On a cloudless day in the city of Nazareth nestled in Galilee, a mystifying experience began. Young Mary sat alone, sighing contentedly with the temperate warmth drenching her skin. Peace settled in, as she thought about the changes coming in her life. She’d be a married woman before she knew it – taking on the responsibility of managing a home, serving her husband, and raising children. She was betrothed to Joseph, of the house of David.
Her stomach fluttered in anticipation. It was what was meant to be. Thoughts of her future slowly swirled as she rested her head back against the tree and let her eyes find a moment’s rest behind the blackness of her lids.
But suddenly, the blackness was filled with light. An unbelievable brightness came so that Mary had to shield her eyes, and a voice obstructed all other sounds as it said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
Mary’s heart pounded so hard she was sure it would beat its way straight out of her chest. Bolting upright with legs rigid and eyes wide, Mary took in the supernatural being before her. As her breaths huffed in and out anxiously, her brain deciphered the meaning of the words from the angel Gabriel’s mouth. O favored one? She looked around, wondering if this frightful being was addressing someone else. ANYONE else.
Was this angel talking to her?
Knowingly, the angel Gabriel continued, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end.”
Dumbstruck, Mary’s unblinking gaze never left the face of Gabriel. She was apprehensive and frightened. She glanced at the empty path she’d come on. Not a single person nearby – what if she were to be harmed? No, no, Gabriel was sent from the Lord. He would take care of her. So, grasping at confidence she didn’t feel, Mary looked back up to the angel.
“How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
The angel answered without hesitation, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy – the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.”
Hearing of her cousin, Elizabeth, Mary’s defenses lowered. Elizabeth? Pregnant? That’s imposs-
But the angel’s last words squelched her thought, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
A sense of knowing flooded Mary – and peace, wisdom, and the humbling commission before her was no longer frightening. She was ready. She wasn’t in this alone – the power of the Most High was upon her. And she was to grow and bear the Son of God. She set her jaw and said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
And the angel departed from her.
Mary couldn’t sit back down now. Her feet found the path she’d walked and retraced her steps home. Her thoughts raced as her eyes scanned back and forth across the way as she pondered the words she had heard.
You will conceive…
You shall call him Jesus…
He will be called the Son of the Most High…
Of his kingdom, there will be no end…
For nothing will be impossible with God…
Do not be afraid…
Do. Not. Be. Afraid.
But she was carrying a child, and she was unwed! It wasn’t even the child of her betrothed, Joseph, that she carried. As if to mock her (or, was it divine appointment?), she ran directly into someone. Still lost in thought over the unexpected event, Mary’s head knocked into Joseph’s chest.
“Hello, Mary,” his light-hearted tone contrasted the deep thoughts pooled in Mary’s eyes. Joseph immediately recognized her distress, and his tone became serious as he took her aside. “Mary? What is it? Are you alright?”
As words tumbled about in her head, in a slow caress, her hand drifted to her stomach.
She opened her mouth to speak, but Joseph’s eyes traveled to the movement of her hand. The world slowed as he registered her telltale motion, and he stepped back with a quick intake of breath.
“Joseph, wait…” Mary took a step towards him, and words rushed out. “I’m pregnant, but it’s not as you might think. The angel Gabriel visited me, and the Holy Spirit fell upon me. He’s a holy child! He’s not of this world! He is the Son of God!”
Her words sounded crazy, even to herself. But she knew they were true.
Joseph’s mind reeled, and he stepped away again as Mary reached towards him. “That’s just – Mary, I can’t -,” he sighed, cutting each sentence off so he wouldn’t say something he’d regret. Rubbing his jaw, he squeezed his eyes shut tight. Each word punched out forcefully, “Give. Me. Some time… Alone.”
As he walked away, his shoulders hunched down further and further with each step. How in the world was he supposed to believe Mary? He tried to accommodate her sin as he thought, Yes, she was young, but how could she be so careless? They were supposed to start a family together! And now, here she was, pregnant and coming to him with someone else’s child. What was he supposed to do with her?
He was hurt, but he would not let bitterness rule his heart. Though the ugly thoughts snaked out of the depths of his mind, he took care to quickly step on them before they could sink their venom-filled fangs into his heart. If he let the bitterness take over, he would ruin her. Easily. But he could not. He would not do that.
