1968 & 1995: O, Little Town of Lemon Grove

The Front Page:  Frequently on Christmas throughout his 34-year tenure as editor of the Review, the old pro, Max Goodwin, ran a "Christmas front page" full of "news" as it might have been published on the day of Christ's birth in the ancient world.  Extra copies of this popular edition were 10 cents in 1968.

Weather Changeable:  Thursday fair with cool winds from the Mediterranean.  Friday fair with clouds from the north.  Northern Palestine unsettled…temperatures dropping.

Astrologers Predict: Dateline Jerusalem, Dec. 25.  Astrologers in the big city issued a statement to the city:  Great tragedy will mark the future of a child born in Bethlehem.  He will be in danger while an infant, he will live to be hailed in Jerusalem, but will later be rejected and betrayed by one close to him…

Royal Parents:  Dateline Nazareth, Dec. 25.  Mary and Joseph were descendants of King David and the royal family of Judea, but lived among the humbler folk noted the article, which asserted that the local census required tribes to meet in specific towns, in this case, Bethlehem.

Star Gazing:  Dateline Jerusalem, Dec. 25.  Eminent astrologers explained the appearance of a large star, or nova, as the conjunction of two great planets, Jupiter and Saturn.

Magi En Route:  Dateline Judea, Dec. 25.  Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar rode camels for hundreds of miles through the desert, using the new star as a guide.  Their belief:  The King we seek is the light for which the world is waiting.  

Herod Waylays Magi:  King Herod's spies reported that wealthy kings had crossed into Judea.  Herod invited them to the palace and asked for directions to the Bethlehem "site" so that he, too, could pay his respects.  Apparently, the magi responded evasively and left.

Herod's Political Pressure:  As the hand-picked king of a territory conquered by Roman Emperor Augustus, Herod was Mr. Unpopular, a ruler between a rock and a hard place beholden to Rome, yet fearing for his own power.  Judean taxes were through the roof.  People were enslaved to serve Roman households.  Periodic famines depleted food stores. Roman extravagance stripped local merchants of property and wealth. 

In other words, the peasants were not only angry, they were ripe for revolt under a new leader.  A panicked Herod sent spies nationwide and planned to butcher boys under age two to ensure that no "accidental Messiah" would rise to power.

Meanwhile, back at the stable…

New Baby:  Jesus was born not with a cry, but with the sound of humming from the young mother.  The article reported that The whole atmosphere has been one of unusual excitement as people swarmed into town for the census-taking.  Freezing temperatures, overcrowded inns and a lively grapevine prompted crowds to gather outside the stable.

Some rejected the notion of a Messiah emerging in such a lowly setting.  Others declared the site logical as the Messiah had come to help those suffering under Roman (and Herod's) domination.  The presence of poor shepherds and three kings together in the stable was "proof" of the latter argument.  (Of course, the magi had found the stable and presented their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.)

Shepherds Amazed:  Dateline Bethlehem, Dec. 25.  Before the magi arrived, a group of shepherds--men and boys--reported that, just as a huge star rose in the sky, a band of angels appeared to them and told them to head for the stable and pay their respects to the new King.

This the shepherds did being guided all the way by an angel.  They found the child with his parents and stable animals.

Eyewitness:  A shepherd boy, about 10, reported, I asked her if they didn't have a better place in the inn.  She answered low-like There wasn't any room for us, but I like it here.  The inn was so noisy and the streets are full of loud people.  The animals are peaceful.  You mustn't feel sorry for us.

Innkeeper Stunned:  Dateline Bethlehem, Dec. 25.  After sending Mary and Joseph to the stable, the innkeeper later told a "reporter," There was something about her face…something about him, too, made me want to call them back.  I went to the stable this morning, only it didn't seem like the same stable…It wasn't my fault they ended up out there.  Joseph didn't have a reservation…

Flash forward to Dec. 19, 1995.

The Jesus Files II:  Review editor Steve Saint headlined his front page "A Journalist Reviews the Gospels."  (You remember, dear readers, that last week we reported on part one of Saint's discussion of the historical context of Christmas.)

History or Rumor?  Saint wrote that...from time immemorial historians were storytellers, not scholars.  There was no scientific method, no journalistic code of ethics…There were certainly no journalists in Bethlehem on the first Christmas and historians (for lack of a better word to call them) had no interest in the birth of Jesus until two decades after his death.

