If we are to rediscover the original subversive power of the birth narratives of Jesus and rightly apply those stories to our lives today, we must read them in the context of the lives and hopes of people in 1st Century Galilee and Judea who daily faced dehumanizing and economically crushing oppression. Read more
If we are going to wrest these two narratives from centuries of purely religious and otherworldly interpretations, we must discover their historical context. Once we see that context, we cannot unsee it. Read more
Mark’s Jesus narrative offers a Jesus who has come not to destroy us or who we are but to liberate us from the self-hatred and the internalized low self-estimation our communities of origin have given us because of who we are. This Jesus has come to liberate us from our own captivity to believing that we are “less than” others simply because we may be different from those at the top of the privilege structures in our society. Read more
Because the story seeks the root causes of why people are marginalized, there is no case that does not also raise a larger question of social oppression. Read more
One possible interpretation of these stories is to understand them as drawing attention to those whom the community has chosen to expel: the scapegoats, the sacrificed, the expelled, but who themselves are innocent. Read more
These narratives speak of a God who, rather than demanding someone’s sacrifice, stands in solidarity with those our societies sacrifice. We are called by these narratives to do the same. Read more
Both narratives of sacrifice and narratives of anti-sacrifice are found in the sacred texts, and we have to ask which path is life-giving for a community and which is not. Read more
The unity that comes through sacrificing a common enemy is temporary and must be continually rekindled. Read more
To change systemic oppression, every time, we must stand in solidarity with the oppressed, demanding oppressors regain their own humanity in the face of the harm they’re doing. Read more
In the stories, Jesus was seeking to help both sides reclaim their humanity and that looks very different depending on which side of dehumanizing oppression you are on. Read more
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