Ancient Media for a New Day: Connecting with the Incarnation
One of the most profound Christian teachings is the incarnation. There is little development in the gospels of this audacious claim that the divine entered the human condition as one of us. John proclaims the Word of God became flesh and dwelled in our company (John 1:14). Luke and Matthew contain infancy narratives that are influential in the later development of this doctrine. Both synoptic gospel accounts provide insights into the incarnation by their attention to the vulnerability of the young Jesus and his family. They establish the humanity of Jesus from birth. These are the gospels of Christmas!
The mystery of the incarnation captures the popular imagination in ways that engage the senses and inspire human creativity. We take for granted the practices that have been handed on in our celebrations of the season forgetting that many were the new media of their day, preaching and teaching the good news that the Word made flesh continued to dwell among us. One of the most recognizable traditions is the representation of the nativity in a variety of media, arts, crafts, and performances. The presence of the manger, crèche, nacimiento, in some form, in homes, churches, and the public square dates to the medieval period. The first reference to a representation of the nativity appears in the spiritual biography The Life of St. Francis, commissioned by the Franciscans in 1250 CE. The author, the Franciscan theologian and mystic Bonaventure, noted that Francis prepared a manger with hay, an ox and a donkey. At the Mass celebrated over the crib in remembrance of the birth of the Child Jesus, Francis preached to the assembled friars and townsfolk about the birth of the “poor King”.1 The intention was to arouse devotion in a manner that was accessible, to connect the people to a mystery of their faith. It was a new technology. The fact that Francis of Assisi sought and obtained papal permission so that it would not be considered an innovation attests to its novelty.
For centuries and across cultures nativity scenes tradition generations of Christians into the mystery of the incarnation. From museum pieces to folk art they evoke response and articulate theological claims. These cultural texts reflect a dynamic and ongoing interaction with biblical texts that transverse time and place. Arising originally in an era where many could not read or write, these depictions brought biblical texts to life in multiple dimensions. Theologian Alejandro García-Rivera sees in these tactile, visual representations “theology expressed in its most profound way: an aesthetic narrative of immense popular appeal.”2
In their particularity nativities proclaim the humanity of Jesus in concrete terms. The fragility of the human existence into which God enters is on display as an infant, at times portrayed wearing less than a diaper. He is born into a family, clearly away from home. Some nacimientos include hints of the trouble to come. In the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista in the Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the elaborate nativity includes on its margins the images of the fleeing holy family, alone, heading into exile as refugees from violence. At the same time many crèches reflect the particularity of the artist and/or the community that constructs them. Often made out of local materials, with figures dressed in clothes typical of the area, the birth of Jesus plays out on familiar terrain. The topography is recognizable as home. These visual representations seamlessly integrate temporal and geographic elements in a manner that locates the incarnation in both the past and the present.
Some nacimientos underscore the human condition which the Word has entered. In Cataluña, Spain, and in parts of Portugal, and Italy a small crude character has been a part of nativities for several centuries. Known regionally as a caganer, this squatting human goes about the daily business of eliminating the byproducts of digestion. More recently the caganer appears in the guise of the world’s mighty and famous, an equalizing reminder of shared humanity, and a graphic interpretation of the powerful being brought down. While some are disturbed by the vulgarity of the character, it signifies clearly the human condition, the flesh the Word has undertaken. At the same time it positions the incarnation in the dailyness of life, affirming the quotidian experience of the Son of God.
Other nacimientos, from parts of México and in the homes of some Mexican Americans, contain un diablo hidden in the nativity scene. The inclusion of a devilish figure points to the sinful condition into which all are born. Jesus too was born into a world of structures that offend peace, of systems that disparage dignity, and of temptations to ignore obligations to God, neighbor and even enemy. These nacimientos are provocative reminders that sinfulness still prevails. Faith in the Word-made-flesh requires a committed response from the faithful to address the manifestations of social and personal sin in their own day and in their own lives.
Most nativity scenes place the incarnation within the realm of the created universe. The presence of the creatures of God, range from those imagined to be present in first century Palestine – camels, sheep, donkeys; to those a part of domestic life – cats, dogs, chickens; to those indigenous to particular locales – monkeys, iguanas, horses. The symbolic meanings of these and other creatures vary according to the cultural context and worldview of the communities from which these popular expressions arise. In many popular interpretations and stories of the nativity creatures are the first witnesses to the birth of Jesus. God-among-us is signaled by the heavens and discernible to those who can read the signs.
In crèches the message and medium are intertwined in ways that teach to the senses, preach to the imagination, and situate us, as participants, in the midst of the action, in other words they are interactive. In a letter to his parents from a Berlin prison in Advent 1943, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote about Holy Night (Heilige Nacht), a painting of the nativity by Renaissance artist Albrecht Altdorfer. In light of the instability and violence of Nazi Germany he contemplated that painting “in which one sees the holy family with the manger amid the rubble of a collapsed house – just how did he come to portray this in such a way, flying in the face of all tradition?”3 This depiction of the nativity stuck Bonhoeffer as particularly relevant and timely, and he concluded that perhaps the message in his context of imprisonment and national terror was that, “even here one can and ought to celebrate Christmas.”4 For Bonhoeffer, an encounter with the manger demanded transformation. In a climate where the dignity of humanity was under assault there could be no distancing or withdrawal. To approach the manger was to discover that something was happening, “the beginning of a complete turnaround, a reordering of everything on this earth.”5
The tradition of representing the nativity attempts to make words flesh through image. In their rich particularity they situate the incarnation where it belongs, amid complicated human and cosmic contexts, and in the dailyness of life. Each crèche reinterprets the gospel with a visual juxtaposition of texts. Each nacimiento teaches, preaches, evangelizes, and theologizes. Each nativity communicates the power of the gospel to inspire action for the sake of the reign of God’s justice and peace. From the manger of St. Francis of Assisi to a nacimiento in a home, each nativity proclaims: “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).
Notes
1. Bonaventure, The Life of St. Francis, Ewert Cousins trans. (New York: Harper Collins, 2005), 110-111.
2. Alejandro García-Rivera, “The Whole and the Love of Difference: Latino Metaphysics as Cosmology,” in From the Heart of Our People: Latino/a Explorations in Catholic Systematic Theology, Orlando O. Espín and Miguel H. Díaz, eds. (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 1999), 58.
3. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison, John W. De Gruchy, ed. (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2010), 206.
4. Ibid.
5. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Mystery of Holy Night, Manfred Weber, ed., Peter Heinegg, trans. (New York: Crossroad, 1996), 11.
For images of nativities from across the world, see University of Dayton, World Nativity Collection of the Marian Library, http://ecommons.udayton.edu/imri_creches/. For bibliographic resources in multiple languages see “The Crèche. A Selected Bibliography,” Friends of the Crèche, http://www.friendsofthecreche.org/englishus-2013/.
