Biblical Literacy #5: Christmas Edition
When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. –Matthew 2:16
Unless we understand the presence of that enemy, we shall not only miss the point of Christianity, but even miss the point of Christmas… By the very nature of the story the rejoicings in the cavern were rejoicings in a fortress or an outlaws’ den; properly understood it is not unduly flippant to say they were rejoicing in a dug-out. It is not only true that such a subterranean chamber was a hiding-place from enemies; and that the enemies were already scouring the stony plain that lay above it like a sky. It is not only that the very horse-hoofs of Herod might in that sense have passed like thunder over the sunken head of Christ. It is also that there is in that image a true idea of an outpost, of a piercing through the rock and an entrance into an enemy territory. There is in this buried divinity an idea of undermining the world; of shaking the towers and palaces from below. -GK Chesterton
Christmas is that special time of year when we remember the birth of Jesus, and then we argue over who he was, especially in the “Holy Land.” Controversies surrounding our interpretations of Jesus are reflected in the political strife of his birthplace. The Palestinian Authority controls the “little town of Bethlehem” in the West Bank- bordered by the controversial wall that divides Palestinian territory from Jerusalem and Israel proper. Walking along the inside of the wall next to its concrete canvas of graffiti feels like an open air prison, and if you walk through the metal corridors and guarded turnstiles at a security checkpoint and you imagine yourself as cattle in a slaughterhouse then that is exactly how you are meant to feel. Heavy security is always meant to demean you. Joy is not a term I would associate with Bethlehem, but it stands for it anyway.
Every Christmas the right wing and left wing- Zionists, anti-Zionists, anti-Semites, liberal Jews, and evangelical Christians- try to twist the Christmas story to fit their own political agenda, and they are all wrong. Anti-Zionists paint Jesus as a Palestinian even though the Roman name of “Palestine” only came into existence a century after Christ in the aftermath of the Bar Kochba rebellion. Followers of the rebel leader Simeon Bar Kochba claimed he was the Messiah as he led the last great Jewish uprising against the Roman Empire from 132–136AD/CE. The Jewish rebels of the early 2nd century CE succeeded in throwing off Roman rule for a few years, but Roman vengeance was typically maniacal. After the rebellion was crushed the Romans renamed the region “Palestine” in reference to the Philistines of the Old Testament: the ever-present “bad guys” of the Bible. The name Palestine originated as a “Fuck You” to the Jews and their identity in the region after the rebellion. The ancient Iron Age Philistines themselves were forcibly removed from the region by the Babylonians hundreds of years earlier in the 6th century BCE along with the ancient Israelites of Judah, and we call this event the Babylonian Exile. Modern Palestinians have no relation to the ancient Iron Age Philistines of the Bible, and they probably would not want to be related to them anyway. However, many Muslim Palestinians are probably descended from former Jews and Christians who converted to Islam- a fact neither Jews nor Christians like to mention. And no- they did not all “convert by the sword.” Many chose Islam of their own free will thanks to the tireless efforts of Muslim Sufi missionaries.
Some Christians are surprised to learn that anyone besides Jesus was ever considered the Jewish Messiah- let alone that any of these figures had a significant following. “How can a rebel warlord non-divine human like Bar Kochba be the Messiah?” Answer: Nowhere in the Bible does the Messiah have to be God Himself, the son of God, born of a virgin, nor does he/she/it have to perform miracles. All of the latter come from the Christian reading of the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament. “Messiah” is simply the Greek version of the Hebrew term for “anointed one.” The ancient kings of Judah and the Northern Israelite Kingdom were anointed with oil at their coronation- an ancient religious practice preserved today among in some religious practices such as the anointing of the sick or anointing newly ordained priests in Roman Catholicism. The prophecy of Isaiah 7 is the basis for the Christian hymn “Oh Come Emmanuel,” which means “God is with us.” Isaiah 7 also provides the basis for the Christian interpretation that the “Messiah” must be born of a virgin- except there is a problem- the term for “virgin” in Isaiah 7 can also simply mean “young woman” in Hebrew. The virgin birth story also co-opted some local Roman pagan myths for a 1st century Roman audience. Skeptics would call the virgin birth story all-too-convenient for the religious myths of the day, while Christian apologists would say that Christ came into 1st century Roman Palestine at the exact time when the beliefs of Jews and Pagans were ripe for his arrival.
