The Women Who Raised Jesus 3: What About the Midwife?

 

Midwives!!!  Luke 2:1-22

 I refuse to believe that when Mary went into labour, no one called the midwife! 


Why isn’t she in the story?  Translators can’t avoid bringing into their translations choices that reflect their own biases and prejudices.  As this is going to be an unusual Christmas for all of us with many of our personal traditions upset by a pandemic, perhaps it is a good year to upset our shared traditions around the story recorded in Luke.

The birth of Jesus to Mary in a stable attended only by Joseph surrounded by animals after a long arduous journey on a donkey is etched into our shared memory by numerous pageants, carols and paintings.  That version of the story can only be supported by ignoring the details that are there and adding others.  The European medieval translators worked from their own prejudices. The assumption of a census that took Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem is unsupported by other historical data.  The census is probably a literary devise to arrange for Jesus to be born in Bethlehem not Nazareth as predicted in the prophets.  The word that we have always translated “iin” is translated “guest room” most commonly.  The premise that a young woman about to give birth would be denied hospitality is unthinkable. How does the story change if we imagine Mary being put up in the main house with the family because the guest room was already full?  The animals were brought into the end of the room for the night and the manger was a nice cozy safe place for a baby.  The midwife would have been called and everyone around, not just the shepherds would have celebrated the birth of a healthy baby.  The warm hospitality of strangers, the visit of curious shepherds, the care of the midwife would all be much for Mary to ponder.   

The pandemic has forced us to ponder our ways of offering hospitality and care: who gets is and who doesn’t.  It has forced us to ponder our own prejudices and assumptions.  Can the  pondering we do this season lead us to actions that make our world a bit closer to the reign of God that Jesus came to bring; a reign filled with hope, peace, joy and love?   

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