Most Christmas plays involve casts between 20-200 people depending on the size of church. I could never figure out how that many people carve out that much time for practices during the busiest season of the year. Likely for the love of the stage, the story, and the Savior Himself.
In re-reading the Bible accounts of that first Christmas the cast looks like it’s largely made up of outcasts.
To start the Christmas story and entire Newer Testament, Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus included an idolater, an adulterer, a murderer and two prostitutes (Bathsheba, David, Rahab and Tamar, Matthew 1).
The author of the world’s best-loved script of this story is Luke. As a Gentile he was viewed by many Jews of his day as an outsider to the promises of God.
Was this why he so tenderly portrayed outcasts like: the Prodigal Son (Luke 15*), the humble tax collector (18), and the half-breed Samaritan (10). Then there are his respectful renderings of women and children, near the bottom of the social scale in ancient times.
There’s the lowly barren priestly couple named Zechariah and Elizabeth (1:5-25). In antiquity childlessness was a sign you were supposedly out of favor with God. It also lowered your standing in society.
Their miracle son, John the Baptizer was an outcast to society, abused by those in power but favored by God (1:76-77; 3:19-20).
As was Mary, who the angel calls “highly favored” (1:28) She was not favorite with fellow citizens she faced as a pregnant, unwed mother.
Let’s not forget the humble shepherds, outcasts from the Temple because they couldn’t keep the hygienic parts of the law. They got the only singing telegram to the open house for God’s newborn Son (2:8-24).
It seems like Luke took his cues off Jesus, who came into this world as an outcast (2:6-7) and went out the same way (Luke 22-24). He said he came especially for outcasts: “He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor…proclaim freedom for the prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor [for slaves]” (4:18-19).
The grandest and oldest songs we have were written by outcasts; Mary (1:46-55), Zechariah (67-79), and Simeon (2:29-32).
Who are some of the outcasts in your world? The elderly, disabled, divorce, diseased, immigrants, or homeless? Which do you often encounter? What do you need to change in your attitudes and/or actions regarding outcasts? How does it make you feel to see that God had favorites who made up that cast of outcasts in the first Christmas pageant?
*All numbers in parentheses are locations in Luke’s Gospel
