The Way in the manger.

AN INTERVIEW WITH SISTER BARBARA REID, O.P.

The stories of the birth of Jesus in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke--also known as the infancy narratives--have long captivated the Christian imagination. But while these familiar and treasured stories have a "you are there" feel and vivid characters, biblical scholar Sister Barbara Reid, O.P. says they actually serve the purpose of setting out the gospel writers' particular perspectives on the life and death of Jesus.

Ultimately these stories and their righteous-but-questioning figures speak to believers today, showing the way to lead prophetic lives, grounded in the contemplation of God's presence in the mixed blessings of daily life.

Reid, professor of New Testament studies at Chicago's Catholic Theological Union, is the author of Choosing the Better Part? Women in the Gospel of Luke (Liturgical Press), the three-volume Parables for Preachers (Liturgical Press), and A Retreat with Luke (St. Anthony Messenger Press) as well as numerous articles. She also serves as New Testament book review editor for the Catholic Biblical Quarterly.

Why do the stories about the birth of Jesus seem so differentt from the rest of the gospel?

Most biblical scholars think the infancy narratives were the last pieces of the gospel to be composed. Probably the Passion narratives were the first pieces to come together, because the most urgent thing for the first believers at the outset was to explain the death of Jesus--on whom they had been setting their hopes--and then fill this event out with stories of his teaching, preaching, and healing that led up to his death. It was probably during the last stage of gospel composition that the first believers began to be curious about Jesus' origins and started trying to make meaning out of his growing years, about which they knew very little.

One of the things to understand about the infancy narratives is that although they're painted in very vivid portraits that make it sound as if "this is how it happened," that's not the kind of stories they are. The infancy stories are really theological statements. They're setting the stage for how to understand the story of Jesus--who Jesus is, where he came from, and where he's going. Both Luke and Matthew sound their most important theological themes in these opening chapters of their gospels.

And what are these theological themes?

Matthew very much stresses that Jesus is the son of God and the son of David. He gives us a stylized lineage of Jesus through the kings of Israel, who were the reigning sons of David. In addition, his theme of righteousness--which is a strong theme all the way through his gospel--comes across when he talks about Joseph being an upright man. Matthew also wants to show that everything about Jesus and his life is a fulfillment of what has gone before, so he explicitly cites scripture very often, not only in the infancy narratives, but all the way through the gospel. His favorite scripture to quote is from the prophet Isaiah.

Luke's intent is also to show the continuity of Jesus with the past and with the same faithful God of Israel, but he doesn't quote scripture as explicitly as Matthew does; he alludes to it.

The first two chapters of Matthew relive the major themes of Israel's past. The exodus, for example, is very much relived in the way that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph take refuge in and then come out of Egypt. And the stories of the birth of Moses and the birth of Jesus are told in almost parallel lines. Matthew also very much models Joseph in the gospel after the patriarch Joseph, the dreamer in the book of Genesis. It's as if the infancy narrative of Matthew recapitulates the whole of Israel's history.

With Luke, on the other hand, the theme of the universality of the offer of salvation comes much more to the fore. Right away, in the canticle of Zechariah, he sounds the theme of gentile inclusion. Throughout his gospel, Luke emphasizes the theme of crossing boundaries--not only between Jew and gentile, but also between rich and poor. In Mary's Magnificat, she sings about God lifting up the lowly and bringing down the mighty.

Luke also highlights stories of women more than any of the other evangelists. In his infancy narrative we encounter very strong female characters--Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna. The whole of Jesus' birth is told through the lens of Mary. It's quite possible that Luke had access to traditions that were preserved in circles of women disciples, which were different from the traditions that Matthew had access to.

What is the significance of Mary's Magnificat and the canticles of Zechariah and Simeon?

Even though Luke makes it sound as if at this moment Mary and Zechariah and Simeon burst into song, it's much more likely that these songs were already being sung in the early church, and Luke finds them very apt to express what he wants to say in the story.

For example, Mary's Magnificat (Luke 1:46-56) is very similar to the song of Hannah in 1 Samuel. This similarity is a way of making sure that anyone who's reading Luke's gospel understands that it's all God's doing in this highly irregular situation of the birth of Jesus to Mary. And Zechariah's canticle (Luke 1:67-79) sees God's hand in the unusual birth of John the Baptist and also explains the role of John the Baptist as the prophet preparing the way. Another strong theme in Luke is that Jesus is portrayed as a rejected prophet.

Simeon's canticle (Luke 2:29-32) expresses in particular that Mary is like all other believers. Everything isn't crystal clear to her from the first moment. She'll struggle to see God's hand in what's going on. So when Simeon talks about the sword that will pierce her heart, it's already preparing the reader for the fact that all disciples, including Jesus' mother, will have to struggle to understand what Jesus is about. The sword is probably not referring to the sorrowful mother at the foot of the cross--that's in John's gospel. Simeon's canticle also speaks about Jesus' light to the gentiles, and again the theme of gentile inclusion will become very strong in Luke's two volumes--the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles.

Why were the Magi and the shepherds given such prominent roles in the stories?

