Come and see what God has done

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

As we re-acquaint ourselves with the Christmas story through carol services, singing those beautiful songs and reading the Scriptures, we can become almost a little blasé at the familiarity of the story.  We have lived with this story and the Scriptures every year of our lives. We can feel we have understood the significance of the prophecies and the events of the Christmas season but it is good to pull back and wonder afresh at how it all felt for those at the heart of the story.

We are told that Mary ‘treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart’Luke 2: 19.  I bet she did. So much had happened to her. She had gone from insignificant young lady about to be married to Joseph the carpenter to mother of the Son of God. She had been through labour and delivery in a stable not a palace or even a clean room. The first visitors were shepherds, the lowest of the low with tales of angels singing ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests Luke 2: 14.

Joseph too must have wondered what had happened to him; the disappointment of Mary’s pregnancy followed by an angel visitation and at the end he had been charged with protecting and raising the Son of God.  I am sure there were times when both he and Mary felt hopelessly inadequate for the task.

As Mary looked at her baby and gazed into the face of God I am pretty certain she wasn’t remembering ‘For to us a child is born. To us a Son is given.’ But maybe she was.  Maybe as the years went by and they raised their extraordinary son Joseph was impacted by the Messianic prophecies as he worshipped in the synagogue.

However for us familiarity can dull the edge of the wonder of Christmas. That God became man and dwelt with us. Emmanuel. God with us.  I love some of the more recent Christmas songs. One of my favourite is Noel by Chris Tomlin.  It has the line ‘Noel. Noel. Come and see what God has done.’It gives me the shivers.  God has done the miraculous. He has become a man to dwell with us, his sinful creation so in need of a Saviour.

Matt Redman has written in his song ‘ Joy to the world. Joy to the world. The Lord has come, The Lord has come to us.’ It’s a miracle. 

With hindsight, we do get the significance of the events of Christmas.  The prophecies, the virgin birth in Bethlehem in poverty, the arrival of the shepherds and the visit of the Magi. My prayer is that this Christmas we will get fresh revelation of just what an incredible things God has done in bringing Emmanuel – God with us.  

The cost of Christmas

The birth of Jesus was a shocking event.  

Mary, a beautiful virgin betrothed to Joseph, was found to be pregnant before they married. This would have been a major scandal in small town Nazareth.  It is hard to realise today just how shameful and disgraceful it was in that culture to be an unmarried mother.  

However the criticism would not just have been reserved for Mary but also for her parents. People would have thought her parents had not brought her up correctly nor had they watched over her.  I expect Mum and Dad were hugely disappointed in their daughter.  They would have hoped she knew better.  Her parents would have greeted with great suspicion the story that she was still a virgin and that this baby was conceived by the Holy Ghost. It was certainly not something to share with the neighbours. That would have added ridicule to condemnation. 

Joseph was also no doubt sceptical about tales of an immaculate conception. In fact he was mindful to divorce Mary quietly to avoid further public humiliation for her until the intervention of the angel.  Having confirmed that this baby was indeed conceived by God, Joseph being righteous, married her.  This would not have stopped the wagging tongues though. It would just have pulled Joseph into the public disgrace as everyone would have assumed the baby was his.

Four people would now have been criticised and suffered public humiliation even though no one had done anything wrong. In fact they had been selected for the highest honour of all - being parents and grandparents to the Son of God.  Who would believe that?

I wonder if as Mary and Joseph discussed the upcoming birth they deliberated if they would have to go to Bethlehem. After all that is where the Scriptures said the Messiah would be born. It doesn’t appear so because it took the intervention of an ungodly Roman Emperor to get them to the right place at the right time. They left for the weeklong journey to Bethlehem when Mary was almost full term, not recommended in any culture let alone one with modest health care facilities.

I am sure Mary and Joseph were optimistic that God would provide somewhere suitable for the baby to be born.  If nothing else, they must have both had extended family in Bethlehem.  Perhaps there was no room anywhere because news of the pregnancy outside marriage had gone before them?  We can only imagine the disappointment turning to despair when all they were offered was a stable. 

So Mary gave birth to her precious first born, the Son of God, in a stable with the animals.  Under any circumstances that is shocking.  