There is a second problem with the Isaiah 7 prophecy of Emmanuel besides the fact that the Hebrew term עַלְמָה can mean “young woman and/or virgin”- in its context in Isaiah 7 “Emmanuel” probably refers to King Hezekiah of Judah. After David and Solomon, the two most important kings to rule from Jerusalem were Hezekiah of the 8th century BCE, who is credited with reforming ancient Israelite religion and defending besieged Jerusalem from the Assyrians after they had sacked the Northern Kingdom of Israel, and Josiah who ruled just before the Babylonian Exile. Were it not for King Hezekiah ancient Israelite religion or the earliest form of Judaism may have been wiped out entirely by the Assyrians. Hezekiah was a savior of the ancient Jewish people in a literal sense. Unlike the early kings David and Solomon, there is ample archaeological evidence for the activities of Hezekiah (and later Josiah). One of the more interesting remnants is the expanded city wall around Jerusalem that Hezekiah built to protect his people and possibly an influx of refugees from the north fleeing the Assyrian onslaught in the 8th century BCE. So if the prophecy of Isaiah refers to Hezekiah as “Emmanuel” are we wrong to apply it to Jesus? Not necessarily. For Jews and Christians scripture has deeper meaning, and the prophecy of Isaiah may refer to Hezekiah, some other messiah figure, or Jesus Christ- the author of the Gospel of Matthew certainly believed in the latter interpretation, which became cemented in Christian tradition and theology. However, we should remember that this interpretation is a matter of faith- not one of history or the original context of scripture.
We ought to remember that the prophets of the Old Testament rarely spoke about the future. Prophecies about the future were the exception rather than the rule. A prophet’s job is to explain the relationship between God and humans in their own day. In this definition Martin Luther King Jr. is as much of a prophet as Elijah, Isaiah, or Jeremiah. To deny the original context in which Isaiah spoke to the people of Hezekiah’s time is to write Judaism out of its own scripture, which is a mild form of anti-Antisemitism and heresy that has haunted Christianity since its beginning.
On the other side Christian and Jewish Zionists tend to emphasize Jesus as a devout Jew to counter the narrative of Jesus as a native of the region of Palestine and far more Arab than Ashkenazi. They point out that it would be extremely unsafe- possibly fatal- to walk around the Palestinian cities of Bethlehem, Ramallah, or Nablus wearing a kippah/yarmulke as an Orthodox Jew. Some liberal Jewish Israelis do indeed visit and get along peacefully in Palestinian areas, and some even join anti-occupation protests alongside Palestinian activists, but God help any Jew who were to outwardly flaunt their Jewish character in a Palestinian city or carry anything referencing the flag of Israel. The Zionists point out that the city where Christ was born is no longer terribly welcoming to Jews- at least without a military convoy. However, their narrative comes with its own flaws. Ultimately, both sides abuse history in their contortion of ancient religious and national identities. The ministry of Jesus took place a few decades before the destruction of the 2nd Temple by the Romans in 70AD/CE (The Babylonians destroyed the first in 587BCE/BC, which was rebuilt when the Israelites returned from exile under Persian patronage).
