Every year, millions of people sing the beautiful carol “Silent Night” with the line “all is calm, all is bright.”
We all know that the Christmas story is one that proclaims peace and joy, and it permeates our holidays, family gatherings, and gift giving. Countless Christmas cards depict the Holy Family – illuminated by the stars, in a quaint stable, nestled in a sleepy little village.
However, when I began researching my book about the childhood of Jesus, Boy Jesus: Growing Up Jewish in Turbulent Timesthis hymn began to sound dramatically wrong in terms of the actual circumstances of his family at the time of his birth.
The gospel stories themselves tell of turmoil and danger. For example, the “manger” was actually a foul-smelling donkey trough. A newborn baby placed in one is a profound sign given to the shepherds who guarded their flocks at night from dangerous wild animals (Luke 2:12).
Let's take King Herod for example. He comes onto the scene in the Christmas stories without any introduction at all, and readers should know that he is the bearer of bad news. But Herod was appointed by the Romans as their trusted governor of the province of Judea. He remained in his post for a long time because, in Roman terms, he did a decent job.
Jesus' family claimed to be descended from the kings of Judah, descended from David, and expected to produce a future ruler. The Gospel of Matthew begins with the entire genealogy of Jesus, so important is it to his personality.
But a few years before the birth of Jesus, Herod desecrated David's tomb and plundered it. How did this affect the family and the stories they told Jesus? How did they treat the Romans?
A time of fear and rebellion
As for Herod's attitude towards Bethlehem, which is remembered as the house of David, the situation becomes even more dangerous and complex.
When Herod was first appointed, he was ousted by a rival ruler who was supported by the Parthians (enemies of Rome), who were loved by many of the locals. These men attacked Herod near Bethlehem.
He and his troops fought back and destroyed the attackers. When Rome defeated its rival and brought back Herod, it built a monument to its victorious massacre at a nearby site, which it named Herodion, overlooking Bethlehem. How did this make the locals feel?
And far from being a sleepy village, Bethlehem was such a significant city that a large construction of an aqueduct brought the water to its center. Fearing Herod, Jesus' family fled their home, but they found themselves on the wrong side of Rome from the start.
They were not alone in their fears and attitudes towards the colonialists. The events that unfolded, as told by the first-century historian Josephus, show that the people were in open rebellion against Rome shortly after the birth of Jesus.
When Herod died, thousands of people took over the Jerusalem Temple and demanded liberation. Herod's son Archelaus killed them. A series of Jewish revolutionary kings and rulers seized control of parts of the country, including Galilee.
It was at this time, according to the Gospel of Matthew, that Joseph returned his family from refuge in Egypt to independent Galilee and the local village of Nazareth.
But Galilee's independence did not last long. Roman forces under the command of General Varus marched out of Syria along with the allied forces, destroying the nearby city of Sepphoris, burning countless villages and crucifying huge numbers of Jewish rebels, ultimately crushing the revolts.
Archelaus – once he was officially installed as ruler – continued this with an ongoing reign of terror.
A Christmas Story for Today
As a historian, I would like to see a film showing Jesus and his family immersed in this chaotic, unstable and traumatic social world, in a country under Roman rule.
Instead, viewers were now offered Carpenter's Sonfilm starring Nicolas Cage. It is inspired in part by an apocryphal (non-biblical) text called Paidika Isu – Childhood of Jesus – later called Children's Gospel of Thomas.
You might think Paidika will be something like an ancient version of the popular 2000s TV show Smallville, which follows the boy Clark Kent before he becomes Superman.
But no, this is not the story of Jesus struggling with his amazing powers and destiny, but a short and very disturbing work, consisting of bits and pieces collected more than 100 years after the life of Jesus.
Paidika presents the young Jesus as a kind of demigod whom no one should mess with, including his playmates and teachers. He was very popular among non-Jews who became pagans and Christians, a public that was in a difficult position in society.
The miraculous Jesus defeats all his enemies—even the innocent. At some point, the child collides with Jesus and injures his shoulder, so Jesus strikes him dead. Joseph tells Mary: “Do not let him leave the house, lest those who anger him die.”
Such stories are based on the problematic idea that one should never provoke the wrath of a god. And this young Jesus displays instant, deadly anger. He also lacks a moral compass.
But this text is also based on the idea that Jesus' actions as a child towards his playmates and teachers were justified because they were “Jews.” “The Jew” appears as the accuser just a few lines later. There should be a content warning.
The nativity scene in The Carpenter's Son is definitely not peaceful. There are many graphic and horrific images of Roman soldiers throwing babies into the fire. But like many films, the violence is in some ways just evil and arbitrary, and not really about Judea and Rome.
This is, of course, a contextual, larger story about the birth and childhood of Jesus, which is so relevant today, in our times of division and “othering”, when many feel under the thumb of the inexorable forces of this world.
In fact, some churches in the United States now reflect this modern relevance as they adapt nativity scenes depict the detention and deportation of immigrants and refugees by ICE.
In many ways, a real birth is indeed not just a birth of peace and joy, but rather a birth of struggle – and at the same time of mysterious hope.
This edited article is republished from Talk under Creative Commons license. Read original article.
