by Jill Lin
Packing away my final Christmas decorations in these weeks after Epiphany, I found myself considering how often I read or hear about the amount of work – mental load or physical work – women often do over the holiday season, and honestly feeling grateful about how much my husband does (in particular that I don’t need to plan or cook any holiday meals or grocery shop!).
As I pondered those trends, I began to reflect on the role of women not simply in the Christmas holiday, but in the “First Christmas”. If women often do a disproportionate amount of behind-the-scenes work today in making Christmas celebrations happen, what about their role in the actual Nativity? Was it just behind-the-scenes work? Was it under-acknowledged? Or were women’s roles significant?
Often, at a quick glance, it appears that women seem conspicuously absent in the Christmas story, except for Mary, who many non-Catholic Christians are hesitant to focus on. When it comes to Nativity plays, most of the parts are male. The shepherds, the magi, the innkeeper, and of course Joseph are usually played by men or boys. In fact, we are so desperate for roles for girls that the angels, whom the Bible gives male pronouns to (though elsewhere implies may not have a gender), end up played by girls, even Gabriel himself. I recall playing Gabriel as a child!
So, what about the women?
Beyond Mary there are two other women named in the first two chapters of Luke, who play significant roles in Christ’s Nativity. In fact, along with three named men (Zechariah, Joseph and Simeon), we find three named women (Elizabeth, Mary and Anna). Indeed, it turns out that women were critical participants in and witnesses to the Nativity. At Easter, the Resurrected Jesus revealed Himself first to women. At the Nativity, the Incarnate Jesus did the same. Jesus’ story embraced women throughout the Gospel narratives, from the first pages to the last.
Women were first to proclaim the Risen Lord.
Women were first to proclaim the Lord had come!
Who, then, were these women at the Nativity?
Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist, is the first woman named in the birth narratives. She was a relative of Mary, and she was much older than Mary, for she was beyond childbearing years. She was married and was known to be observant and faithful in keeping the commandments. She was of the priestly class, a descendant of Aaron, and married to a priest, enmeshed in the circles of the religious establishment. Elizabeth was beyond middle-aged, was respectably married, of respected lineage, and moved in respected, religious circles.
Mary, meanwhile, was a young girl, as yet only betrothed and not yet in a consummated marriage. She lived in a backwater town. Nazareth was a small village in Galilee, an area very heavily populated by Gentiles, far from Jerusalem and the ethnic and religious centers of society. It was so nondescript and unlikely a place, that Nathanael, when told about Jesus by Philip in John 1 asked incredulously “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Given the offering she and her (by then) husband made after the birth of Jesus, she was not particularly well-off. Mary was betrothed to someone of David’s line, but she was a working-class, young, unmarried girl from a no-name town.
Anna, the third woman named in these birth narratives, was widowed and elderly. She was not from Judah but from the tribe of Asher, a northern tribe from Israel; unlike Elizabeth and Mary, she was neither a Levite nor connected to David’s line. She had been married for seven years before being widowed. Since then, she had remained a widow, which indicates she had not re-married. Yet despite the hardship of losing her husband so young and finding no husband after him, she remained faithful, praying and fasting, worshipping constantly and consistently. Anna was an elderly, pious widow, from one of the lost tribes of Northern Israel, yet living in the heart of the Temple in Jerusalem.
These three women come from all different backgrounds: town, city or country, young, senior or elderly, single, married or widowed, of varied lineage, close to the center of society or out on the fringes. Secular culture and church culture may offer competing narratives about which roles, social location or marital status make a woman more significant or give her more value or prestige. Perhaps you have felt those pressures or stigmas. Yet God does not have such biases. Women of differing life seasons, lineages, social strata, and marital statuses were called to play a role in ushering the King of kings, Emmanuel Himself, into this world. This foreshadows the diverse women Jesus would have interactions with throughout His life. It foreshadows the diverse women whom He continues to call today.
So, what role did God call these women to? Were they called to traditionally female roles or were they called outside the parameters of “traditional womanhood”? How significant were they to the story?
Jesus’ coming is revealed first to Mary.
Gabriel doesn’t go to Joseph first, but to Mary. Joseph is only reassured later by an angel in a dream, after he already knows of her pregnancy (Matt 1:18-25). But Mary receives the news firsthand and face to face with the angel, perhaps because she is the primary agent in participating with God in this plan. “You will […] give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end” (Luke 1:31-33). Mary receives the revelation directly and is expected to be capable of accepting God’s call without a man granting her permission to. She doesn’t need someone else to accept God’s call on her behalf. This young woman was the first to hear that Jesus was coming, and was the first to join with God in bringing about the new Kingdom by giving birth to the King Himself.
