this verse is, it is nevertheless packed with significance. It tells us that this is only the beginning of the good news (“gospel”) that will be conveyed to us by Christ's coming to earth; it introduces us to a personage who is at the same time a human being (Jesus) and the long-expected Jewish Messiah (Christ); and most importantly, tells us that He is actually the very Son of the God Most High.

Whereas Matthew gives a Jewish slant on the story through enumeration of his prominent ancestry, Luke firmly roots his narrative in the background of Roman (i.e. pagan) culture, beginning with a required census of all the people for taxation purposes. From this point on, the story appears to be told from the perspective of the mother Mary, signaling that Luke is going to bring in groups of people held in relatively low regard in Jewish society of the time: women, shepherds, and pagans (magi). Thus, we read of Elizabeth's blessing in vv. 1:-45, Mary's hymn in 1:46-56, and the prophetess Anna's thanks to God in 2:36-38. But that doses not mean that Luke's account ignores the Jewish elements present in the narrative, as we can see from the many fulfillments of and allusions to the Old Testament and the prophets found in these verses.

The most intriguing of the four Gospels is that of John since he skips over the earthly elements of the story and begins by opening the curtain on heaven itself in his poetic prelude in his first chapter. Here we see Christ in his pre-incarnate state with the Father at the very beginning of Creation and are told that without Christ's presence there would have been no Creation. Also in John 1:17 we discover that whereas Moses came with the law, grace and truth came only through the Son.

Of course, even these four inspired accounts do not exhaust the complete truth of what happened on that fateful day. For that revelation, we will all have to wait until that time when we will fully know just as we are fully known by God.