Hidden Figures, Part 3: New Testament

This is the final installment of a short series that responds to the film Hidden Figures (2016).  The New Testament also contains a number of hidden figures, ordinary and even marginalized individuals who turn out to be essential to the moving forward of God's kingdom narrative.

Nativity Story

   Sometimes stories become so familiar that we don't realize that some of the figures in the Nativity story would have been overlooked or considered non-essential if recorded by a historian other than Luke, the evangelist.  As a Gentile and outsider himself, he seems to have an eye for the marginalized, including non-Jews, women, the disabled, and so on.

   So, how are shepherds "hidden figures" in this sense?  While we might imagine shepherds to be the gentle caretakers of cute and fluffy sheep, the society in which they lived did not consider shepherding a noble profession, despite the beloved Psalm 23 that compared God to a shepherd.  The time spent outdoors and isolated from town life led to perceptions that sheep-tenders stretched the truth and couldn't be trusted.  In fact, they were not permitted to testify in court even if they were eye-witnesses of a crime.
   It is striking that God decided to send a troop of angels to shepherds outside at night. They were chosen as the first visitors, the first witnesses of an event that changed the course of history.  The angels identified the child as "the Saviour, Christ the Lord," and the shepherds did not find ways to rationalize this message away.  Instead, they got up and followed the directions they were given! 
   After they had gone to worship the baby, they told everyone they met about this good news.  No doubt, many listeners shook their heads and dismissed the story as nothing more than a tall tale from no-good shepherds.  But anyone whose heart was prepared may have looked past the grubby messengers and received the news with wonder and hope.

Minors

   There are two distinct times when individual children in the New Testament are mentioned for their deeds.  The first, whose name is not given, plays an important role in a miracle that is told in each of the four gospels.  It is John, the Evangelist, who provides the detail of where the 5 loaves and 2 fish came from in the feeding of the 5000.  It was a particular boy who made his bread-and-fish lunch available to Jesus, providing the raw materials for a multitude to be fed.

   The second young man is Paul's nephew.  In Acts 23:16 and following, this nephew overhears a plot against the Apostle Paul so that he can be ambushed and killed before he can receive a proper Roman hearing.  Being in the right place at the right time, Paul's nephew is discreet and goes to the proper authority to tell what he knows.  In acting quickly and with wisdom, he played a part in preserving Paul's life and testimony until God's plan was fulfilled.

Patronesses

   Three short verses at the start of Luke 8 tell us something not commonly known among Christians.  The hidden figures in this case are wealthy women who provided for the needs of Jesus and his disciples over the course of their ministry.  During these years, ministry work was intense and could not be combined with making a living in the traditional way.  Mary Magdalene, Joanna the wife of Cuza, Susanna, and "many others" accompanied the group of followers.  Jesus did not use miracles to provide for himself, as Satan had earlier tempted him to do in the wilderness.  However, these hidden figures did what they could behind the scenes, using their own means to make sure Jesus and his followers did not go hungry. In other places, Mary, Martha and Lazarus and Simon the Leper are named as providing hospitality when Jesus and his entourage are visiting the Jerusalem area [1].

Easter 

   The first ones at the tomb on Easter morning were hidden figures too, women distraught at the death of their Lord and eager to do what they could to respect and anoint his body with aloes and spices.  All four gospels confirm that they were the first to see that the grave was empty, although it took some time for all the believers to sort out exactly what this meant.  When they came with reports of the empty tomb, the first reaction of the disciples was disbelief, partly because the message was beyond what they considered possible and partly because women were not considered reliable.

   Again, we see that God exalts those that society has considered unworthy.  Women as the first witnesses of the resurrection would have been completely ludicrous in that culture if someone were fabricating a tale to convince the Jews that Jesus rose from the dead.  That all the gospels have women arriving at the tomb first and being vindicated that they had indeed seen angels gives compelling evidence of the truth of the narrative.

Conclusion

   As I have pondered the concept of "hidden figures" the past several months in relation to the Bible, I can see that one of Scripture's overarching themes is that the humble will be exalted and that the lofty will be shown their proper place.  One day before Christmas, the song of Mary is a fitting place to summarize:

   He [the Lord] has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.  He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.  He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.  He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said to our fathers. [2]

[1] See John 12, Matthew 26 and Mark 14. 

[2] Luke 1: 51-55, NIV.