It is significant that Jesus enters this world through a woman’s womb. Jesus did not simply show up full-grown. He did not appear as a mysterious foundling. He chose to experience human life from embryonic form onwards, and therefore to be born of a woman. In bearing the Son of God, Mary participates in God’s work reversing the Curse. In the beginning, in Genesis 3:15, God declares to Satan “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” and even childbirth itself became painful and dangerous as a result of the world being fallen. This verse in Genesis 3:15 has often been seen as a Messianic prophecy. The Messiah would be the offspring of a woman. This does not make her co-redemptrix. But being fully and indisputably human meant starting life in the womb. And it is certainly noteworthy that the Bible honors this very female task of bearing children – indeed, the things of childbirth may make many men squeamish, but the Bible does not shrink from mentioning “female issues”, as we see them calmly referred to throughout the Scriptures. Women’s roles were not less important than the tasks traditionally reserved for men. Women’s bodies were not inferior to men’s bodies. As the carol says, “Low, He abhors not the Virgin’s womb”. Jesus chose to come through a woman. He called a woman to this crucial role that only a female body could fulfil.
Mary also knows and proclaims who her Son is. She received Gabriel’s announcement of a divinely created pregnancy and knows that her Son will be known as “Son of the Most High” and will be a king. She may not fathom all the miracles and preaching He will do, nor anticipate the shame and pain of the crucifixion. She doesn’t know all this at His conception. She might be wondering if He will become Israel’s earthly king, given Gabriel’s references to David and the climate of expecting an earthly king to rule an independent Israel. But she is nonetheless bold, courageous and hopeful with what she does know already, and keeps an open mind to ponder the things that are less clear. She knows her child is the Son of God and in the Magnificat (her song that bursts forth after Elizabeth’s greeting) she declares that her God is great, that being Jesus’ mother is a blessing He has done for her. She declares that somehow, through all this, He will bring about justice to the poor and redeem His people, as He has promised, and just as He has always been faithful to do in the past. There is theological understanding and richness in her proclamation which prophetically foreshadows Jesus’ choice of Isaiah 61:1-2 when He begins His public ministry in Luke 4. She knows her God and her Son and she proclaims Him as the one bringing blessing to the hungry and fulfilling promises of justice for the oppressed.
Mary is the first to know Jesus is coming. She receives Gabriel’s revelation directly, accepts the call to give birth to the Son of God, and proclaims prophetically, with theological understanding and great hope: The promised One is here!
Elizabeth also receives direct revelation of who Jesus is – this time directly from God, as she is filled with the Holy Spirit. She doesn’t just hear it from her husband, but God speaks directly to her, just as He had sent the angel directly to Mary. Immediately on Mary’s arrival, without Mary even sharing her news and while it is still unlikely that she visibly shows any signs of pregnancy, Elizabeth is filled with the Spirit and proclaims that Mary’s child is the Lord Himself:
“Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!” (Luke 1:42b-44)
Elizabeth’s declaration encourages Mary. She had come to find the sign Gabriel had promised her, to assure her his words were true – she wasn’t asked to be blind or naïve, but was given evidence and made the arduous trek to see for herself. Assured and encouraged by Elizabeth, Mary then bursts forth with the Magnificat. God uses a mother encouraging a mother to assure Mary of His promises and to declare Jesus as Lord. Again we see that God reveals Himself not only in places reserved for men, but also in roles filled by women. He values women’s contributions and experiences. Nor does He limit their spheres. These women are both bearing children and bearing prophetic witness to the arrival of the Incarnate God! Elizabeth is the first to declare to us: The Lord is here!
Anna is the third woman to be named in the birth narratives, when Mary and Joseph present Jesus at the Temple. Her story is often bypassed entirely in our Christmas festivities, with the visit to the Temple itself often unmentioned outside of the liturgical churches who celebrate Candlemas. Mary and Joseph meet two people when they go to the Temple. Simeon’s words to Mary and Joseph are recorded. However, Anna’s presence and message is far from insignificant. Despite being a widow of 84 years of age (some translate her as being a widow for 84 years, making her older still), despite being a woman, the Bible names her as a prophet. Let that sink in. When thinking of a biblical prophet, we probably envisage a man, perhaps an old man. Yet while Simeon is declared righteous and devout, it is Anna who is specifically named a prophet. After seeing and giving thanks for the Child, she is the first one after the unnamed Shepherds, to begin spreading the good news about this Child. Just as the women named at the tomb would become the first evangelists of the Resurrection, Anna is the first named evangelist of the Nativity. She is an elderly widow, yet she is a prophet who tells others about this Child: The Redeemer is here!
In the first two chapters of Luke’s Gospel, these three women between them receive and give birth to the Son of God, recognize His Lordship, and bring the Good News of His birth to those around them. They were called to roles traditionally associated with the female, such as childbirth. They were also called to roles more traditionally assigned to men: receiving revelation, proclamation, evangelism, and prophesy. Their roles, both traditional and untraditional, were deeply significant in bringing Jesus into this world and proclaiming who He was. They were not simply bit-players. They were valued and called!
He called them. He can call you.
In addition to being called by God to such crucial and prophetic roles, these women also experienced God restoring and securing their honor.