With a fitful expression, he decided to hold true to the law. He must divorce her. They could not begin their marriage on a lie. But he would not disgrace her publicly. They could keep it under the rug, couldn’t they? He’d make sure of it. Oh, Mary…
As the day closed, Joseph laid down to sleep. He was sure rest wouldn’t possibly come, not with these thoughts and images in his head, but he had to try. Mary was pregnant. And not with his child.
However, sleep did come to him, miraculously. Until he was overrun with a dream so vivid, sweat dripped from his brow, and his body clenched with adrenaline. As clear as day, an angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.”
With a jolt, Joseph rose from his bed. His feet paced back and forth, and he shook his hands out incredulously. How in the -? Could it really -? She wasn’t ly-. Mary. Mary! Mary was pregnant with the promised one, the one the prophet told about, the Son of the Most High. Jesus. The Son of God!
He would do as the angel of the Lord said. He would take Mary home as his wife. (But he did not consummate their marriage until she gave birth to a son.)
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
Months passed, and a decree came out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town.
Because Joseph was of the house and lineage of David, he and Mary – his now-wife, his now very pregnant wife – went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea to the city of Bethlehem to be registered.
Swollen, tired, and, for lack of better words, about to pop, Mary waddled into town by Joseph’s side. She was eager to find a place to rest from the journey. The town was alive with the added population from the census – so alive it was bursting at the seams, much like Mary’s belly.
Joseph moved from door to door, inn to inn, looking for a place to stay. With high spirits, Mary encouraged Joseph, “I’m sure there’s a place nearby. We will find something. And I’ll be just fine until then.”
But she didn’t tell him about the timely twinges that tightened her back every few minutes.
As time wore on and more doors closed on their faces, Joseph’s face drew more and more gaunt. He wasn’t ignorant. He saw how Mary smiled and puffed a few power breaths as she breathed through the contractions of early labor. As night fell, he thanked God that her water hadn’t broken. They had time.
Until they didn’t, Mary’s quaking voice, drew Joseph to her quickly, “Joseph! The baby is coming. SOON. I need to lie down.”
In a panic, Joseph rushed up a set of steps close by and pounded on the inn’s door without mercy. He wanted the wood to splinter – he was desperate for the door to open, whether it was by the power of his fists or the welcoming of a hand on the other side.
When the door never faltered, and a voice penetrated through the wood instead, Joseph about lost it (to say the least), “NO ROOM. Lie in the stable tonight.”
In a second, he was beside Mary again, guiding her into the barn, praying for help with every ounce of his being.
Struggling to conceal her discomfort, Mary groaned inwardly, and sometimes audibly, as the pain grew greater. She would have a son. She would have the Son of God. Tonight. In Bethlehem. In a barn.
She tried to keep it cool, but the whole situation was too much for her, and a small unrestrained smile crept over her as a contraction ended. God knew her, and he would take care of her.
Joseph buzzed around, piling straw, pulling together scraps of cloth and blankets, drawing water, shooing animals, and speaking what he thought were soft words of affirmation to Mary.
But what Mary really heard were well-meant words tainted with bubbling panic below the surface.
She was in the Lord’s hands. And he would deliver his son.
And in the same region, there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them.
The glory of the Lord shone around them, illuminating the hills like sunlight, casting shadows with the brightness, and making the shepherds yield their hands over their eyes for protection.
They were filled with great fear.
And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”
Magnifying the scene even more, and raising goosebumps on the shepherd’s arms, suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God and saying,
“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”
And then the angels returned to heaven — the shining light left as quickly as it came. And the shepherds were left in the still of the night once again. With racing hearts and wide eyes, the shepherds jostled one another with unrestrained excitement and tempered disbelief.
“Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
Dust stirred from their feet as they hurried into town, the shepherds howled in excitement and anticipation. They went with haste to find Mary and Joseph. Could it be true? Was the Messiah here? A babe in Bethlehem?
The shepherds’ excited chatter diminished to revered silence as they eased into the stable. Rustling straw, munching animal mouths, and the warm breath of the beasts filled their senses. And then, they saw him. Their knees quivered, and their eyes filled as Mary and Joseph looked up to their entrance with a smiling greeting. And there lay the baby in a manger, wrapped in swaddling cloths.
As they exited the stable, adrenaline refilled their blood vessels – coursing through them and pushing their excitement over the edge.
He was HERE — the Messiah. With unabashed adoration, they made their way through the town, and they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.
But back in the stable, snuggling her precious babe, a gift from God – to not only her, but to the world, to save the lost, to absolve the sinner, Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.
And they gave him the name Jesus.