Originally the term magi referred to a Persian figure who was part of a priestly caste, but in Matthew's infancy narrative, the Magi are astrologers. These exotic people bring rich gifts, and they are Matthew's way of introducing the theme of gentile inclusion, to have the first visitors to the infant symbolize the nations coming from afar, drawn into Israel, drawn into the Way of Jesus.

In Luke, the shepherds are the first to get the announcement of Jesus' birth, and this brings forward Luke's theme of Jesus always being found as one of the outcasts. Shepherding--although we have a romantic notion of it--was considered, in Jesus' day, a despised trade because shepherds were often thought to be thieving and pasturing their flocks on other people's land. I'm talking about real-life shepherds, not shepherds in the sense of "the Lord is my shepherd" from Psalm 23, nor the image of the shepherd as a leader of Israel that you read in Ezekiel 34, where the prophet is excoriating the leaders of Israel for not being good shepherds.

These marginal, lowly folks are the first ones to hear the Good News of Luke's gospel, and it's his way of showing that Jesus will be among the marginalized and the poor. It's Luke who has the story of no room in the inn for Jesus and no place for him to lay his head from the very first.

Jesus is also laid in a manger--a food trough for livestock--and here Luke is already opening the way for a predominant theme in his gospel: Jesus hosting and being hosted at meals. It's at meals that much of the teaching and a lot of the conflicts go on in Luke's gospel. Jesus is portrayed as food for a hungry world.

What about the angels in these stories? What's their role?

At the risk of disillusioning folks who like to believe in visible manifestations of extraterrestrial beings, I would dare to say that they're a literary fiction. They are exclamation points that say, "Pay attention, this is a really important piece of the story. God is doing something extraordinary here." Angel means "messenger," and a messenger from God appears in the story to help the one who hears or reads the story to understand what God is doing.

Luke, by having Gabriel announce the forthcoming births of John and Jesus to Zechariah and Mary, is emphasizing what God is doing through the lives of these two saving figures.

How do the biblical stories of Jesus' birth speak to us today?

We can ask ourselves, "If God did extraordinary things in the lives of those vivid characters in the infancy narratives, what extraordinary things is God doing in our lives today? In what ways is God asking us to give the faithful witness those early characters did?"

Take the announcements of the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. When we get beyond the romantic notion of the joy, the delight, and thrill over the birth of a child, both for Mary and Elizabeth, a more down-to-earth reality might be to reflect on how there's mixed news in these annunciations. Elizabeth had to have been thinking, "Why couldn't God have blessed us with this child 40 years ago when I was young and able to chase after a toddler?"

And Mary, according to Luke 2:19 and 2:51, had to reflect and ponder on all of this. She didn't understand; she questioned. This is not all entirely good news. She's in a terrible situation. She's not yet begun to live with her husband--even though they're engaged, which is the first formal step toward marriage, and legally she is his wife already. But she's found to be with child before they start living together, and this puts her in a horrendously shameful situation. When all of her neighbors, relatives, and friends find out that she's expecting a child--and they know how to count to nine--they're not automatically going to conclude it was the work of the Holy Spirit.

Is that just good to know, or is that a lesson, too?

One of the things that Mary and Elizabeth's stories can do is to help us move more deeply into an incarnational spirituality, which is one where God and Jesus' spirit are found right in the midst of our very messy human situations that are not all joy and delight but are always a mixed blessing. Where is God? Right in the middle--not coming from outside to rescue us. God takes on human flesh, and this is where we find God, right at the center of our human situations.

The message that Gabriel gives to Mary is that although others are going to murmur about her--and there will be rumors and questions--she is favored by God. Her suffering and what looks like a shameful situation are not due to anything that she did wrong.

The same with Elizabeth. When she says, "Look what God has done for me, now that God has seen fit to take away my shame in front of others," she's saying that God isn't a God who desires suffering but who delights in new life. But it's in the midst of a mixed situation--pain and suffering as well as joy.

These stories help us to find God in the midst of confusion and difficulty and to know that God can bring goodness and well-being even out of what looks like the most awful situations.

What else do the characters in these stories show us?

I think the infancy narratives also can help undergird, for a contemporary believer, the kind of prophetic spirituality that's called for in our day, one that comes from a person who is deeply contemplative and deeply immersed in life with God--as these righteous and prayerful and powerful prophetic figures are presented in the infancy narratives.

They invite us into that same kind of deep relationship with God--knowing God that intimately in our lives. They encourage us to being open to the surprise of God and the ways in which God will ask us to articulate and take strong prophetic actions on behalf of those who are oppressed or suffer, those who are made poor, those who are victims of violence.

Mary can help us to learn how to follow and say yes, even when we may not have a clue what lies ahead or all the implications of what we're saying yes to. In the visitation scene, Elizabeth--whom Luke introduces as righteous and observing all the commandments--and Mary help name for each other what God is doing for them and support one another. And in Matthew's gospel Joseph is the upright person who follows what God asks, even when he doesn't understand.

It's these figures who shape Jesus into the prophet that he becomes. In the same way, believers today are called to be Christ-bearers and midwives for other believers in a way that we bring forth the Word and bear new life in our day.

The interview was conducted by JOEL SCHORN, associate editor of U.S. CATHOLIC