December 1998 Issue

In this passage we get one of our best glimpses of Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. He is shown here as a protector of his family and as one who listens to God. He is faithful, and he puts his total trust in God's plans. He listens to the voices of the angels, and scurries across the region with his family, believing that God will guide him to safety.

However, we don't know much about Joseph's feelings or reactions to the series of events that take place in this part of the gospel narrative. I think if I were Joseph, I would be a little worn out from being on the run for so long, and I would be pretty horrified at all the bloodshed that resulted from the birth of this child. Just previously Joseph was told by an angel in a dream that the child his wife was carrying was to be named Jesus, for he was going to save his people. How tragic and ironic that one who was to bring about salvation was causing so much bloodshed of innocent babies! Yet, Joseph has no practical alternative but to follow the directions of the one who has kept them safe thus far.

This ironic plot has echoes in many modern dramatic stories. The theme of struggling to preserve precious life in the midst of death and destruction is popular in film, literature and television. The Diary of Anne Frank, for instance, is a classic example of a family in hiding, struggling to hold on to physical life, spiritual life, and some kind of normality, while constantly being bombarded by the genocidal onslaught of the Nazi army.

Another example which is set in a similar situation is Schiendler's List. In this "modern classic" a German businessman by the name of Schiendler starts out just trying to make a fast buck on the black market. As the story progresses, he puts up a manufacturing front in an effort to save as many Jews as possible in the presence of a raging Nazi killing machine. Near the end of the film (as the war comes to a close) we find Schiendler in despair. In seeing all around him the lives that he worked so hard to save, he is reminded of all the lives that he didn't save. "I could have done more." he says, "I could have done much, much more." I wonder if Joseph ever felt this way when he thought about all the killing of innocent people in his homeland.

This leads us to another theme in this passage; the theme of fulfilling prophecy. Scattered throughout the story of the birth of Jesus are phrases such as, "All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet..." (2:5), and, "This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the prophet Jeremiah..."(2:7). This last fulfilled prophecy is particularly intriguing and perplexing because it connects so much death with the life of a savior. "A voice was heard in Ramah, wailing and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be consoled, because they are no more." (2:18: Jer 31: 15).

Reading the text almost forces us to ask the question, "What kind of God is this anyway?" "How is it that God can allow this kind of pain to happen?" It is especially peculiar in the context of the birth of our savior. This kind of questioning pushes us toward the literary artwork in other parts of the canon, such as Job, Lamentations, and several of the Psalms.

In the smash hit film Forrest Gump, Lieutenant Daniel Taylor struggles with this same issue. Lieutenant Dan (as he is called throughout the story) believes that his destiny is to die honorably, fighting for his country in Vietnam. God, however, has another plan. Instead, Lieutenant Dan winds up alive in a VA hospital with both his legs amputated. In the following years he hits rock bottom with no hope and no future. How could God allow this to happen? Why was God doing this to him? Later in the story, Lieutenant Dan has a show down with God. While strapped on top of the mast of a shrimping boat, he faces God in anger, frustration, and desperation. In the end, he finds peace and prosperity. With
a wife, a booming business, and legs of titanium alloy, he discovers the spiritual healing that God planned for him, and he is able to move on with his life.

Like Lieutenant Dan, we sometimes are angry with God because things don't look the way that we want. God's ways seem so mysterious to us that we get frustrated and angry with God. "How can God allow the world to be like this, where innocent children are killed in senseless bombings, and people are cheated out of their dreams for the future?" Yet, throughout it all is the character of Joseph. Although he must have been frustrated and confused by the events around him, he remained faithful to God's direction; and God guided him through the danger. During this Christmas season, I pray that we might take heed of Joseph's example. For even though God's ways seem mysterious and confusing, we believe that nothing can separate us from the love of God that is shown through the birth of a little baby called Jesus.

Bill Buchanan