An Unusual Cast List

If the religious elite of the day had written the script for Jesus’ birth, he would have been born to a respectable married couple (either Pharisee or Sadducee depending on which brand of religion you asked); he would probably have still been born in Bethlehem, because that was in keeping with the prophecies, but he would have had a proper cradle to lie in rather than a manger.
And the first visitors would NOT have been shepherds… I mean, everyone knew that shepherds were ritually unclean and low down the social pecking order… So what if Jesus’ ancestor David had been a shepherd… God had raised him above all that…
And as for the Magi… There is no way that foreign, pagan astrologers would have been allowed within a mile of the Jewish Messiah.
But are we any better? How quick are we to judge children by their social background? Make assumptions about people because of their jobs? Lump people together according to stereotypes of race and religion. Or presume that because Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life, that those following another religious way might not have some truths to say to us, have some spiritual gifts to share with us.
But let us give thanks that it was God and not the religious elite of then or now who wrote the script for the Angels announcing: Good news of Great joy for ALL people… Including shepherds… Including foreign astrologers… Including you and me…

This is adapted from a Just a Moment talk written for broadcast on Dwntown radio this week.

Shalom

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