Ancient Judaism with the Temple in Jerusalem as its focal point is hardly the same religion as Judaism today. Judaism with a Temple was essentially no different from a Pagan cult to a particular deity- Judaism may have had one God (which did not always hold- sometimes God had his wife Asherah or a particular prophet or mystical being in God’s cohort was essentially viewed as a god), but plenty of Pagan cults focused on one deity to the exclusion of all others. The religious economy of the faith was based in ritual animal sacrifice and the hierarchy of the priesthood that controlled the Temple. This is a very far cry from the religion that took shape after the destruction of the Temple in the era of the Talmud- when the focus of the faith radically shifted inward to the study of the Torah and the development of rabbinic law in lieu of the Temple for sacrifices. There are some apocalypse-obsessed Jews and Christians who want to build a 3rd Temple on Temple Mount in Jerusalem- where the Islamic Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa mosque currently stand. In the Orthodox men’s Torah study next to the Western Wall or Wailing Wall (the women do not get a Torah study area) there is a glass case with all the pans, knives, and incense burners a High Priest would need to perform ritual animal sacrifice at the 3rd Temple. It is an emergency “In case of Messiah and 3rd Temple- break glass” box. I somehow doubt that most of those who hope for the literal return of animal sacrifice at a 3rd Temple would have the stomach to slit a cow’s throat from ear to ear. Their apocalypticism is an anachronism. Judaism has evolved many incredible traditions since 70AD/CE, and why go back? Or what is blood sacrifice in an era when the economy of livestock means nothing to most people? Should the head of a tech start up company in Tel Aviv buy a few bulls to slaughter?
There is one group that still performs the annual blood sacrifice of bulls proscribed by the Torah- the Samaritan community in the West Bank. The Samaritans still exist. One of their main doctrines is the acceptance of the Torah alone- Genesis through Deuteronomy- without any of the prophets or later Rabbinic interpretation. This radical fundamentalism led Rabbinic law to designate Samaritans as non-Jews, and any Jew who were to marry a Samaritan would be guilty of intermarriage (personally, the whole obsession with intermarriage has always bothered me- anyone else?). Perhaps Jews and Christians who are starved for the apocalypse should go join the Samaritans in the Palestinian West Bank if they want to return to ritual animal sacrifice instead of fantasizing about the divine destruction of Islamic holy places to make way for a Temple. All of this is to say that the “Judaism” of Jesus Christ in the 1st century was nothing like Judaism today nor was it like Jewish Israeli National identity. Both refrained from eating pork and were into circumcision, but the comparison pretty much ends there.
Today the birthplace of the Christian version of the Jewish Messiah Jesus is the center of Palestinian Christianity. The mayor of Bethlehem is Vera Baboun- a Palestinian Catholic Christian who won her campaign on a promise to improve tourism to the city, despite the West Bank wall, and provide jobs for young people- who are emigrating from Christian Palestine in droves. The last century has seen a mass exodus of Christians from the Holy Land and surrounding region. Arab Christians reveal the awkwardness and hackneyed theology of Evangelical Christian Zionism which, for one, tends to fetishize modern Jews by erasing 2,000 years of Judaism and overt Christian anti-Semitism to paint all Jews as noble Israelites at best and Pharisees at worst. Christian Zionism fails to account for the beautiful traditions that developed after and sometimes in spite of the existence of Christianity- such as the Talmudic traditions, the Kabbalah, or secular Jewish political movements- the latter of which spawned the heavily socialist Kibbutz movement in Israel. Secondly, Christian Zionism is a theological mess, and most Jewish Israelis probably don’t care to be included in anyone’s end-times Left Behind apocalypse pornography. “We support you Jews and your country- but only until Jesus returns and converts you, kills you, or figures out something to do with you Christ-deniers.” I’m looking at you Mike Huckabee and your ilk. Did you forget that there were already Christians in Israel/Palestine, and that they are not Zionists?
In the attempt of the global right and left wing to de-legitimize Palestinian or Israeli nationalism respectively we forget a fundamental fact in our internet-flame-wars and awkward debates with relatives over holiday dinners- National identities only exist because we say they exist. There was no “American” national identity until a bunch of crazy British citizens in the Colonies said, “Hey Britain, we are a nation now. Deal with it.” In our pissing contests over Israel/Palestine and the origin of either we forget that children have been born into both national identities no matter the origin of either, and no one has to apologize to anyone for being born.
