December 20, 2020 Norwalk First United Methodist Church the Journey Fourth Sunday of Advent

December 20, 2020 Norwalk First United Methodist Church The Journey Fourth Sunday of Advent From Nazareth to Bethlehem Luke 2:1-7 So far on this Advent journey, we have witnessed the angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary about conceiving the Messiah, Joseph’s dream about marrying Mary and becoming the father of Jesus, and Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth in the village of Ein Karem near Bethlehem. While she was visiting her cousin, Mary probably told Joseph of the pregnancy by the Holy Spirit and Joseph probably told Mary of his dream. The couple undoubtedly expedited a trip back to Nazareth so that wedding plans could be arranged. It was not unheard of in those days for an engaged couple like Mary and Joseph to be found pregnant before the wedding day. The fact that they were formally engaged meant that, for legal purposes, they were already married. Thus a pregnancy, after the formal engagement, was less scandalous than a pregnancy where there was no formal engagement as yet. From the timeline, we can surmise that Mary may have been about five months pregnant on the day she was married. She had traveled nine days to Elizabeth’s home, spent three months there, journeyed nine days back, and then probably spent several weeks to pull together the wedding ceremony. Adam Hamilton writes in his book, The Journey, “In the first century, a couple who wed would typically move in with the husband’s parents in a room he would add to their home, until he could afford to acquire land and build a home for his wife and family. So, we would have expected Joseph and Mary to take up residence in Bethlehem after the formal ceremony.” “But we know from Luke’s Gospel that they remained in Nazareth after the wedding, and it seems reasonable to suppose that they did so because Mary was five months pregnant. The journey to Bethlehem, after all, would have taken about ten days and placed a great strain on her at this advanced stage of the - 1 - pregnancy. Perhaps more importantly,” Hamilton continues, “remaining in Nazareth would have allowed Mary’s mother to be nearby and would have given Mary an opportunity to use a midwife she knew.” Luke’s Gospel indicates that Mary and Joseph settled into life in Nazareth during the final trimester of Mary’s pregnancy. Joseph may have been working in Sepphoris as a carpenter while Mary stayed in Nazareth to prepare for the day her child would be born. Would you pray with me? PRAYER In the ninth month of Mary’s pregnancy, Roman soldiers arrived in Nazareth to announce that the emperor had commanded a census and that every Jewish family must return to the husband’s hometown to be counted. The census was for the purpose of levying taxes and Joseph’s property, that of his parents, and the carpentry business were in Bethlehem. Now Joseph’s wife, Mary was bound to return with Joseph to his hometown of Bethlehem. “And everyone went to his own town to register,” our scripture says. Now there were two possible routes Joseph and Mary might have taken to Bethlehem. The first route would have taken Joseph and Mary to the east of Nazareth, across the Jordan River, then south sixty miles, and finally back across the Jordan near Jericho and west to Bethlehem. This would be the route if they wanted to avoid going through the region of Samaria. Most Jews, when traveling, tried to avoid the Samaritans in this area, because they were a people of mixed descent who didn’t follow the prescribed Jewish laws. It was this region of Samaria that separated the northern region of Galilee, where Nazareth was, from the southern region of Judea where Bethlehem and Jerusalem were. Many Jews considered the Samaritans unclean and did not want to make contact with them. However, this second route, was the one probably taken by Joseph and Mary. It was a direct route that would have been almost two days shorter, but went directly south through the region of the Samaritans. With the census, there would have been many Jews traveling this route. The route took them nearly due south from Nazareth through the Jezreel Valley and along the road known as the - 2 - Way of the Patriarchs. The first half of the route was easier than the second half which included some hills and mountains. The Way of the Patriarchs was quite meaningful. It included almost sixteen hundred years of biblical history. This route was a geographical recounting of God’s “salvation history” with the Jews. This time, the journey would be the apex of this history with the birth of a Savior. Hamilton writes, “It was in this area, in the center of the country, that God appeared to Abraham and promised to give this land to his descendants. Here Jacob saw angels ascending and descending to and from heaven. Mary and Joseph’s caravan made camp near springs and wells each night that had been used since the time of the patriarchs, including “Jacob’s Well” near the town of Sychar.” Hamilton continues, “They passed the place where Joseph, the son of Jacob, whose story we recall from the Old Testament, was buried after his bones were brought back from Egypt. They came to Shiloh, where Joshua had set up the tent of meeting and the ark of the covenant. They walked where the great early prophets Samuel, Elijah, and Elisha ministered. They followed the path of the Assyrian army when it came to destroy the Northern Kingdom of Israel and where the armies of Babylon marched as they invaded Judea and Jerusalem itself and carried away its people.” Folks, God walked with his people through all these journeys and now he was walking with Mary and Joseph as they made their way to Bethlehem along the same route. Imagine the feelings Mary and Joseph must have had when they saw the hills of Jerusalem on that ninth or tenth day of their journey. Imagine Mary’s relief that the journey in her ninth month of pregnancy was almost over. Imagine how they felt as they saw the Holy City, Jerusalem, spread before them on the hills. I am sure their eyes were naturally drawn to one hill, Mount Moriah, where the Temple rose high above everything else. The Temple represented God’s earthly dwelling place, a symbol of God’s presence, where heaven met earth; a place that was so important to their Jewish faith. From Jerusalem, it would have been only a few hours’ walk to Bethlehem, across several miles of arid desert and some hills. The Gospel writer Luke tells us that “while they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child.” As many of you know, we typically think of this story as Joseph and Mary arriving in Bethlehem, and Joseph, being a typical guy, has - 3 - not made reservations in advance at the local inn. With so many visitors in Bethlehem for the census, the innkeeper offers them space in the stable and that is where Jesus is born. Well, Mary did give birth in a stable and laid the Christ Child in a feeding trough. But let’s think of this story in a different way knowing what we do about living arrangements in the first century. Remember, Joseph was from Bethlehem, so why would he and Mary have needed to stay in an inn? Wouldn’t they have stayed with Joseph’s family? You see, the Greek word that is translated in most versions of Luke’s Gospel as “inn” is “kataluma.” But the more accurate translation of this word is guest room. With Joseph’s family being carpenters and probably of limited income, they would have had one guest room in their house. The guest room might hold bed mats for six people sleeping side by side. The main living room and kitchen could sleep several more. But if Joseph’s extended family, possibly four or five siblings with their families as well, was staying at his parent’s house, then it is easy to see why there would have been no room in the “kataluma,” or guest room. Also, according to the Book of Leviticus, that when a woman gives birth to a son, she becomes unclean until her child is circumcised on the eighth day after he is born. It is the discharge of blood and water at childbirth that causes her to be ritually unclean. Anyone who touches a woman who is unclean becomes unclean. And anything the woman lies on or touches becomes unclean as well. So, with the whole family in one place in Bethlehem, Joseph’s parents probably set up a birthing room in their barn to give Mary and Joseph privacy and to keep everyone and everything in the house from becoming ritually unclean. For a poor family with limited resources and only a single guest room, the stable may have been the best option they could offer. Hamilton writes, “I still imagine, as Mary sat on the birthing stool, that between contractions she must have been forcing back the tears. This was not how it was supposed to be – giving birth in her in-laws barn. I imagine the midwife saying to her, ‘Child, it’s going to be all right. Trust me. I’ve delivered in worse settings. At least you have your privacy. I’m here, and God is here, and you’re going to be fine.’” The long-awaited Messiah’s birth came in the midst of the messiness, disappointment, and pain.

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