CREEDE HINSHAW: Matthew’s Christmas pageant in six scenes

Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus (Luke 2: 1-20) can be transformed into a glowing pageant, complete with shepherds, an innkeeper (surly, gracious or both), a faithful Mary, a babe surrounded by adoring farm animals and angels singing in the heavens. In this glowing tableau the wise men usually appear, even though not in Luke’s story.

I have never seen a Christmas pageant based on Matthew’s account of the nativity (Matt. 1: 18-15) and probably for good reason. The Matthean version raises awkward subjects difficult to discuss with children: village gossip, the taint of illegitimacy, the possibility of divorce and the potential for a public execution.

A Christmas pageant based on the Gospel of Matthew might have these scenes:

THE CONTRACT (SCENE ONE): Three men gather to complete the transaction whereby Mary becomes wife of Joseph. This is a legal transaction. Mary is not present. Joseph approaches his future father-in-law accompanied by a witness. The suitor and father agree on the terms and conditions of the marriage and a legal document is signed and attested. Joseph and Mary are now married, although they won’t live together for a year.

THE VILLAGE SQUARE (SCENE TWO): A group of villagers gossip. It is obvious that Mary is pregnant, even though she and her husband Joseph cannot live together for the first year of their marriage. Mary still lives with her parents. Joseph, Mary and her parents are all scandalized.

JOSEPH’S CARPENTER SHOP (SCENE THREE): Joseph is alone in the carpenter shop, disassembling the bed he has been making for his life together with Mary. Divorce is the only option. This is a lonely, depressing, humiliating time for Joseph. He wants no trouble; he will not follow the letter of the law and have Mary stoned to death. But he cannot continue the marriage. The child is not his.

JOSEPH’S DREAM (SCENE FOUR): As often happens, God speaks to us in the dark and despair. Joseph falls asleep and is visited by an angel who gives Joseph courage, telling him to stay married to Mary, that the child is arriving just as foretold by prophecy. Joseph awakes with new resolve.

THE WEDDING (SCENE FIVE): The entire village turns out for the wedding, a joyous affair with garlands, wine and music. Beneath a wedding canopy the happy couple say their vows. The bride is quite pregnant and the gossip will continue for years.

SCENE SIX: Eight days after the child is born Joseph and Mary stand before a rabbi in a moving, ancient ceremony. The child is circumcised and Joseph names the child Jesus. This act of naming establishes Joseph as father of the child. Joseph has been obedient to the word of God at every turn.

It is almost impossible to improve on Luke’s account of no room at the inn and angels on high. But remembering Matthew’s story adds a dramatic, even uncomfortable, note to this grandest of all stories. The one who is to save the world from sin arrives in ways mysterious indeed.

Email columnist Creede Hinshaw, a retired Methodist minister, at [email protected].