In the Bible, salvation and restoration of honor often go hand in hand. In our fallen world, women have often experienced dishonor and shame in ways that are gendered and target them specifically as women. Yet in the lives of these three women, we see Jesus’ arrival brought healing and hope, offering honor in places where the world offered shame.
How, then, did His Nativity bring these women honor?
Elizabeth, despite her respectability as a blameless, married woman, bore a deep societal shame: she had not been able to conceive. Throughout history, until very recently, the shame for lack of offspring or sons has usually fallen on women. The Bible, however, makes clear that Elizabeth is not to blame, nor is this a punishment for her. Hardship and sorrow happen in a fallen world. We must refuse to judge another, lest we imitate Job’s comforters rather than Jesus. Again, the Gospel writer makes clear Elizabeth is blameless, as is her husband. Yet it is she, rather than he, who bears the shame. After years of barrenness, without knowing it was the prelude to a unique child, Elizabeth is gifted a son with a prophetic calling – a pattern seen many times over through lives of women like Sarah and Hannah before her. Her honor is more than restored within her culture, as she gives birth to a prophet, who will pave the way for the Lord’s ministry, and she rejoices in how her shame is taken from her. “The Lord has done this for me […]. In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace among the people”. He sees Elizabeth’s shame – a shame that is uniquely born by women. He declares her blameless, repudiating any shame she bore for her years of barrenness. And as part of her unique role preparing for His coming, He even restores her honor.
Sometimes God restores our honor within our broken, unjust world, as he did for Elizabeth. But not always. Mary’s story shows us how the Nativity brought her honor, despite bringing her worldly shame. Indeed, when Mary agreed to bear the son of God, she initially took on the risk of great shame. She surely knew the risk to herself of ostracism and divorce, and potentially even being executed for unfaithfulness to her betrothed. These were shames that were, and are, often uniquely born by women – double standards about infidelity have existed throughout time and across cultures. In the end, Joseph neither divorced her nor pressed charges, thanks to God’s intervention through an angelic dream. But we should remember that Mary did not have that guarantee when she consented to Gabriel, making her “yes” to God incredibly brave. Meanwhile, her marriage still did not necessarily spare her entirely from all shame. Some have theorized that the reference to Jesus as “son of Mary” in Mark 6:3 may have been a slur against His supposed illegitimacy. Whether that particular verse is indeed a case of a villagers’ slur or whether Mark is simply making a point about Jesus’ humanity, either way Mary experienced life as a poor young girl from a no-name town about to become a mother out of wedlock. Even after her marriage, locals knew how to count the months between marriage and birth. Yet Mary knew the truth of where her Child is from, and despite the risks and rumor, stigma and shame, in the Magnificat (probably uttered before she even knew Joseph would still marry her) she had the audacity and hope to declare “From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me” (Luke 1:48b-49a). Gabriel had told her she had “found favor with God” (Luke 1:30b). She was aware that despite the shame she would bear in this world, in the long run this Son she was bearing would be the source of her honor and redemption, indeed the honor and redemption of all His people. She did not know this yet, but He would do so by enduring even greater shame Himself: the shame of Crucifixion. But she did know this: Man’s slurs and derision are nothing compared to God’s favor! Her Son held out a clear promise for her, just as He does for us: He secures her honor.
Anna enters the story after Jesus is already born. As an elderly widow, she has no male protection – which may be part of why she lives at the Temple. Widows did not have a great deal of social standing and could find themselves on precarious financial footing (think of Naomi and Ruth!). Too often, patriarchal attitudes throughout the ages have given women less respect and security if they aren’t protected by a man, whether at home, in the workplace or at church. Too often women are at financial or physical risk if they don’t have this protection. Too often they haven’t been listened to or heard without a man to speak for them. Yet we have seen that Anna, this old lady, is a prophet. It is often noted how radical it was that Jesus used women to first bear testimony to His Resurrection in a society where a woman’s testimony had no legal standing. Yet it turns out, He did the same at His birth. Elizabeth declared Jesus as Lord. Mary prophesied about the ministry her Son would have. Now, he calls an elderly, female prophet as the first named evangelist of the Incarnation. Her elderly, female testimony counts, her message was valid, as she “spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:38b). He gives her words honor.
Jesus restored honor to Elizabeth, Mary, and Anna, women who were shamed by patriarchal attitudes and injustices, who were blamed, misjudged or unheard. He restored honor to them. He restores honor to women today.
In Luke’s account of the Nativity, we see three women, before, at and after the birth of Jesus. Each of these women had a different life story. Each were at a different stage of life. Each were marginalized or shamed by patriarchal realities of society in different ways. Yet these women ushered into this world the Lord of lords and King of kings. A woman was the first to receive revelation of Christ’s coming and bore the Child whom she proclaimed as the promised One. A woman was the first to declare the coming Child as Lord. A woman was the first named evangelist about the Redemption found in this Child. These women’s vocations and voices participated in and proclaimed the Incarnation. Women may not have as many spots in the average nativity pageant, but they were certainly called to play crucial and honored roles in Christ’s coming.
He called women.
He honored women.
He still does.