Why us? by Vera Marbach
Why us?
there we were
on the job
close to Migdal Eder
on the outskirts of Bethlehem
shepherds, following
the cloud of witnesses who
carried the staff before us,
like Abraham, Jacob, Moses and David
Christmas
God with us
It starts with a genealogy going back right to the beginning, to the first man, fallen.
The fallenness is evident in the list of real people
God has chosen to be part of his son’s very human ancestry:
The venerated patriarchs – who paved the way for those behind
but stumbled over their own lies, cowardice and cheating.
The kings – some men after God’s own heart but also adulterers, murderers and idolaters …
even upright leaders of society had their hidden sins exposed by God’s Word.
Women are mentioned – a prostitute who saved Jewish spies,
a gentile widow who followed her forlorn mother-in-law wherever she went,
a multiple widow who tricked her father-in-law into donating his sperm.
All are mentioned by name, known completely in their complexity by their creator,
who majestically stands outside and beyond.
