We can't know what Mary felt, but perhaps it was something like this . . . .
That day began like every other day.
Then out of nowhere a radiant being stood before me and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
I don't know how, but I knew it was an angel, yet why would an angel come to me? I was just a poor young woman who lived in lowly Nazareth.
The angel said, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High."
I could make no sense of this. Then I felt my heart warm within me and I knew only that I trusted God's will for me.
"How will this be, since I am a virgin?"
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God . . . For nothing is impossible with God."
All I could say was, "I am the Lord's servant. May it be to me as you have said."
Then I was alone again. My heart brimmed over with wonder and joy.
Ohh . . . What will I tell Joseph?
Joseph! My precious Joseph, my betrothed. As was the custom, we were waiting out our year of betrothal before we came together as husband and wife.
What would Joseph say when he found out? What would he do?
I felt a shiver of fear. He could accuse me in front of the elders and have me flogged in the public square. I would be disgraced. Alone.
I and this child would live in disgrace.
I sat a long time on that hard bench. Praying. Crying. Trying to take it in. I swung from joy to sadness and back to joy, over and over again.
At last I resolved to trust the Lord, no matter what
Joseph was stunned to find out I was pregnant, as any man would be. At last he said he cared too much for me to see me judged. That dear, righteous man would quietly seek a divorce.
Not long after that, an angel of the Lord intervened and appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying,"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."
Joseph believed! Neither of us really understood, but we believed
Somehow we knew it was true. God chose Joseph and me to be part of his miracle in sending his only son to earth.
Joseph took me to his home, but we agreed we would not come together as husband and wife until after God's Son was born.
Just as I feared, the townspeople whispered about the child I was carrying. The men called Joseph a fool, but he paid them no mind. Joseph became my protector and my support. The months went by.
Then Emperor Caesar Augustus decreed a census must be taken of the entire Roman world
Joseph and I both belonged to the line of David, so we must travel the seventy miles from Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the city of David. Caesar ruled his Empire with an iron fist, so we had no choice.
By then I was in my ninth month. Oh, the misery of that journey! Whether I walked or whether I rode on the donkey, I felt every jolt, every rock, every rut in the road.
Toward the end I did not think I could go on. I held my aching belly as I walked. We were close to Bethlehem when I felt a sharp pain down low. I knew my time to give birth was coming soon.
Yet we had no place to stay.
Joseph searched the town, pounding on doors, frantically inquiring of innkeepers. There were no rooms, not anywhere. At last one kind man took pity and told us we could stay in his stable.
A stable for God's Son?
At least we would be out of the cold night air and have a bit of privacy. The innkeeper lent us a small oil lamp. We watched its light dance and flicker on the rough walls and listened to the soft sounds of the animals.
Joseph did what he could. He spread out a garment for me and helped me lie down on it. What a relief. My swollen feet throbbed and my whole body ached.
We had only the warmth--and the smell--of the animals. Only our love for each other.
Only the waiting for God's Son to be born.
Then my labor pangs began in earnest, quickly growing stronger. I know not how long I labored, trying not to scream. Joseph stayed by my side, his eyes filling with tears as he stroked my forehead and whispered my name, over and over. I hear him still: Mary. Mary . . . .
The urge to push grew so strong I could not resist. With one final push and a long sigh my labor was over.
God's Son, the Savior, the long-awaited Messiah, was born!
I could not hold back tears of joy. As I looked into my baby's face I wondered what the future might hold for him. Then I wrapped him in soft cloths I brought with me and held him. After awhile I laid the Child on top of the fresh hay Joseph had spread in the manger. It was the cleanest place in that cattle barn.
We never could have imagined what would come next. A group of shepherds burst into the stable. They went to the manger and gazed down at Jesus. Then they bowed down in worship. I saw a glow on their faces.
As if they already knew who he was
After awhile they told us what brought them to the manger. They were out on the Bethlehem hills as usual, guarding their sheep.
Suddenly everything around them shone so bright they fell to the ground. Then an angel appeared and said, "I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Before they could speak a word the sky filled with a great company of angels, all of them singing and praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men."
Just as suddenly the angels were gone. The shepherds could hardly contain themselves. One said, "Let us go to Bethlehem and see this wonderful thing!"
So they abandoned their sheep and ran as fast as they could to find the Savior, Christ the Lord, there in that lowly manger just as the angel said.
Why were any of us surprised?
Centuries before Jesus was born there lived a prophet of God named Isaiah. He foretold that a virgin would be with child and give birth to a son who would be called Immanuel, which means, "God with us."
As for me, I never stopped thanking God for choosing me to be part of that glorious night.
But to my dying day I wondered how it could be that one night God stepped into our world and almost no one paid attention.
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Dear friends, it's still true. Jesus is God with us. All who believe in him as Lord and Savior are forgiven for every sin and will never die.
The best-known account of Christ's birth is found in the Bible, in Luke 2:1-20. The account of the angel's visit to Joseph is in Matthew 1:18 to 2:12. Isaiah's prophecy is in the Old Testament book of Isaiah 7:14.
Read John, chapters 14 through 17 to see Jesus Christ's heart of love for all of us. (The account of his death on the cross and resurrection follow.) Romans 8 is a good follow-up to learn more about sin and God's forgiveness and grace in Christ.
I wish you JOY in Jesus, every one of you, every day of the year!
Lenore
