I read this morning the Greek of Matthew 1:18-25, and I have to admit it was some of the easiest Greek I’ve ever read, even though I don’t think I’ve read this story before in Greek. Why? Because the story is so familiar. I found myself translating in King James’ English, since I’ve heard this story so many times. Often I tell my students that one of the biggest challenges to reading the Bible critically is to “forget” the stories that we’ve heard in church contexts so many times and let the text be foreign once again, as it would have been to those first-century audiences who had never heard the story before.

But this morning I realize that’s perhaps not the best hermeneutical approach. For the last few months, I’ve been reading the patriarchal narratives of Genesis in a Hebrew reading group I’m in. That background gives me a different understanding of this announcement of Jesus’ coming birth to Joseph. What I realized, having read so many announcement and etymology stories in Genesis, is that this would have been a very familiar story to that hypothetical first-century audience I’ve been asking my students to imagine. That is, this announcement of Mary’s divine impregnation, prediction of Jesus’ salvation of people, and instruction for his naming, is absolutely ordinary in the context of the narratives of the Hebrew Bible. Nothing stands out; nothing.

So, I’m starting to think that the feeling of familiarity should stay with us as we read this narrative. Sure the predictions for Jesus are big. Sure, there’s a certain anticipation or excitement for what this particular child will do. But the narrator has led us into familiarity. As I noted with the genealogy, the genre of literature here is nothing new. But we recognize that there is going to be something new about this story. The challenge for us as readers is to allow ourselves to be led down this path of the mundane and familiar, so that the narrator can flip the script on us. So, rather than “pretending” I’ve never heard this story before this Christmas season, I’m going to remember and read it in that same King James English, expressly so that it will be familiar. Then, as my guard is down, I expect to have my eyes opened anew to the advent of Christ. The familiarity with the story is a gift, as it lets us experience anew this same pattern of announcement and expectation, unaware of where and how that experience will come.