The other day on the radio, I heard an author quote from his book, "A Walk One Winter Night". Al Andrews read from his small book he wrote about a nativity scene. Before he wrote it, he was not really looking forwards to Christmas. It has become such a busy time. A time where money gets spent a lot. Too rushed. He decided to go out for a walk and passing by the neighbors nativity scene set in their front lawn, he stopped to look. He was touched to actually take in the nativity scene as "real life". In his mind, the characters one by one became alive. He had a moment when the nativity scene became 'real life' in his mind. He then wrote a book about his experience. I can't wait to get this book myself because I to am one that likes "real life".
As I listened to the radio broadcast, I took in the words and began to wonder myself how it must have really all taken place. Again. I do this almost every year. I wonder how the story of Jesus' birth really took place. I know the Bible is true with all it says but it doesn't tell us the small details. What about the things they ate? It doesn't tell all the troubles they faced in detail. Nor how many inns they asked to stay at before finally sleeping in a stable. Or did they really sleep soundly? The Bible gives only the details we really need to know but I just can't help but wonder how it must have been if I were there in "real life".
As I took a look at our own nativity scene that sets on the front picture window sill each Christmas, I pondered. Here are some of my thoughts. I'll start with Mary since she was the chosen one to be the mother of the Messiah!
I've been told that back then, that the girls and young ladies would have thought of being the chosen one to be the mother of the upcoming Messiah would be an honor! If that's true, the day the angel visited Mary must have not been like an ordinary day for her. She was young. Maybe not blemish free since most teenage or younger people deal with acne. Or maybe their food and hormones were that much better back then that acne was nonexistent? She was in love with a man that she already made a promise to marry some day. She worked hard. She helped her mom with making clothes. Cooking. Carrying water pot after water pot to their home. She helped do the laundry. Scrub out stains. Fold the clean laundry. Clean the house. She probably helped do animals chores and grind wheat. She probably even made some yummy sweets for her family. She was a normal girl in a small town living a normal life.
The Bible does tell us that Mary was taught much about the scriptures! When the angel told her the news of her becoming pregnant, she was troubled and tried to figure out who was speaking and why. The angel right away told her to "not be afraid." "You have found favor with God. You will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will 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." Imagine hearing those words! She didn't need to wonder what on earth it all meant! Did she have questions? Probably many! But did she question the angel's words? No! She did ask one question though, "How will this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel assured her that the Holy Spirit will come upon her, the power of the Most High will overshadow her; therefore the child will be holy - the Son of God. The angel also went on to tell her about her old relative Elizabeth. She to was expecting a child, a son. Before the angel left Mary, he said, "For nothing will be impossible with God." Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." Then the angel left her alone.
What just happened? Did she just hear from God? Surely, she said over and over again in her mind the words she heard, "For nothing will be impossible with God." Nothing! A baby! A boy! To be born through me? How again will that happen? The name is to be Jesus! A name above every name! I can't imagine all the thoughts that suddenly turned all her normal routines into a tizzy! It's all she could think about!!! It's all she could do to not shout out loud or tell her mom or tell the world! Then reality probably came face to face to her! What about Joseph? What about what the towns people would say? Would her own family laugh and make fun? Or would they believe just as she did? Again, she probably reminded herself, "For nothing will be impossible with God."
The bible tells us that Mary went quickly to visit Elizabeth. Did she tell why she needed to go now? Traveling wasn't the easiest back then and probably not the safest for such a young girl, but she went. She knew God would take care of her! She knew without any doubt that God was watching over her!!! When she got to Zechariah and Elizabeth's house, she greeted them with joy! As soon as the baby, still inside of Elizabeth, heard Mary's voice, the baby leaped, and Elizabeth was filled with the Hold Spirit. She blessed Mary! She knew that Mary was pregnant with Jesus! She was honored to have Mary, the mother of Jesus, come visit her. Mary rejoices with Elizabeth! They had their own little party right then and there! They both knew that were carrying boys that were going to make an eternal difference for the world! How would it all take place? Did they wonder and ponder on what the next few months would bring for both of them? They knew they would suffer pain. Nothing is harder than child birth pain. They knew the people around them would be talking! They knew that they would both have to give their sons and lives completely to God's plan! They also knew that God was with them both!!! Every step of the way!!! Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and returned back to her home town.
Elizabeth gave birth to John! Her neighbors and relatives were so happy that the Lord showed great mercy to her. I think that must mean that God was right there in His presence while she gave birth. Maybe it was an easier delivery? She deserved it in her old age!!! I can't imagine a ninety plus year old lady having the strength to have a baby! God knew that!!! :) He cared for her. The people wanted to name the child after his father. But the angel told Zachariah that he was to be named "John". Up until now the dad, the one who doubted the angel's words, could not speak. When he went into the temple to do his priestly job and came out not able to talk! Zachariah was also told through an angel that they would have a son and because he laughed, he could not speak until John was born. Right here, when they named him, Zachariah spoke again! He blessed God this time instead of laughing. I think he may have learned a lesson here! :) Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit to and prophesied over their son. John grew up and became strong in the spirit! The bible doesn't say how old his parents lived to be but it says that he was in the wilderness until his public appearance to Israel. John knew his reason for being born! He was ready to preach! Ready to tell all those who listened, about Jesus!
Meanwhile, Mary was back home getting pudgy and showing some pregnancy signs. How was she going to explain all this to Joseph? Did she write down her thoughts? Did she say them over and over in mind? Or did she completely trust that God would take care of things like this? Maybe both. She was about to find out that the man she loved was going to love her back just as much!!!
The bible says that Joseph was a just man. Surely Mary knew how good Joseph would treat her! When he realized all that was going on, he thought about divorcing her quietly. Did he not believe her? Was he scared? He was probably upset, and hurt, and confused! He thought Mary loved him! As he considered these things, he had the surprise of his life to! An angel appeared to him in a dream. He was told to not fear to take Mary as his wife. For the baby that she conceived was really, truly, from the Holy Spirit! His name was to Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. Then Joseph woke up!!! Startled! Maybe ashamed from all his previous thoughts he had had. He got up and did exactly what the angel commanded him to do. He took Mary as his wife! He stood by her and cared for! The whole way to Bethlehem and beyond! (Let's talk more about Joseph on another post.)
It was taxing time and the whole world was to be registered. Each person was to go to their own town and be registered. Joseph and Mary were to both go from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David ... Bethlehem. Joseph was to travel this far because he was from the lineage of David. Mary was to be registered with him. Still only betrothed. Still very pregnant. Still believing that God would take care of them!
They packed their things. Both probably wondering why they must go now to register? Or maybe they knew the prophecies well and realized that it would be in Bethlehem that Jesus would be born? In either case, they would need warm clothes. Blankets. Food and water. They would need to take extra time because traveling that far would make Mary very tired! Both of them would be tired! They gathered up all their things with maybe Mary's mother grabbing a warm blanket that she made just for this journey and gave it to them! Surely, Mary would have loved for her mom to be with her. Be with her on this hard journey! Mary knew that Joseph would do all he could to protect her, help her and see that she gets as much care as possible! She also knew deep inside her heart that "with God all things were possible". They said their good byes and headed for Bethlehem.
They walked and walked and walked. Then they finally rested! It took them probably days to get there! But, they made it! They finally saw the lights of the tiny town of Bethlehem! That may have been enough encouragement to make them go just a bit faster. But when they got inside of town, they went looking for a room! Not like they were tired enough, no, they were exhausted from their days of traveling! A warm bed. A warm piece of bread or some soup would taste so good! Some water to refresh their dirty hands and feet! Just one room was all they went looking for! Somewhere out of the cold and dry!
"We have no more rooms!!! We are completely filled up! Don't keep asking me! WE HAVE NO MORE ROOMS AVAILABLE!" I can just imagine how many times this inn keeper said these words. The streets must have been crowded with people wanting to rest! Joseph wasn't going to give up! He knew they REALLY did need a place to stay! A place to rest! A place warm and safe. Somewhere out of the public. Somewhere private, very private. Mary was in labor!
Mary was breathing in and out and trying to get through the labor pains as much as she could without getting upset. She knew Joseph was trying to find them a room. She knew something must be available. She also knew that it had to be tonight to get somewhere warm and safe! When the inn keeper finally offered Joseph the only thing he had left, they were relieved! Even though it was in a stable, it was a place to rest! It didn't smell like home. It wasn't as comfy as home. It wasn't at all what they even expected but they knew ... God was with them!
Joseph got busy cleaning up the stable floors and making room for them to sleep. Maybe Mary got that special blanket from her dear mom and cuddled tightly with it. It still smelled like home. It was still the only clean thing they had left, except for a few other small blankets she made for their baby boy! They looked around at the stable while they slowly unpacked some of their bags. Was this really where they would spend the night? Was it really the only thing available out there? Maybe they should have kept seeking? No, they were so tired and knew that this was good enough! They were out of the cold. Out of the wind. Somewhere away from the hustle and bustle of the streets. Somewhere private. They washed up and relaxed ... well, as much as possible. Mary was still trying to breath through some contractions and noticed that they were getting harder and closer. What did these two know about giving birth? This was their first baby! Was this the first signs of labor? Were they all educated up and ready to play doctor? It's hard to think of how it really must have been way back then. Surely, much different than how it is now!!! The only thing they really knew in their hearts was that if baby Jesus was to be born tonight, in this dirty stable, they would be the best and proudest parents in town! They rolled up their sleeves and asked God for help as they waited!
Sometime during the night, Mary woke up Joseph. She was in a sweat. She was trying to breath in and out slowly but it was so hard to concentrate. Her pain was great! She knew she needed help and cried out for God to be near! "For nothing will be impossible with God!" She believed it with all her heart! The angel said so! It wasn't real long until they heard the first cries of their newborn baby! It was a boy! It was God's son! They really were parents! They were so excited and so proud and so happy to finally hold this precious, promised baby in their arms. Joseph got Mary some clean straw and water. They named the boy just as the angel had said, "Jesus!" The baby was screaming and needed to be cleaned up before he was wrapped in Mary's clean blankets. She wrapped him tight in swaddling clothes. Joseph looked around at what they could use for Jesus' first bed. There, in the corner of the stable, stood a manger. He dumped out what was in it and filled it with clean, soft hay. He brought it over to Mary and she smiled. How special for him to help her so! She was reminded of how special Joseph was to her and how much she loved him! He wasn't no doctor, just a carpenter. His skills were unique and he knew how to make a piece of wood turn into a beautiful, handcrafted piece of art. His hard working hands were strong. He worked with wood every day and so finding this manger was a gift from God! After feeding the baby and holding him tight, Mary laid him in the small wooden box. He was perfect. In every way. He had ten fingers and ten toes. His cry was so soft. He had a special peacefulness about him! He was a gift to them from God above! Suddenly, they didn't feel so alone. They were a family. They were so happy and pleased to be the chosen parents of this special child!
It was a long night. A hard night. One filled with such pain and joy all at the same time! They needed rest and sleep. God brought them through a long journey and now God would surely be with them in the next few hours, days, the weeks ahead, and even for as long as they lived. He would lead them and guide them! They believed even more that God's plan was perfect!!!