     It should come as no surprise that the Christmas stories found in only two gospels--Matthew and Luke--are completely different…

The Census -- Real?  Historians corroborate that the Roman census of 7 A.D. required people to travel to local towns to be counted.

First Investigative Reporter:  Saint wrote that Julius Africanus was the first known investigator, proposing in the early 200s A.D. that the genealogies cited by Matthew for Joseph and Luke for Mary actually made sense.  But, relying largely on Luke, Julius traced the birth of Joseph and his marriage to a young Jewish woman, Mary.  

Saint wrote that Luke was well informed about Jewish rituals, but Matthew knew little.  Luke accurately has baby Jesus circumcised on the eighth day after birth and taken a second time to the Temple for "redemption," a ritual for first-born males, and Mary's "purification," a ritual for new mothers.

Luke the Journalist:  This is Saint's heading for his argument that while Luke may have had the makings of a modern journalist, it is unfair to impose modern journalistic standards on another culture in a bygone era.  To the modern journalist, Luke's gospel seems leaner, more accurate and with better attribution to original sources.  Matthew gets sent back for a rewrite.

Saint also wrote:  The New Testament Book of Acts says Luke was a physician--probably the closest thing in the first century to a scientist--and this claim seems substantiated by close inspection of his writings…it seems clear that Luke was referring to somebody's actual records, whereas Matthew's list reads like a schoolboy copying right out of Hebrew Scriptures.

Matthew the Poet:  This is Saint's heading for his assertion that Matthew's version has a poetic, visionary feel.  He's not telling us he has carefully investigated everything from the beginning as Luke does in 1:3.  His penchant for quoting Old Testament prophecy reflects an author more interested in describing what Jesus meant than spending hours coming halls of records…he's talking about his belief in the kingship of Jesus.

Saint also wrote of Matthew:  When the Magi come to Bethlehem, Matthew isn't concerned [like Luke] about astronomy and geography.  He's painting a picture of Jesus meaning something special to the whole earth.…Jesus is linked to the mysterious "Immanuel," who, in Isaiah 9:6 is called 'Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father.'    

Handel and More: Those last words are sung by the chorus in Handel's "Messiah," a frequently performed oratorio at Christmas and one of the ornaments of Western culture. Music, architecture, paintings, sculpture, literature, all attest to the power of the story of the Holy Family and Christ, and their transformation into a foundation of Western civilization.

Our Editors:  For viewpoint, Max Goodwin is our Matthew and Steve Saint our Luke--though both men were united in their Christian faith. At Christmas, both extolled the generosity of 'Grovians toward shut-ins, handicapped and poor, and ran front page articles and photos on charitable projects.

Santa:  For all his commercial trappings -- and they are grossly over the top -- Santa still stands for generosity, kindness and a willingness to go the last mile (in legend, traversing the world) to bring happiness to all in the form of open-hearted gifts, cheer and an admonishment to share.  His half pagan, half Christian persona, in its purest form, is a direct link to the life of Christ, who, as is well known, is the reason for the season.

We show the Right Jolly Old Elf in the accompanying photo montage taken by Ed Roxburgh and Scott Hamm on Dec. 6, 2013 at the H. Lee House Cultural Center during the Community Bonfire.

We close with a heart-tugger, a letter to Santa from little Michel Larkins, Spring Valley, selected by Goodwin from the hundreds sent to the Review each Christmas… 

Dear Santa, I'm writing this letter to you so you can know what I want.  Actually I don't want a lot of toys and games. Oh! Santa, would you please write a letter back so I can prove there still is a Santa Claus.  My friend she says there was a Santa but not now...

   Oh Santa!  God bless you.

And so it went on Christmas Eve in the little town of Lemon Grove when yearning for magic and goodness, and faith in our better selves briefly made of daily life a thing of beauty and a joy forever.

Merry Christmas!

About this column:  Compiled by Helen Ofield, president of the Lemon Grove Historical Society, from newspapers archived at the H. Lee House Cultural Center.  Each week, we take a peek at the past with some news and advertising highlights from a randomly chosen edition of the Lemon Grove Review.  Ofield was awarded first place in 2013 and second place in 2012 in non-daily column writing from the Society of Professional Journalists.  In 2013 she received third place in the "History" category from the San Diego Press Club.