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"Because Joseph, her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly" (Matthew 1:19).

At this time of the year, we find a number of emotions involved in the festivities of the season. Stress, joy, and peace are among them. We sing songs of a birth that promised to bring peace and joy. We see people rejoicing and thankful for what God has (and is) doing. Over the centuries, the celebration of the birth of Christ has developed into a joyous affair. We then read back into the story found in Matthew 1 and 2 and Luke 1 and 2 this joy. The Bible is not explicit in all the details surrounding the birth of Jesus. The darkest element that we know of is that of Herod the Great slaughtering the baby boys of Bethlehem. But there could be a darker side to the events leading up to the birth of Jesus that we have not really considered.

We do not know how old Mary was when God announced to her that she would have a child by God’s power. Did she hear of how Zachariah responded when an angel appeared to him in the Temple? In any event, she humbly accepted the will of God. While we marvel at her faith, there were no doubt consequences to such a choice. John Stott, in his book, The Cross of Christ, relates a poem called The Long Silence, in which one part is the demand that if God was going to judge people, then a representative to approach God’s throne should be one who was an unmarried teen and the shame that went with it.

While we are not told, a pregnant teen, even if betroth, would bring shame on both her "husband" and her family. In a small village in Galilee, everyone would know it. How would the village react? Would she be ostracized? Worse, would the idea of an honor killing be involved (1)? We know from scripture that adultery was met with stoning (see John 8). How often that was carried out is unknown. The most famous case of adultery was eventually forgiven though David paid severe consequences for his sin. Does the inclusion of this affair in the genealogy of Matthew 1 indicate something concerning Joseph and Mary?

Mary comes home and tells her parents that God sent an angel to her to tell her that she was pregnant with a boy from His Spirit. How do we think her parents would have reacted? "Oh dear, that is so wonderful!?" And how do we think Joseph would have reacted? We know what he intended to do! Would Mary’s life be in danger from family or the people of the village (2)? Would she have been thrown out of the house? Let’s explore this a little.

After supposedly announcing that she was pregnant to her family and to Joseph, we find that Joseph was ready to divorce her quietly, not wanting to shame her. Should we be surprised by this? If Mary was thrown out of the house, and Joseph did not accept the situation, though it appears he still loved her (in our terms today), what would have happened to Mary? If rejected by one or both and in danger on the streets of Nazareth, Mary headed south to Elizabeth, a relative and the wife of Zechariah. The trip south would take from five to seven days, and she would be alone; that is, with no family. Would she have traveled with strangers headed south? Would she have told of her situation or would she just be quiet? Or would she risk going alone?

She did not know what greeting she would receive from Elizabeth and the silent Zachariah. We find that it was a positive event (Luke 1:39-43). The baby leaped in Elizabeth’s womb at the greeting of Mary. Elizabeth then states: "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear. But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!" While Elizabeth was excited, it didn’t mean everyone was and we should not read into the story something that is not there. We also need to ask why Mary went south to Elizabeth rather than staying at home. There are many questions that we can only speculate on.

Meanwhile, Joseph has the first of five dreams. In this dream, an angel appears and confirms what Mary had told him - that the baby was from the Lord - and adds that the child would save his people from their sins. He was told to take Mary has his wife. What happened next?

While we can only speculate, I would suggest that Joseph traveled south to get Mary and brought her home to his house. There they would live and he would protect her. This meant shame for Joseph as well. Many could suggest that he was really the father. The village could be upset about the whole situation. There would be several reasons for this. One would be based on scripture. Another was that this couple robbed them of a wedding celebration that would have been advantageous to the economy of the village. There was such an intertwining of economy among the families of the village that anything that was negative could affect its economy (3).

How long could Joseph protect Mary from the village and how long could he have put up with the taunts is a question that we could ask. The Roman census that required every man to return to their home town was a perfect solution to get out of town. Keep in mind that for taxation and military purposes, only the men would be counted. Women were considered lower class citizens that would not be involved in those activities. Joseph and Mary headed south to a new town and possibly a better reception in his home town of Bethlehem. In the movie, The Nativity Story, as they were leaving Nazareth, Mary says to Joseph that they would not have them to talk about anymore. He certainly could not leave Mary by herself, for that might have endangered her life.

We do not know how they were greeted in Bethlehem. Had Joseph’s relatives heard of the situation? Was the guest room so full that the manger was the only area available? Jewish hospitality certainly played a roll in this. If the manger was outside the house, maybe they saw it as shame and this was the best possible place for the young couple (4). If however, the manger was inside the house, then they were accepted (5).

How we read this story will affect how we see it. Was it a story where shame was followed by forgiveness or was it a story where shame was followed by danger? Given the cultural situation of the Middle East then, and now, I would lean more to the second view. It is interesting either way and might give us something more to think about at this time of the year.

George B. Mearns

(1) Matthew J. Marohl, Joseph’s Dilemma, Cascade Books, 2009 looks at the idea of honor killings then and now in an interesting study.

(2) This is also suggested by Verlyn D. Verbrugge, A Not-So-Silent Night, Kregel, chapter 4.

(3) See Luke 15 and the Parable of the Lost Sons as an example. In order to claim his inheritance, the father would have to sell off property, or the younger son would have to have sold property at a discount, such that it would have angered the village. See Kenneth Bailey on this.

(4) Verbrugge, ibid.

(5) Bailey’s view.