Nativity
Nativity derives from the Latin ‘natal’ meaning birth.
There are two biblical accounts of the Nativity — one in the gospel of Luke and the other in that of Matthew. Both establish that the baby Jesus was born in Bethlehem to a virgin mother — and that this ‘miraculous conception’ was ordained by God. They also a share the assumption that this story was the fulfilment of a prophecy of the Second Coming.
In the details they differ substantially, as Ian Paul points out:
Whereas Matthew tells us about Herod, the wise men, the massacre at Bethlehem, and the flight to Egypt, Luke tells us about a different set of events altogether — events which involve Caesar, the shepherds, Jesus’ presentation at the Temple, and Jesus’ childhood in Nazareth.
Paul provides this revealing table, comparing the two accounts.
The Nativity is not the central story of Christian tradition but it is the one most universally embedded in the wider culture. In the UK this is exemplified by the performance of Nativity plays in the vast majority of primary schools, secular and religious.
This tradition dates back to the 13th Century and involves all the youngest children acting out the story of the Nativity. There are slight variations but the key components are
- The Angel Gabriel
- The star
- The Baby Jesus
- Mary
- Joseph
- The Inn Keeper
- Shepherds
- Three wise men
- King Herod
- The animals — donkeys, sheep, ox, goats etc.
The Visitation (Luke 1:39–56) describes pregnant Mary’s encounter with her also pregnant older relative, Elizabeth — see here but this is omitted — but in the generally adopted version, here simplified for children.
The is a distinct downplaying of the story’s biblical context, particularly the centrality of the ‘as the prophets foretold’ theme. This is there in the carols (Once in Royal David’s City etc) but quietly ignored, as is arguably reasonable when dealing with six-year-olds.
The baby Jesus is celebrated for his innocence rather than his royal, or indeed Judaic, heritage. Herod is just a baddie who hates children .
Nonetheless, the beauty of the story has a universality that captivates . In Ron Gainer’s An Australian Carol, emigrants to the New World remember their home land through the image of the Nativity:
