[This is one in a series of devotional reflections prepared for Horley Baptist Church during December 2021]
The story is told of a young suitor and his fiancee who set off on a boat, taking with them some food, some cash and an additional financial contingency. Although they seemed to be an unlikely couple they enjoyed their evenings, singing romantic songs under the starlight. On the 366th day of their voyage they came to a country known for its exotic trees, where they purchased a ring and were married by a local dignitary.
At one point in the evolution of the British education system students were encouraged to contrast and compare two texts. The object of the exercise was to encourage the students to pay close attention to what was said, both similarly and differently, what was not said but implied and what assumptions could be made from what went without saying.
For our second travelling couple it would be seasonal to look at Mary and Joseph at the time of the birth of Jesus. The Biblical story is derived from the accounts provided by Matthew and Luke[1] but it has been embellished by two centuries of assumptions, conjectures and exploitation.
Were they an unlikely couple? Some traditions suggest that Joseph was somewhat older than Mary but both then and today such age differences are common. What was unusual in those days was that he accepted Mary’s account of her pregnancy and was willing to continue with the relationship despite the inevitable gossip and scandal.
They too did a lot of travelling, first from Nazareth to Bethlehem, then to Egypt and finally returning to Nazareth. Nazareth to Bethlehem is a distance of some 80 miles and would take 4 days if one could maintain a typical walking pace for 8 hours each day.
Once again, tradition can influence our thoughts. Did Mary ride a donkey whilst Joseph walked? The Bible gives us no details – is that because we do not need to know or is it an example of something that goes without saying? The original readers would have been familiar with the means of travel in those days so no further details were necessary. Of one thing we can be fairly certain – they did not go by boat.
It seems likely that the journey into Egypt would have been not less than 300 miles and the return to Nazareth would be somewhat longer. They now had the Wise Men’s gifts as a financial contingency, to ease the rigours of the journey and to sustain them during their sojourn in Egypt, a period of, probably, a little over one year. Once back in Nazareth, the travelling did not cease; every year the family went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. Again, not an easy or cheap journey but Luke tells us that such journeys were undertaken in the company of friends and relatives; perhaps it was the same with the original summons for the census.
In case you didn’t recognise it, the first story is a retelling of “The Owl and the Pussy-cat”, a nonsense poem by Edward Lear. By contrast the Biblical account is far from being nonsense; it is the prelude to God’s means of salvation for those who believe. So, as you hear once again these familiar passages, don’t be distracted by the details of the journey but concentrate on the destination.
[1] Matthew 2 v13-15, v19-20, Luke 2 v4-5, v41-44.
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