Illegitimate Jesus

Nowadays it's such a common thing for children to be born to unmarried parents it's no big deal at all, and it would be pretty uncommon that any kids would experience shame or derision because of it, which is a good thing in some ways because a child never deserves to be shamed because of their parents. However one other effect of this is that we may not have an appreciation for the stigma of illegitimacy that Jesus, the son of Mary, would have felt growing up in first century Palestine. It may almost sound blasphemous to our ears but in the opinion of the people of Nazareth, Jesus was a bastard. Mary got pregnant before she was married - whether this was to Joseph or (even more scandalously) to someone else, Jesus was conceived out of wedlock and would thus always be seen as an illegitimate child. So what would this have meant to Jesus as He was growing up? How would He have been regarded by His peers?

Can you imagine growing up in a society where you were seen as being a shameful, hopeless case who will never amount to anything? I often hear it mentioned what an amazing show of humility it was that God chose to be born in a lowly stable as a poor person in an oppressed country etc, and surely His "illegitimacy" in the eyes of His people is just another aspect of the humiliation of God. But if you think about it another way, isn't it amazing that the human child Jesus managed to overcome this stigmatism and shame and rise up to become a leader of a movement of people, wisely dispensing teachings about turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, and loving our neighbors and enemies? Even if we set aside all that happened at the end of His earthly ministry, just the fact that Jesus had a ministry at all, and that it was one of peace and healing and forgiveness rather than anger and bitterness and rage, is a phenomenal achievement. Jesus had to overcome a lot more than we realize - His temptation in the desert was perhaps just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the struggles He had been through prior to His baptism and ministry - thinking about Him in this way just makes me respect and appreciate and love and admire Him even more. He willingly chose to endure all this for the sake of our lost world, for the sake of people like me.

I just want to mention briefly one other idea I had. As incredible as it was that He survived intact a childhood of illegitimacy and scorn, is it possible that Jesus was aided through this not just through His relationship with the Father or a sense of mission, but also through the positive influence and love of His parents? Not only Mary, but also His adoptive father Joseph, one of the unsung heroes of the Bible I think. Joseph who loved Mary enough to still marry her even after she got pregnant while they were betrothed, who loved enough to take her child as his own, and to care for and protect this little family, even to the point of fleeing to a foreign land. Joseph whose love and faith enabled him to believe the promises of God even though he himself got no earthly reward (as far as we know) and who perhaps would have shared in some of the ridicule and shame of his wife and child. What a great role model Joseph must have been for the young Jesus, who not only had an almighty loving Father in heaven, but a pretty amazing earthly father too.

[Currently playing on my IPod: Unwell by Matchbox 20]