A Reflection on Pope Benedict XVI's Jesus of Nazareth, The Infancy Narratives
You might know that Saint Francis of Assisi famously introduced the first live Nativity scene with actors portraying Jesus' birth in Bethlehem at a Christmas Mass at Greccio, Italy in 1223, an event that inspired the statuary we often see in churches and homes today. However, the iconographic depiction of Christ's birth in a lowly stable among the animals goes back much further in history. The familiar ox and donkey, along with sheep, have been stable (pun intended) images in Nativity scenes since late antiquity; in fact, some of the earliest depictions featured only these animals worshipping the infant Jesus, sans shepherds and wisemen (although the most ancient image from a third century catacomb features Mary holding Jesus). An ornamented detail from the late-fourth century marble Sarcophagus of Stilicho, which today is kept under the pulpit of Sant'Ambrogio basilica in Milan, Italy, shows Christ in his manger flanked by the familiar ox and donkey.
Picture by Giovanni Dall'Orto, April 25 2007.
As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI stated in his book Jesus of Nazareth, the Infancy Narratives: “Christian iconography adopted this motif at an early stage. No representation of the crib is complete without the ox and the ass.” (pg. 104).
But why these animals in the first place? After all, the New Testament doesn't mention them at Christ's crib.
It’s no mystery why sheep would probably be at Christ’s crib. They were the most common animal kept in caves and sheepfolds in Bethlehem, the ancestral capital of the Shepherd-King David, which served as an important center for the year-round work of shepherds. This included the rearing of lambs for Passover sacrifices in Jerusalem. Shepherds keeping watch on the night of the Lord’s birth were the first to hear the angelic call to come and behold the Messiah (Lk. 2:8-12), and it’s probable they brought some of their flocks with them to the manger. The Christological symbolism is clear: shepherds come to behold the Good Shepherd who gathers and tends to his people, and who is at the same time the pure paschal Lamb of God, who will offer himself as sacrifice and food in Jerusalem, bringing to fulfillment the full significance of the Passover at his Last Supper and on the Cross.
More mysterious though is the presence of the ox and the donkey in Christian art. Yes, they were common farm animals in Israel which logically would have been near a manger waiting for a bite to eat, but why have they always been so essential to recreations of the Nativity if neither is mentioned in the Gospels? Are they just rural decor? To understand their inclusion and symbolism, we have to read Messianic prophecies from the Old Testament in light of the New Testament, and hear what other ancient historical sources had to say as well.
As Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI stated in his book Jesus of Nazareth, the Infancy Narratives: “Christian iconography adopted this motif at an early stage. No representation of the crib is complete without the ox and the ass.” (pg. 104).
But why these animals in the first place? After all, the New Testament doesn't mention them at Christ's crib.
Born in a Barn
Well, we know Jesus wasn’t born in a pristine maternity ward at a local St. Luke’s hospital. St. Luke himself tells us Mary placed her newborn son in a manger, a feeding trough for farm animals (the word "manger", from Old French and Late Latin, means "to chew" and traces back to the Biblical Greek "phatne" or "stall for feeding" - see Luke 2:7,12,16. If you're familiar with the Italian command "Mangia!" or "eat up!" you'll notice the same root). The presence of the manger is a clue indicating the Holy Family took shelter in one of the many rocky caves that served as an animal stable or granary in ancient Bethlehem (a town whose name means "House of Bread" in Hebrew because of its wheat production and "House of Flesh" in Arabic because of its animal husbandry). In the second century, St. Justin Martyr spoke of the Lord's cave-stable as a holy site of pilgrimage (today the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem graces the ancient spot). So naturally, there were probably farm animals there when Jesus was born, even though neither Matthew's nor Luke's infancy narratives mention any specific creatures being present. Why then are oxen, donkeys, and sheep included in our own artful depictions and front yard displays? Simply because those were common rural animals in Jesus' day? The answer lies not only in practical reasons but theological symbolism as well.
Well, we know Jesus wasn’t born in a pristine maternity ward at a local St. Luke’s hospital. St. Luke himself tells us Mary placed her newborn son in a manger, a feeding trough for farm animals (the word "manger", from Old French and Late Latin, means "to chew" and traces back to the Biblical Greek "phatne" or "stall for feeding" - see Luke 2:7,12,16. If you're familiar with the Italian command "Mangia!" or "eat up!" you'll notice the same root). The presence of the manger is a clue indicating the Holy Family took shelter in one of the many rocky caves that served as an animal stable or granary in ancient Bethlehem (a town whose name means "House of Bread" in Hebrew because of its wheat production and "House of Flesh" in Arabic because of its animal husbandry). In the second century, St. Justin Martyr spoke of the Lord's cave-stable as a holy site of pilgrimage (today the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem graces the ancient spot). So naturally, there were probably farm animals there when Jesus was born, even though neither Matthew's nor Luke's infancy narratives mention any specific creatures being present. Why then are oxen, donkeys, and sheep included in our own artful depictions and front yard displays? Simply because those were common rural animals in Jesus' day? The answer lies not only in practical reasons but theological symbolism as well.
'Feed My Lambs' (Jn 21:1)
It’s no mystery why sheep would probably be at Christ’s crib. They were the most common animal kept in caves and sheepfolds in Bethlehem, the ancestral capital of the Shepherd-King David, which served as an important center for the year-round work of shepherds. This included the rearing of lambs for Passover sacrifices in Jerusalem. Shepherds keeping watch on the night of the Lord’s birth were the first to hear the angelic call to come and behold the Messiah (Lk. 2:8-12), and it’s probable they brought some of their flocks with them to the manger. The Christological symbolism is clear: shepherds come to behold the Good Shepherd who gathers and tends to his people, and who is at the same time the pure paschal Lamb of God, who will offer himself as sacrifice and food in Jerusalem, bringing to fulfillment the full significance of the Passover at his Last Supper and on the Cross.
The Ox and Donkey Find True Food
Isaiah 1:3 states: "An ox knows its owner, and an ass, its master’s manger; But Israel does not know, my people has not understood." The Church always connected this Old Testament verse with Luke 2:12: "And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.” Thus, Isaiah compared Israel's obstinance with animals known for their own stubbornness, yet still have enough sense to know who takes care of them (hence, in English we get phrases like "stubborn as a mule", "mulish", and "bull-headed" to describe people who act that way). But the prophet also foretold where the true Messiah would one day be physically found and recognized -- not in an elaborate public palace surrounded by elites and their flatterers but rather in an out-of-way stable surrounded by the poor, outsiders, and beasts of burden.
In Nativity art, these beasts seem to relinquish their stubborn nature and humbly kneel before their true Master who presents Himself as their food - the "Bread which came down from Heaven" (John 6:41) in a feeding container. One can see where this is going: the animals are really a picture of prideful, foolish, and impoverished humanity transformed by true Meekness, Wisdom, and Divine Sustenance found in the least likely of places. Pope Benedict XVI again relates the full significance:
Thus the manger becomes a reference to the table of God, to which we are invited so as to receive the bread of God. From the poverty of Jesus' birth emerges the miracle in which man’s redemption is mysteriously accomplished. The manger, as we have seen, indicates animals, who come to it for their food (ibid. 103-104).
Although the Last Supper wouldn't happen for another 33 years, already we have a picture of the Mass in the Nativity (after all the word Christmas means "Mass of Christ"). Jesus came down in the House of Bread not only to be with us, but to remain in us as our supernatural nourishment:
Whoever chews my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. (John 6:54-57)
