o The Holy Family is in both
Now three years before his death it befell that he was
minded, at the town of Greccio, to celebrate the
memory of the Nativity of the Child Jesus, with all the
added solemnity that he might, for the kindling of
devotion. That this might not seem an innovation, he
sought and obtained license from the Supreme Pontiff,
and then made ready a manger, and bade that hay,
together with an ox and ass, be brought unto the spot.
The friars were called together, the folk assembled, the
wood echoed with their voices, and that august night
was made radiant and solemn with many bright lights,
and with tuneful and sonorous praises. The man of God,
filled with tender love, stood before the manger,
bathed in tears, and overflowing with joy. Solemn
Masses were celebrated over the manger, Francis, the
levite of Christ, chanting the Holy Gospel. Then he
preached unto the folk standing around at the Birth of
the King of poverty, calling Him, when he wished to
name Him, the Child of Bethlehem, by reason of his
tender love for Him. A certain knight, valorous and true,
Messer Giovanni di Greccio, who for the love of Christ
had left the secular army and was bound by closest
friendship unto the man of God, declared that he
beheld a little Child right fair to see, sleeping in that
manger, who seemed to be awakened from sleep when
the blessed Father Francis embraced Him in both arms.
Affective and speculative blend needed by a mature
Christian spirituality—and church. Creche is clearly
affective.
Creche is dominant vehicle for telling Christmas
story; it’s based in biblical sources but isn’t a biblical
story. And that’s ok—humans are story-tellers by
nature.
The issue is determining whether the stories we tell
are consistent with the Good News of what God has
done in Christ.
Only Matthew and Luke have birth narratives but
these turn out to be complementary more than
anything
o Matthew is all about prophecy fulfillment; Luke is
interested in telling an OT style story.
o We can actually group the crèche figures into four
main groups: the Holy Family, the animals, the
shepherds and the 3 kings.
o The Shepherds come from Luke
o The animals—well, we’ll talk about those in a
second
o The Kings come from Matthew.
Speaking theologically, when it comes to our
personal and churchly stories about the Gospel
there are three root possibilities: they can proclaim
the Gospel, amplify the Gospel, or obscure the
Gospel. Interestingly enough, our three groups do
just these:
o The Shepherds proclaim the Gospel
o The animals amplify the Gospel
o The Kings obscure the Gospel (But don’t worry,
we’ll come back and redeem the Kings)
The Shepherds
o Classic Luke move: shepherds are the outsiders
and the nobodies, yet the angels invite them.
o Deep symbolic resonance: shepherd used as a
metaphor for kingship—YHWH in Pss 77-80, 95,
100, etc. Kings as shepherds of Israel: Jer 23, Eze
34. David as the classic image of the messianic
king
Animals
o How did Mary get to Bethlehem? No animals
mentioned—yet at the first crèche, Francis had an
ox and an ass. And just think of how many carols
have this specific pair: ox and ass?
o Isaiah 1:1-3 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz,
which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in
the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah,
kings of Judah. 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O
earth; for the LORD has spoken: "Sons have I
reared and brought up, but they have rebelled
against me. 3 The ox knows its owner, and the ass
its master's crib; but Israel does not know, my
people does not understand."
o Shades of John’s prologue—in the world, world
knew him not; came to own people, people knew
him not.
Kings
o The notion of “kings” actually obscures the Gospel
because it blunts one of Matthew’s sharp edges.
“Wise men” actually isn’t any better.
o Magos, magoi—Persian priests. This is the
standard Greco-Roman usage; Apuleius and Pliny
make this very plain.
o The first people to honor Jesus in Matthew’s
Gospel are pagan priests!!
o “Kings” is actually redeemable, though. The key
for Matthew is Gentile, and Kings can preserve
that.
o These folks typically aren’t dressed like Persians
and there’s always a camel. Why?
o Isa 60:3-6 And the Gentiles shall come to thy
light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising. 4
Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they
gather themselves together, they come to thee:
thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters
shall be nursed at thy side. 5 Then thou shalt see,
and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and
be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea
shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the
Gentiles shall come unto thee. 6 The multitude of
camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of
Midian and Ephah; all they from Sheba shall
come: they shall bring gold and frankincense; and
they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.
o Actually about the temple, rather than a person
but who’s counting…
o Also, Psalm 72:10-11, 15 10 The kings of Tarshish
and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of
Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. 11 Yea, all kings
shall fall down before him: all nations shall serve
him. . . . And he shall live, and to him shall be
given of the gold of Sheba: prayer also shall be
made for him continually; and daily shall he be
praised.
o But this psalm is about a messianic king!
o So the move from magi to king can be an
obscuring move but, when the OT references are
added, it can be redeemed as an amplification.
o On the plus side, king makes quite an interesting
contrast with Shepherd, though, perhaps even a
better one than spooky religious professionals.