With my go-anywhere-do-anything American passport I have spent more time in Israeli territory with normal everyday Israelis than many West Bank Palestinians will in their entire lives, and in my trips to Palestinian territory I have spent more time with regular peaceful Palestinians than many Israelis ever will- at least not as teenage soldiers on their compulsory IDF service with heavy body armor and a weapon bigger than themselves. A foreigner with a privileged passport can spend more time between groups than those who live in the Holy Land by birth right, and we wonder why there are problems. Living abroad for two years I spent two Christmas mornings in Bethlehem. Both times I walked there overnight on Christmas Eve with a group of other pilgrims at the Dormition Abby church just outside the Old City of Jerusalem, which arranges this Christmas Eve pilgrimage annually. Accounting for the security checkpoint between Jerusalem and Bethlehem you can walk from the Old City of Jerusalem to Manger Square in Bethlehem in about 4–5 hours. Crossing through that wall and the check point around 3AM with a group of black habit-clad priests and other pilgrims into the silent town of Bethlehem sleeping on Christmas Eve remains one of the more surreal experiences of my time abroad.
Bethlehem is a city of besiegement, which is fundamental to the story of Christmas. The poor stable in a cave where Christ was born and the modern city of Bethlehem are both surrounded by enemies, which endears poignancy to the Christmas story and pathos to the city. That Christ was born in poverty and under threat is fundamental to the Gospel narrative. In this respect the Gospels identify with the fragility of infancy and human life at all times and among all people. Babies are still being born in war torn Syria and under siege in Aleppo. A thirty year study of “crack babies” in the USA found that the mother’s crack use while pregnant had little to no impact on the development of the child- contrary to Reagan era government sponsored propaganda in the War on Drugs, but one factor did impact “crack babies” significantly- poverty. The child of an upper middle class mother who smoked crack while she was pregnant will probably still go to college and turn out fine. A child born in poverty whose mother did not use drugs is still far more likely to end up dropping out of school or in prison. Some are born into this world besieged by poverty. In the dirty smelly bug-ridden cave in Bethlehem the Gospels identify with every child born into this world with circumstances against her. God says to the impoverished child and her family, “You are Holy. You are Loved.” This is reiterated by the fact that the first to visit and celebrate the infant Christ were not dignitaries, politicians, CEOs, generals, religious leaders, or even the Wise Men from the East. They were poor shepherds in the field. “The least of these” always come first in the Gospels. If Christian mega-churches want to stage an authentic nativity play they should leave their multi-million dollar buildings and reenact the story of Christ’s birth in a government housing project, a halfway house, a prison, or a refugee camp.
We do not know exactly when Jesus was born, and it probably was not at the time of the Winter Solstice- symbolizing Christmas with the coming of light into the world. But historical accuracy is irrelevant in this case. The story enshrined in Christian tradition speaks to hope- that some light remains during the longest night. Christmas is a rebellion, and if you pick your battles over Starbucks cups then you have missed the gravity of the story entirely. In trying to posses Jesus for our group we lose Him. We try to make Jesus into a modern Jewish Israeli, a Palestinian Arab, a blonde haired American Evangelical, a liberal, a conservative, or anything except what he was- a person born in poverty. A refugee in Egypt during his childhood. One who cared for those without power. A religious insurgent who seemed to reject every petty and impotent measurement for what we think matters in the world- money, physical beauty, political power, or influential family ties. When we use Christ as a weapon to exclude “the least of these” we neuter the Gospels and reject the Christmas story.
Christmas celebrates the beginning of Christ’s holy rebellion, which was threatened from the beginning by those in power like Herod who wanted to maintain the status quo- and would even go so far as to slaughter children to preserve it. The hierarchies Jesus rejected still control the town and region of his birth- where national identity, political power, and the ownership of land are everything. Yet on Christmas morning at dawn outside the traditional site of the cave where Jesus was born you can forget this for a moment. At Christmas-ground-zero at dawn in Bethlehem as the pilgrims from all over the world begin to fill the old city you wonder at the enigmatic life that brought them all here and how Jesus escapes our attempts to redefine his life simply to make our own more comfortable. You can try to be more like the shepherds or the Wise Men from the east rather than the King Herods of the world, who always come to ruin in the end. Merry Christmas
