Five reasons the nativity play is fact and not fantasy
A guest post by Simon Allaby, pastor of Bolney Village Chapel in Sussex in the UK and the founder and director of 6:19 Trust.
For those of us preparing to watch Nativity Plays depicting the Virgin Birth of Jesus, in the next couple of weeks, here are five reasons to consider that what you will be watching is fact and not fantasy:
1. The gospel writer Luke begins his book by stating his intention to write an 'orderly account' of the things 'that have been fulfilled among us', and refers to 'eye-witnesses' and his own 'careful investigation' in order that the reader may 'know the certainty of the things you have been taught'. Why would he then almost immediately begin with an account that he had either invented or knew to be without any foundation?
2. Both Matthew and Luke refer to the birth of Jesus, and the miraculous circumstances surrounding it, almost in passing - as if they are assuming that it is an event widely known about and accepted. They don't go in for lots of detailed explanation. In much the same way we might casually mention the fact that a man walked on the moon on 1969 - although an astonishing event everyone knows it happened so we don't need to add lots of explanations about how rockets work etc.
3. There appears to be no precedent in either Jewish or pagan thought that a child might be born under these circumstances, so where did the idea suddenly spring from? There are lots of stories in the pagan world of gods fathering children through sexual relations with women, but none that come anywhere close to what the gospel writers describe. And while Isaiah mentions in 7:14 that 'the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son', no one in Judaism seems to have connected that with the coming of the Messiah or Saviour.
4. Christians suffered severe and brutal persecution for 200 years beginning almost immediately after the life of Jesus, and much was written against them. But in none of this polemic does any enemy of the Christian faith make reference to any other tradition or narrative about how Jesus came to be born, they simply attack the story of his virgin birth.
5. While the virgin birth of Jesus is an extraordinary and one-off event in history, we must not forget that it sits alongside that other extraordinary and one-off event in history, and the one on which the Christian faith stands or falls - the physical resurrection of Jesus from the dead; and the evidence for the resurrection is compelling and overwhelming for those willing to look seriously at it. If the power of God can not just bring back someone from the dead, but bring them back utterly transformed and glorified then having confidence in the miraculous circumstances around Jesus' birth is but a small step.
So enjoy your Nativity Plays and have a very Happy Christmas when it comes!
Image courtesy of dan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
