This Christmas, I am not going to retell the same old story we tell every year. I am not going to tell the whole Mary and Joseph, donkey ride to Bethlehem, inn keeper, shepherds, sheep etc. It is a good story, but this year, we are telling another.
The stories of Jesus are not isolated to our protestant scriptures. There are apocryphal books that tell different stories and other faiths that tell stories about him too. We don’t have the corner of the market on Jesus. He’s much bigger than that - “for God so loved the WORLD,” right?!
This story first appeared in a gospel called pseudo-Matthew which has a fascinating origin which you can look up later, I must get on with the story. This story happens following the birth of Jesus and on the flight to Egypt.
And it came to pass on the third day of their journey, while they were walking, that the blessed Mary was fatigued by the excessive heat of the sun in the desert; and seeing a palm tree, she said to Joseph: Let me rest a little under the shade of this tree. Joseph therefore made haste, and led her to the palm, and made her come down from her beast.
As an aside... this is where the idea of a donkey came from in the other story we tell.
Mary looked up into the palm tree and saw the fruit, which in that part of the world would be dates, not bananas, and she told Joseph she wished they could eat some of the fruit but it was high up in the tree. Joseph told her his biggest concern wasn’t food but water because they were out of it and they needed water for themselves and the animals with them.
While they are discussing among themselves, something crazy happens -- Jesus speaks:
Then the child Jesus, with a joyful countenance, reposing in the bosom of His mother, said to the palm: O tree, bend your branches, and refresh my mother with your fruit. And immediately at these words the palm bent its top down to the very feet of the blessed Mary; and they gathered from it fruit, with which they were all refreshed.
The tree stayed bent over, waiting for Jesus to tell it to rise again and then Jesus said to it:
Raise yourself, O palm tree, and be strong, and be the companion of my trees, which are in the paradise of my Father; and open from your roots a vein of water which has been hid in the earth, and let the waters flow, so that we may be satisfied from you. And it rose up immediately, and at its root there began to come forth a spring of water exceedingly clear and cool and sparkling. And when they saw the spring of water, they rejoiced with great joy, and were satisfied, themselves and all their cattle and their beasts. And they all gave thanks to God.”
In this story, Jesus is pretty verbose for a newborn or even a two year old, right?!
Is it true? Yes, there are beautiful things we can pull from this story.
Did it happen? I mean, decide for yourself, but I would suggest maybe not.
No myth is literally true. It is the nature of myth to point to a truth that limited words cannot embrace. That is what the biblical stories of Jesus’ birth do and this is why we love them passionately and respect them so deeply. (John Shelby Spong)
While we are out here on a theological limb lets venture out a little further and read this same story from the Qur’an.
You may not know this but I spent some of my teenage years in the Middle East and am quite familiar with the stickiness of date palms. One year my dad’s boss, a Muslim who had recently returned from the Hajj, sent me a Christmas card, via my dad but not to my dad. Dad questioned Mr Iqbal as to why he was sending me a card and he wasn’t getting one and Mr Iqbal’s response was -- She believes it.” And I love that. He had respect for me as a believer in Jesus and honoured what he saw in me in that season. The pilgrimage of the Hajj had changed him, he had met Allah on the path. Many Muslims follow the teachings of Jesus. “For God so loved the whole world,” right?!
So, out here on our theological limb, let’s tell a very similar story from the Qur’an. This version of the story sets it as Mary is in the throws of childbirth. The timing is different but the elements are the same:
Then she conceived him; and withdrew with him to a remote place. And the throes of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm-tree. She said: Oh, would that I had died before this, and had been a thing quite forgotten! So a voice came to her from beneath her: Grieve not, surely thy Lord has provided a stream beneath thee. And shake towards thee the trunk of the palm-tree, it will drop on thee fresh ripe dates. So eat and drink and cool the eye. Then if thou seest any mortal, say: Surely I have vowed a fast to the Beneficent - He who wills goodness and mercy for all His creatures - , so I will not speak to any man to-day. Qur’an 19:22-26
Jesus speaks to her from the womb, he tells her to shake the trunk of the tree and eat and drink. He provides for her in her need. He gives her what she needs to labour. It’s quite amazing as a story. And then fast forward through the birth and let’s dip back into the story we are more familiar with...
The angels left and the shepherds took off, running, and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in the manger. Seeing was believing. They told everyone they met what the angels had said about this child. All who heard the shepherds were impressed.
Mary kept all these things to herself, holding them dear, deep within herself. The shepherds returned and let loose, glorifying and praising God for everything they had heard and seen. It turned out exactly the way they’d been told!
Let me tell you what I love about these stories.
Mary and the palm tree either happens as Mary is labouring before giving birth, or as they are fleeing as refugees to Egypt. Either way, this is not a good moment. Here was a world, much like our world today, filled with violence and hatred, cruelty and in their part of the world, with no safe and sanitary place to bring a baby safely into it.
But, God is right there. If Christmas isn’t about God with us, then it isn’t about anything.
God is the provider and boss of all creation. Jesus speaks to Mary to tell her how to get sustenance from the dates and water to drink. Or Jesus speaks to the tree to do the same. God cares for God’s children with grace as sweet as sticky dates and refreshing as water from the base of a tree.
Mary is not meek and mild, but strong and tenacious and brave. She carries Jesus on the journey to Bethlehem late into her pregnancy and in the Qur’an’s version she labours with him leaning on the palm tree. In the Pseudo-Matthew version she protects the child as they flee together as a family and her obedience to the voice of God saves their lives with the provision of food and water.
May we learn strength from Mary, and have the faith to cry out for help when we need it.
May we listen to the quiet voice of love and grace that provides.
May we love in fierce and tender ways, even in the middle of a world full of violence.
And just like this story which is set before and after Your birth, may we find You before, during and after all of our celebrating and may You go with us on the path wherever it may lead in the coming year.
Amen
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