Hey y’all! Mery Christmas! I know this is a bit late; my holiday has been crazy. I’m sorry.
Today I wanted to write about Christmas, and specifically a movie called “The Nativity Story”. It’s really good and although it can be a bit slow and harsh, it’s definately worth watching. My family watches it every year on Christmas Eve, and I cry every time. There’s a few things that stand out to me, and I’ll mention those as we go.
The Nativity Story
Ok. So, most people know what the Christian nativity scene looks like. A mom, a dad, and a baby under a stable roof or inside a cave. Outside is a shepherd, three wise men, and usually a few sheep. A star dangles above them. Sometimes there’s even an angel in hiding. It’s pretty classically well known, right?
While technically it’s not wrong, it’s not exactly right either. There are quite a few misconceptions about the nativity scene. Here’s a few:
1, Just because there were three gifts doesn’t mean that there were only three wise men. There could be four, seven, or a dozen. Nobody really knows.
2, “No room in the inn” might not actually be quite accurate. While “καταλύματι” can be translated as “inn”, the most accurate translation is “place to stay”. That means that they were probably trying to stay with Joseph’s relatives, but there was not enough room for them and a baby.
3, Jesus was probably not born on December 25th. We use the day to celebrate him, but we can’t really know what day or month based on what we read. It doesn’t give us a specific time. I think this is good, because it reminds me to thank Jesus for His sacrifice daily, not just on “His birthday”.
4, Jesus likely wasn’t a little white boy. Although there is no concrete proof, it is guessed at that Jesus was born in an area where the people naturally had darker skin. While this doesn’t bother me, I’m aware that it has confused some people I know.
5, Mary was married. At the time of giving birth to Jesus, she was already married. I think she was when He was conceived as well. Some people miss this, because in our culture nowadays being “betrothed” is the same thing as being engaged. But in Jesus’ time, it was a little different. For the most part, Mary was married to Joseph. The only thing they could not yet do together was full consummation.
That’s my little list for now. Alright. Now that we’ve got the misconceptions out of the way, let’s move on to the movie. I wanted to specifically mention some things that always touch me.
I love that there’s no makeup or dressing-up in this movie. Although the actors and actresses could be wearing makeup, you can’t see it. It looks raw and real and radiant. The plot is the same; they don’t try to make it clean and fun and cutesy. You see a lot of hard things; Mary nearly getting stoned to death in a dream, servants being beaten, a girl getting taken against her will to work off family debt, childbirth, a market offering animals to be sacrificed, blood, Herod giving the order to slaughter, the screams and cries of the babies and their families as they get killed, etc. And that’s only while Mary is pregnant and right after she gives birth. This movie doesn’t even show a quarter of their life. Only 9-10 months. It’s incredible. And this movie embraces everything about the Christmas story, even when it isn’t pretty. I admire that.
About 26 minutes in is my favorite scene. Mary is visiting her cousin, Elizabeth. Keep in mind that this isn’t just a casual visit; everything in Mary’s mind is high tension and concern right about now.
The angel Gabriel had told her five things: 1) “Do not be afraid.” This was surely difficult, when face to face with an awesome celestial being. 2) “You have found favor with God.” Wow- can you imagine someone saying this to you? How humbling, wonderful and terrifying it must have been. 3) “You will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son.” UM… okay, floaty boy. That’s a little personal. She JUST got married. 4) “And you will call his name Jesus.” Okay so let’s think about this. She has to carry a baby for 9 months, give birth to a kid when she’s super young, explain all this to her husband, try not to get stoned everywhere she goes, and avoid her family disowning her. AND she doesn’t even get to name the baby??? C’mon, Gabe. That’s a little much.
Anyway, Mary is super stressed. Something else Gabriel told her was that her cousin, Elizabeth, was pregnant even in her old age. So Mary did what she could do to ease her mind; she went to visit Elizabeth and see if the angel spoke the truth. Then, about 26 minutes into the movie, she gets her answer. The moment Mary steps into the scene, Elizabeth knows. And she says something that gives me chills every time I hear it. “Blessed is you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb… Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me? The moment I heard your voice my child lept in my womb for joy! Blessed is she, who believes the Lord’s words!!”
Not only does this give Mary some much needed encouragement, it assures her that she is not alone. Someone else can know and share her burden. I’m sure she was feeling quite alone, lonely and afraid for a while. But Elizabeth is just what she needs.
Throughout this movie, Elizabeth is always my favorite character. She displays the epitome of a woman after God’s own heart; showing grace and mercy to everyone, loving others even while she’s going through hard times, and staying strong in what she believes in. Even when others doubt her, she remains firm in who she is and who God created her to be. It’s amazing. I hope I can be like that one day.
AAANyway, so by the time Mary gets back to her hometown, she’s starting to show. It is discovered that she is pregnant. Her neighbors shun her, her family is ashamed of her, her friends won’t go near her, and Joseph is baffled and disappointed. It’s very hard on her.
A little later, Joseph has a little scurfuffle in a dream where he’s about to throw the first stone at Mary. He is angry, heartbroken, and he feels betrayed. But before he can throw it, the angel Gabriel appears before him. (Side note: I love that he just sounds so annoyed.) He tells Joseph how Mary’s son was conceived, and prompts Joseph to look out for the two of them.
It isn’t easy, but he makes it work.
Now my next favorite scene is around 48 minutes in. It reminds me of just how much a life can change in a single moment. Joseph explains what he saw to Mary, and she gives him this beautiful look before saying, “You believe me?” You can see in her eyes all the hurt that she’d been feeling. Lately her home hadn’t felt so homely, her family was frightened, and her friends had become fakes. But now she had Joseph to protect her, and she felt safe.
After that, the movie continues on. Mary and Joseph start the long journey to Bethlehem for the census, they have some trouble on the way, they arrive, and Mary gives birth. Here’s a good trailer!!
Anyway, that’s what I wanted to say. Overall this is a really good movie if you can man-up and be willing to cry. Let me know your thoughts in the comments! (Ps I don’t know why it asks for an email address and stuff, I can’t find a way to turn it off. Must just be a WordPress default for websites. I’m sorry. It is not displayed publicly though, if that’s a concern of yours. 🙂 )
Thanks for reading! I hope you have a really good day and have had a really good Christmas!! Aloha!
♡, Shortie
