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Nativity as Art: When Jesus’ Birth Scene Is Used to Make Statements

Artist Everett Patterson’s nativity scene (originally drawn for a Christmas card) features José y Maria as very young Americans outside a convenience store looking for a place to stay with the help of a payphone and the Yellow Pages. Mary is wearing a Nazareth High School sweatshirt over her pregnant belly and Joseph’s work shirt suggests he is a humble car mechanic or something similar. 

In the town of Castenaso, Italy, mayor Stefano Sermenghi made a statement a couple years ago with a nativity scene depicting Joseph, Mary, and Jesus in a life raft. The scene clearly depicts the holy family as the countless migrants who have sought to escape the violence in the Middle East via a desperate, and sometimes deadly, voyage across the Mediterranean Sea.  

In Bethlehem itself (the scene of THE Christmas story), artists are using nativities to make a statement about the Israeli occupation of Palestine. One rendition shows Joseph, Mary, the Jesus, wise men, and a concrete wall with a military watchtower. In some cases, the wise men are one side of the wall with the holy family on the other. 

The Original Nativity Scene

The original nativity scene as we know it, attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, featured a live ox and donkey and was pieced together in a cave in Italy. It most likely did not feature Joseph and Mary or even Jesus, although it included a makeshift cradle where Jesus was supposed to lie. The original nativity was far more contemplative than our modern versions, requiring the viewer to imagine the main characters. Many scholars and church leaders believe the scene not only served the purpose of bringing the Christmas story to life for onlookers but also helped them grasp the frailty and poverty into which Jesus was born. 

Pope Francis recently penned an apostolic letter in which he discusses “The Meaning and Importance of the Nativity Scene.” The head of the Roman Catholic Church writes, “From the manger, Jesus proclaims, in a meek yet powerful way, the need for sharing with the poor as the path to a more human and fraternal world in which no one is excluded or marginalized.” Pope Francis goes on to describe how the juxtaposition of the Magi and the humble Christ has much to teach us:

The Magi teach us that people can come to Christ by a very long route. Men of wealth, sages from afar, athirst for the infinite, they set out on the long and perilous journey that would lead them to Bethlehem (cf. Mt 2:1-12). Great joy comes over them in the presence of the Infant King. They are not scandalized by the poor surroundings, but immediately fall to their knees to worship him. Kneeling before him, they understand that the God who with sovereign wisdom guides the course of the stars also guides the course of history, casting down the mighty and raising up the lowly. Upon their return home, they would certainly have told others of this amazing encounter with the Messiah, thus initiating the spread of the Gospel among the nations.

Considering the origins of the nativity and the creative license that was used by St. Francis, it is little wonder that we have been reimagining the scene over and over again, adding different details to highlight different aspects of the Christmas story.

You may not agree with Claremont UMC’s take on the nativity, and you don’t need to. What is important in all nativity scenes (from St. Francis’ original vision to more modern renditions) is what it allows us to do: Reflect on the way in which God came into our world and ask ourselves how that should inform our own lives. As Pope Francis puts it, “Beginning in childhood, and at every stage of our lives, [the nativity] teaches us to contemplate Jesus, to experience God’s love for us, to feel and believe that God is with us and that we are with him, his children, brothers and sisters all, thanks to that Child who is the Son of God and the Son of the Virgin Mary.”