I think it is all too easy to romanticise and sanitise the Christmas story as we lustily sing our favourite Christmas carols.  However it is good to remember how much it cost the key players to fulfil their destiny so that God could become Man and live amongst us.

Today there are many, many Christians suffering for their faith all over the world. For many becoming a Christian can mean being ostracised by their family or even society, losing jobs or access to good education.  Just like Mary all those years ago, too many Christians today are treated shockingly. Let’s remember and pray for them as we celebrate again the wonderful Christmas story.

Paying the price

As we rejoice again this Christmas time over the wonder of God becoming a man, I have been mulling over the role of the key players, apart from Jesus, in this incredible event.

God did not just choose to place a baby or even a fully grown man on the earth, he involved a variety of people, many of whom had no idea at the time that they were partaking in the greatest event in history.

Mary and Joseph were both normal folk from the despised town of Nazareth. It was a place considered polluted by non-Jews. That is why the whole area was called Galilee of the Gentiles in Isaiah 9: 1.  Mary was just an ordinary young woman going about her ordinary life, betrothed to Joseph. Betrothal in those times was far more binding than our engagement. It could only be broken by divorce.

Mary may have been an ordinary lady from a despised town but she had too key points in her favour; she was a virgin and she was from the line of David. These two were essential for the task God wanted her to do. Into her life of domesticity came the angel Gabriel who said to her ‘Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.’

Mary’s reaction is fascinating. She was obviously troubled by the sudden appearance of an angel and by his greeting but when he told her that she would have a son and not just any son but the Son of the Most High God, her first question is ‘how will this be … since I am a virgin?’

How do you conceive the Son of God especially if you are a virgin? She knew God was not going to ask her to do something ungodly or unrighteous to fulfil this calling.  She didn’t doubt, she didn’t say she didn’t believe the angel like Zechariah but she did query how this would come about. Gabriel gave her the answer that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her.  The baby would be the Son of God in both nature and by name.

We can imagine the wave of different emotions that Mary would have had at this announcement – everything from a deep sense of honour to concern about the implications of being pregnant in this way.  Yet she submitted herself to God’s plan.

However fear, bewilderment and doubt must have started to rush in.  What will people think?  Society would have had a lot to say about an unmarried mother. Purity was highly regarded and Mary was pure but that was not what people would think. How would she explain this to Joseph or her parents? 

Mary immediately hurried off to her relative Elizabeth, another lady having a baby under very unusual circumstances. Mary was a virgin and Elizabeth was well past conceiving age but as the angel said, ‘Nothing is impossible with God.’

Elizabeth was the ideal person to talk things over with. She ‘was righteous in the sight of God’ and would have given Mary great strength at this difficult time whilst she came to terms with what was happening.

Joseph must have been incredibly disappointed that Mary did not appear to have been faithful to him. He too was a Godly and righteous man and he didn’t want to expose Mary to public disgrace even though it would clear his name and save his good standing in the community. Mary could have been stoned but instead he decided to divorce her quietly or sign the legal papers without any public spectacle but Gabriel came and told him to take Mary as his wife. The child was of the Holy Spirit – Mary was still pure and a virgin.

Joseph was obedient even though it would look as if he was actually the father of the child.  Both Mary and Joseph would be the subject of public criticism and censure. However Joseph took her home and brought both Mary and the child under his protection. He named the baby and by doing so he adopted him into the family of David. Jesus was now legally of the lineage of the kings of Judah.

Here were two ordinary people caught up in extraordinary events. Most people in those circumstances in those times would have been far more interested in preserving their own reputation and good standing but both Mary and Joseph gave these up to do God’s will. The plan to bring God’s son into the world could have fallen at the first hurdle but God knew who he was choosing – a man and woman of character.

Mary and Joseph had no education, no wealth, no position, no great talents, in fact nothing that would obviously select them to be the parents of the Son of God. Yet they had two of the greatest qualities – they were Godly and obedient. They must have paid a heavy price in terms of public criticism and gossip probably for years to come.

Being chosen to be the parents of Jesus was a hard road for these Godly people with no obvious reward at the time. Was it worth it? You bet it was!