The context and content of the Nativity
by Jonathan Tame, Jubilee Centre:
[…] As happens so often in political campaigns, quotes are taken out of their context in order to twist meaning or discredit opponents. It’s a blight on public discourse and undermines the values on which democracy rests. However, careful listening and observing the context provides clarity and meaning and can pre-empt so much misunderstanding.
The story of the Nativity, which is also high on the agenda this week in primary schools across the land, is usually taken out of context too. Without context, God’s epoch-defining intervention in human history to rescue and transform the world is turned into an anodyne children’s story, the loose plot of harmless Nativity plays.
That wasn’t the intention of the gospel writers though. Consider the context of Luke’s nativity narrative[1], and the introduction found in Luke 1:5-7:
“In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God…. But they were childless… and they were both very old.”
Here is a political context – Herod was a tyrant whose reign depended on Roman support; he mistrusted everyone and executed his wife and three of his children. Then there is a religious context – a system based on centralised temple worship and the office of hereditary priests. Lastly, Luke introduces a family context – a couple who lived righteously but nevertheless were childless.
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